When doing less is more

Our winemakers are determined to do less and less work, especially on our organic wines.

“We want the fruit and the vineyard to express themselves with as little as possible
interference from us winemakers,” says Marlborough Winemaker Jens Merkle.

With the single exception of Sauvignon Blanc, all of the organic wines we make are fermented with wild yeast. With all inputs having to be organic, organic wine limits the options available to the winemakers. But we’ve gone beyond that, deciding not to use any animal products in the winemaking process at all, which means that since the 2019 vintage, all Babich organic wines are vegan as well!

The next step would be not to filter the wines at all. This year, we’re considering it for our Albariño, but it could be applied more widely in future. Since we made our first organic wine in 2009, these wines have often been something of a testing ground for ideas we later implement in our conventional winemaking too.

Our organic range of six wines also includes some lesser known varieties, such as Albariño and Grüner Veltliner.

Offering wine lovers these options fits with the idea of diversity, which starts in the vineyard. In our organic vineyards, we promote a greater diversity of plant and insect life, so why not do it in the wine varieties as well?

Babich’s leading efforts in organic winemaking continues to be recognised internationally. We were just awarded Marlborough Organic Winery of the Year at the 2020 New York International Wine Competition.