September is widely celebrated as ‘Organic September’ in the wine industry as we hit the peak of wine harvesting in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s therefore a great time to celebrate regenerative, sustainable, biodynamic and organic viticulture. How can you do that? Support wineries all around the world that are making a difference by drinking a bottle!
Recently, I teamed up with one of my favourite places on the Isle of Wight, Ventnor Botanic Garden, for a Wine & Plant Pairing event. Curator Chris Kidd and I led 30 guests through the garden’s various international zones, with him describing the flora and fauna and me pairing them with special wines, each with their own eco-credentials. Here are those wines as well as some others that deserve your attention for the good they do:
Sparkling Wine
Graham Beck Sparkling Pinot Noir 2019, £25 (£20 mix 6) Majestic
With impressive eco-credentials, Graham Beck is the king of what’s known over in South Africa as the ‘Cap Classique method’ (like Champagne). This vintage wine is made with just under 90% Pinot Noir and a splash of Chardonnay, giving red berries on fresh, flaky pastry with a dollop of cream.
Hambledon Classic Cuvée, £32 - £36 Ocado, BBR, ND John
From the UK’s oldest commercial vineyard, this famously rich and biscuity, traditional method sparkling is a near-equal blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier. Hambledon uses regenerative viticulture, 100% renewable energy and low-intervention winemaking. Stay tuned for their NEW ‘English Cuvée’, which we premiered last night, coming to Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and more early Oct.
White Wine
Yealands Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2025, £12.50 Tesco
The Yealands Reserve Sauvignon is a step up from the straight blend, using higher-grade fruit from their coastal Seaview Vineyard site. It’s a particularly zingy and citrusy, minerally white with lashings of passion fruit and cut grass. The winery is now carbon positive too. Big tick.
Florão Branco, Quinta da Fonte Souto, £15 VINVM, Ocado
An elegant white made from Arinto and Verdelho grapes grown within a National Park on the slopes of the São Mamede range, the highest point in Alentejano. It’s cooler here, which helps preserve the acidity and aromatics of this very pretty, citrusy wine with subtle, tropical flavours.
Paul Mas Reserve Marsanne 2024, £12 (£11 mix 6) Majestic
A wonderfully textural, foodie white with notes of apricot, peach, honey and herbs. Les Domaines Paul Mas ensure strict biodiversity and sustainable management, with around 40% of their vineyards being fully organic and the remaining vines using low-intervention, herbicide-free methods. They use integrated biodynamic principles on select sites too.
Rosé Wine
Mirabeau One Day Rosé, £20 Ocado, Harrods, maisonmirabeau.com
‘One day, all wine will be made like this’, i.e. hailing exclusively from regeneratively farmed vineyards, so say Jeany and Stephen Cronk of Mirabeau. (B-Corp). A jewel in the Mirabeau portfolio, this is an elegant and subtly complex Provençal rosé with notes of red berry, white peach and quince with a twist of orange citrus. Stunning.
Château Galoupet, Cru Classé Organic Rosé 2023, £57 (£46 mix 6) Majestic
Galoupet is one of only 18 official Cru Classé estates (the most premium) in Provence, and it serves as a leading sustainability model, with rigorous regenerative viticulture, ecosystem restoration and packaging innovation across the 160-hectare estate. This exceptional rosé is wonderfully viscous and savoury, with notes of mango, lime, wild strawberry and a slick of salinity. It’ll age beautifully for another couple of years too.
Red Wine
Altano Rewilding Edition Douro Red Wine, £11.25 Tesco
Owned by the B-Corp Symington Family Estates, this is made with a blend of local Portuguese grapes: Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca (which you’ll find in the famous fortified wines of Port). It’s a silky, elegant red with notes of violet, bramble fruit with dark chocolate. It can even take a slight chill. Proceeds from every bottle go towards Rewilding Portugal’s pioneering conservation work.
Veramonte Pinot Noir, £11.75 (on offer) Ocado & £16.75 Amazon
Organic and sustainably made, this Chilean Pinot Noir from the cooler Casablanca Valley is a wonderfully easy-drinking, medium-bodied red that’s all about smoky, dark cherry spice, some crunchy raspberry and a little earthiness. A fantastic example of New World Pinot and made with respect for the land.
Domaine Bousquet, Virgen Vineyards Natural Malbec 2024, £14 Booths in store, Vintage Roots
From Argentina’s pioneering regenerative organic estate Domaine Bousquet (the first regenerative wine producer outside California to achieve this status), this Malbec is a no-sulphites-added, minimal-intervention red that offers an exceptionally pure expression of high-altitude Malbec. Now available in all Booths stores and online from the end of September!
Liked this? Try these:
Wine & Plant Pairings with Ventnor Botanic Garden
Fine Wine from Essex? Yes - and 10 to Try
10 Top Cabernet Sauvignon Wines from Around the World
LISTEN: The HelenaSips Podcast
I bet that was a lovely event 🥂🥂