First Certified Organic Wine for Marlborough

Media Release

17th October, 2007

First Certified Organic Wine for Marlborough

Seresin Estate is leading the way in New Zealand’s largest wine region with the first fully certified organic wine.

Seresin Estate’s 2006 ‘Marama’ Sauvignon Blanc and the 2007 ‘Memento’ Riesling are the first Seresin wines, and the first wines from Marlborough, to carry organic certification from BioGro.

According to BioGro, Seresin Estate has the largest area of fully certified organic vineyards in New Zealand. The Marlborough vineyard and winery has been managed according to organic and biodynamic principals since its first vintage in 1996. Two of the Estate’s vineyards and olive groves have been certified organic for a number of years, and the third is managed organically and in transition to being certified.

Owner, Michael Seresin, says “we embrace organic and increasingly biodynamic practices, as a fundamental part of who we are, and the way we believe we can make the best quality wine. We want our business to leave a light footprint; it’s an ethical consideration, if you can make great wine naturally, why not do it,?”

Seresin Estate has only recently made the decision to begin certifying its wine, despite previous vintages being eligible for certification.  “First and foremost, we’re about great wine”, says Seresin General Manager MJ Loza. “We want to be known for our quality, not for our environmental philosophies, so we’ve taken a low-key approach to promoting our organic and biodynamic credentials. Increasingly though, customers and consumers have asked for clarification about our organic practices, so certification was a natural next step.  The BioGro certification is there on the back label so people who are interested have that assurance, but primarily we do it because we believe it’s the right thing to do and the way we make the best wine we can.”.

According to BioGro interest in organic viticulture is at an all time high.

Senior BioGro auditor Jared White says “in the last couple of years there have been ten or so applications for vineyard conversions. It is likely that in the next two or three years there will be several other Marlborough certified organic wines released.”

Rather than seeing this as a competitive threat, Seresin Estate is pleased to see other producers moving to organics, says MJ Loza, “It’s better for the environment better for the community and better for the industry long term.”

The 2006 ‘Marama’ Sauvignon Blanc and the 2007 Seresin Estate ‘Memento’ Riesling are both single vineyard wines, produced from fruit grown at the ‘Home’ vineyard surrounding the winery.   2006 is the 10th vintage of Seresin Estate ‘Marama’ – a barrel fermented and barrel aged Sauvignon Blanc.  In contrast, 2007 is the very first vintage for the Seresin Estate ‘Memento’ Riesling – a new addition to Seresin’s range.

ends

© Scoop Media