Washington– When Brian Roeder opened Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane, in Northern Virginia in 2008 his goal was to make quality wine. He also wanted to do so in as green a way as possible.
“We always try to practice as green as we can,” Roeder said. “All of our fruit, the skins when we press them off are all composted. All of our bottles are recycled. Our cardboard materials are all recycled.”
“Also just a regular vineyard practice is that we’re not near the watersheds. We don’t have an agricultural business that involves getting into the creeks and the rivers. We use almost no water in the vineyard business because vines produce better grapes when they’re dry and they’re thirsty.
Organic products of all kinds have been gaining in popularity, liquor and wines included. Retailers like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods stock a number of organic options. Shopping locally is also a trend on the rise, and one Roeder would rather consumers embrace.
“I’m not necessarily a huge fan of organic wine,” he said. “I have no problem with it, it’s wonderful but the reality is here in Virginia at this time there are not very many organic wines. What that means is unlike places like California or Australia or Spain or Chile which are very dry environments we get a lot of rain in Virginia,” he explained.
”The only way we can keep our vines from getting infected with rots, and then at a certain critical time in June when the fruit is starting to come on we also get something called the Japanese beetle. As a result we have to do limited spraying in Virginia to protect our vines,” Roeder said.
Schneiders of Capitol Hill, a popular wine shop, offers between ten and fifteen organic choices according to owner Jon Genderson.
“Organic wine is really no different than any other wine,” Genderson said. “The only difference is that the producer chooses to put organic compounds in all the production aspects rather than something that comes in a bag. I know a lot of organic compounds do come in a bag. So there’s really not a great difference in terms of the quality of the wine at all.”
Genderson says he has a number of customers who come in specifically for organic wine, but it is still a very small percentage.
“I don’t buy wines because they’re organic, I buy wines because they’re good and happen to be organic,” he said.credit