Healthy approach: A family-owned winery is expanding its range of organic wines

 

With increased interest in organic wines it’s good to see one major family-owned wine company is catering for consumers’ changing tastes.

Angove has recently released its Naturalis organic range that will be available in independent liquor outlets and on-premise venues.

Fruit for the range is sourced from Angove’s huge certified organic Nanya vineyard at Paringa in the South Australian Riverland across the Murray River from Renmark and from certified organic vineyards in McLaren Vale, notably Angove’s own Warboys vineyard.

The range consists of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio and a rose, with a sparkling cuvee set to be released this month.

All have a suggested retail price of $18 but you may well find them for less.

Angove has been working for a couple decades to convert its vineyards to organic status and has proudly been able to display the Australian Certified Organic Bud logo on its wines for almost 15 years. The company believes the adoption of organic practices has resulted in improved fruit quality from its vineyards, thus leading to even better wine quality and value for consumers.

“At no stage during the grape growing and winemaking of Naturalis Organic wines have we used any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers or inputs of any kind,” the company says.

The winery itself is certified for the production of organic wines and the use of preservatives is kept to a minimum.

Certainly, the results in the bottle speak well for the work, with all the wines showing clear varietal character and plenty of depth. They are unashamedly fruit-driven and none the lesser for that. My favourite is the shiraz, with lots of dark berry fruit, spice and plum. The wine was cold-soaked for two days, fermented and pressed before being transferred to oak barrels and allowed to undergo secondary malolactic fermentation. Enjoy over the next three to five years. I’d try it with some Greek-inspired lamb shoulder or Mediterranean beef dishes.

The company also releases organic wines under the Organic label ($13-$14) and Wild Olive label (from McLaren Vale fruit, $17-$18).

For more information go to www.angove.com.au