Why Buy Organic Wine | Sedlescombe Organic Fruit Wines and Cider; English Wines, Fruit Juices, Liqueurs

Why Buy Organic?

Organic is the success story of our time. Wine lovers too, are realizing that drinking Organic wine, especially Local organic wine, is an essential ingredient of a 21st Century eco-friendly lifestyle. We've been producing organic English wine for over 25 years. We were one of the handful of companies who helped to pioneer organic farming in the UK back in the 1970's. Our founder and wine-maker Roy Cook's achievement was recognized in the featured article 'Eco Hero' published in the Telegraph in September 2008. So at Sedlescombe we believe there's more to it than merely having 'organic' on the label. It's about a lifestyle choice with a feel good factor as well as having many other varied benefits:-

Taste
We go to great lengths to ensure that you receive great tasting organic wines, fruit juices, liqueurs and ciders. Hand work on the vines and hand-picking ensures only top quality fruit goes into our products. But the story doesn't end there. It's no use growing top quality fruit and then bashing the goodness out of it. At Sedlescombe we use our expertise in winemaking and processing to apply more gentle traditional methods of juice extraction which retain the full flavour of the fruit.

Recent Awards include 'Highly Commended' in UKVA Wine of the year competition for Sedlescombe 2008 Regent Red. 'Bronze' in the UKVA Wine of the Year Competition for Sedlescombe 2005 Dry White. 1st prize for the 'Best Dry White' and 3rd prize for Rosé awarded at the 2004 English Wine Festival; several 'Highly Commended' awards at the English Wine of the Year Competitions in 2004 and 2005. In the 2005 Great Taste awards Sedlescombe achieved 'Silver' with their organic Blackberry and Apple Juice and 'Bronze' with Apple Juice, Grape Liqueur and Apple Wine.

Wildlife habitats
The Wildlife Trusts,English Nature, theRoyal Society for the Protection of Birds and the National Trust all support an increase in organic farming because of the positive contribution organic farming can make to wildlife and conservation.

Duck family exploring the spring flowering 'green manure' plants growing between vines at Sedlescombe's organic vineyard at Bodiam Castle

Why Buy Organic Wine?
Organic Wines are produced from certified organically grown grapes. They also have to be made in an organically certified winery in accordance to EU organic standards.

The main difference between organic and conventional wines is what happens to the soil and vines in the vineyard. No chemical fertilizers, herbicides (weed-killers), fungicides (stop mildew diseases, etc) or insecticides are allowed in organic vineyards. Soils are kept healthy and fertile with green manure cover crops such as clovers, which also improve wild-life habitats for insects (bees and butterflies) and birds.

The only permitted sprays are minerals such as sulphur and copper which stay on the plant surface and do not enter the sap system or leave residues in the fruit like the systemic chemical sprays used in non-organic vineyards can do. These rather 'primitive' organic sprays are less effective at controlling diseases meaning much hand work is also required to keep the vine canopy open and airy to help prevent fungal diseases. Some organic vineyards are switching to newer disease resistant vine varieties requiring little or no spraying.

In the winery several additives and wine making aids permitted for conventional wines are not authorized. Sulphites which are used to prevent premature aging of wines have to be kept to less than half the amount allowed for ordinary wines.

Look for the organic certification logo on the label, and do not be fooled by some sellers claiming that the grower is organic but doesn't bother getting his wine independently certified. If its not certified.... it isn't organic! EU wine labels are not permitted to use the wording 'organic wine' on the labels so you'll often find the words ' produced from organically grown grapes'. But the winery and wine-making still has to be certified organic for the wine to be allowed to carry an organic certification logo.

Health and the Environment
Organic wine is made from fruit which has been grown and processed without the use of synthetic fertilisers, chemical weedkillers, chemical disease-control sprays, insecticides, growth regulators, flavour-enhancers or genetic engineering.

"I make wines in the traditional way. All the fruit is hand-picked, which means only the best bunches are selected. No mechanical pumps or augurs commonly used elsewhere, which can extract too many astringent phenols (tannins) into the juice, are used." During maturation, minimum interference is the rule. Several additives permitted for ordinary wines are not permitted for organic wines. Even sulphites (added to stop oxidation) have to be kept to less than half the level allowed for non-organic wines. So, here they are! Pure goodness and a full flavour, just as Nature intended!"

Roy Cook (Proprietor and Wine-maker)

Vegetarians and Vegans
Sedlescombe products are suitable for vegetarians (gelatine-free) and Registered with the Vegan Society (no animal derived products).

Farm Pressed English Organic Fruit Juices

Have you ever tried freshly pressed fruit juices? You'll certainly know if you have - the experience is totally different from the diluted concentrates packed in cartons on offer at most supermarkets. For a start the taste is distinctly fresh and very fruity - I mean really fruity - not at all brown and toffee-like.

Take our organic apple or pear juice for example:- Just wholesome fresh organic apples, blended from culinary and dessert varieties, crushed and pressed on-the-farm from organic fruit grown locally in Kent and Sussex.

To lock the freshness in and to stop oxidation - which could turn the juice brown - we add some vitamin C as an anti-oxidant and then pasteurize the juice as it is being bottled so that it keeps fresh for up to 18 months without turning to cider!

No preservatives, colourings, sweeteners or water are added. Once opened, the juices will easily last for up to 4 days in the fridge - if you can resist them that long!

Fruit Wines & Ciders

There is a long tradition in this country of making wines from many other fruits apart from grapes, eg. rhubarb, gooseberries, even pea-pods! Indeed our wine-maker used to make these type of wines as a hobby before the vineyard existed!

Nowadays at Sedlescombe some of the freshly-pressed apple juice is fermented into Apple Wine and Cider.

Many people wonder what the difference is. Firstly, the apple varieties used are different, but mainly it is the different yeasts used which lead to two distinct products. So called 'killer yeasts' are used in the Apple Wine to inhibit the growth of wild yeast colonies during fermentation. The result is a light, fresh fruity wine with a delightful appley bouquet.

Cider, on the other hand, is allowed to ferment on its wild yeast producing a slower fermentation and a fuller-bodied flavour than with the Apple Wine. This is the traditional style of Cider making - producing a still, extra strong beverage, pleasant - even exciting to drink - but not to be fooled around with!

Black Cherry Wine Produced from fresh cherries grown on tall traditional trees in Kent, the Garden of England. This wine is becoming something of a speciality of Sedlescombe with quite a local following. Some of the stones are crushed during the processing to impart a special almond-like character to the wine. Combined with 14.5% vol. alcohol and ample sweetness this produces a very seductive combination!

Classic Country Wines We also market Elderflower wines (both still and sparkling), Elderberry, and Blackberry - ALL Organic and suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans.