Organic wine in the limelight at BioFach 2008

The World Organic Trade Fair BioFach puts organic wine in the limelight in a special way in 2008. Exhibitors and trade visitors experience the world’s biggest organic wine exhibition in a new outfit from 21-24 February 2008. The wine exhibition set a record in 2007 with some 300 exhibitors from 13 countries. The 2008 vintage is now preparing to topple this record again with an estimated growth of more than 10 %. The wine hall celebrates the enjoyment of organic wines! Exhibitors and visitors experience the international spectrum of organic wines all in one hall in a feel-good daylight atmosphere. The exhibition duo BioFach and Vivaness 2008 expect altogether 2,600 exhibitors (2007: 2,565) and another 45,000 trade visitors (2007: 45,520).

Winegrowers from the leading organic winegrowing nations of Italy, France and Spain and also from countries like Argentina, Chile, Germany, Greece, Austria, Turkey or Hungary present their wines in the wine hall. Winegrowers from smaller unknown regions are also expected with wines just waiting to be discovered – for example, in the vinotheque, the tasting area of the wine hall manned by wine experts. Here the visitor can obtain a survey of all the organic wines offered at BioFach. Wines can be registered for the vinotheque in the categories “red”, “white”, “rosé”, “dessert wine” or “sparkling wine”.

The visitor can just inspect the wines or deal with individual wines in more detail during the tasting. It is up to him to decide whether to do this himself or use the expert advice of the staff. The hall restaurant and a tasting course have some surprises in store for the palate with unusual sensory perceptions. The wine hall at BioFach offers some exciting experiences beyond the classic “chocolate & wine”. The thirst for knowledge and information about organic wine is also quenched at the forum and on stage.

The wine hall is given a totally new interior design look. Exhibitors in the hall can choose from various stand concepts in an exclusive modern design. Individual and joint presentations are possible on one of the plazas. “We want our new wine concept to support a trend and provide a comprehensive international and top-quality platform for a key segment of the organic market. Organic wine has enormous potential and will be presented accordingly at BioFach 2008,” says Udo Funke, Exhibition Director of BioFach and Vivaness.

Prizes will be presented to top organic wines again in 2008 as part of the annual Wine Award (deadline for entries: 5 October 2007,  www.biofach.de/en/winehall). Some 1,000 wines faced the critical jury at the last event, when “Gold” and “Special Gold” were awarded 76 times. BioFach 2008 also presents the first award for the best organic olive oils. The visitors choose their favourites, which will be presented with their awards on the Saturday of the exhibition.

Italy heads the international organic wine statistics with approx. 30,000 ha of vines. France and Spain with approx. 15,000 ha each account for about half as much. Organic winegrowing, which experts estimate as barely more than 4 % of wine production in the whole of Europe and 2 % in Germany, has registered two-figure growth rates in Germany for the last few years. About 2,000 ha of vines are grown using organic methods in Germany. Approx. 80 % of the over 400 winegrowers are members of the national organic associations like Ecovin, Bioland, Naturland or Demeter. 15 organic vineyards with 260 ha are members of the Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP). "The production of organic wine demands very special know-how in the vineyard. The elimination of chemical synthetic sprays and fertilizers forces the organic winegrower to handle his vines carefully,” explains industry expert and wine merchant Martin Kössler of Nürnberg. No organic regulation exists (at the moment) for controlling aging in the cellar, but work is in progress on this. There are to be EU-wide cellar directives for organic wines in 2009. Until now, organic wine is wine from grapes grown by certified organic cultivation.

The question of how the organic wine of the future will be produced also occupies Steffen Christmann, VDP President. He would like to encourage his members to return to pure nature: “If we are to harvest good quality grapes the future, the soil and vines must recover again.” Overall, industry experts think the market for organic wine is gaining self-confidence and recognition. The signs for organic wine are clearly set to biodynamic.

If a representative survey conducted by TNS Emnid of Bielefeld is right, it is mainly a matter of getting men enthusiastic about organic wine. Women have been the main organic buyers until now. In contrast, German men are “organic stick-in-the-muds” according to the result of the study. The reason: lack of information about organic products. Once men are informed, three quarters of them become organic buyers. Women decide on organic wine mainly for ethical or health reasons, men tend to look for the quality kick. This represents a great potential for organic wine, as both the production and purchase of wine still tend to be things that men attend to.

As far as German customers’ regional preferences are concerned, there is a big demand for wines from overseas and Spain, but organic wines from their own country are very popular. Peter Riegel, industry expert and wine merchant of Orsingen: “German wines, which were long overshadowed by Mediterranean wines, are currently very popular, especially typical kinds like riesling or pinot blanc, pinot gris and pinot noir.” The Germans prefer to drink organic wines costing between 5 and 7 EUR. Despite the good quality, organic wines between 7 and 10 EUR are distinctly more difficult to sell.

The wine merchants, however, are pleased about the strong growth of brand wines in the price range above 10 EUR. According to experts, these will emerge very strongly from their niche market in future. A trend that Jürgen Schmücking of BioAustria also confirms: “These wines are becoming a real quality movement in winegrowing. For anyone wishing to produce top wines in future, there will be no alternative to high-quality organic winegrowing.”

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