The Organic Loire Valley
For the Loire Valley, organic wine is a way of life, not the latest trend
In the Loire Valley, the “heart of France,” sustainable farming – and the complex wines it produces – have always been part of the tradition.
At a recent trade tasting in Chicago presented by the Loire Valley Wine Bureau, those were the words on every distributor’s lips: Sustainable. Biodynamic. Organic. More often than not, the varietals poured into the oenophiles’ glasses were touted as following this popular movement in wine making.
The Loire Valley, an area that follows the longest river in France over a variety of terrains and climate, produces every style of wine – white, red, sparkling, rosé and sweet. Since winemaking has been part of the area’s rich culture for most of its history, sustainable farming is less a conscious effort to embrace the latest trend, and more a way of life.
“It’s just always what they’ve done,” explains Doug Dunlay, owner of Chicago’s D.O.C. Wine Bar. “Throughout France, as well as for most parts in Spain and Italy, they’ve been making wine and growing grapes for upward of 1,000 years. It was more of a simple, true form of farming and growing.”
Ross Wassermann, who manages the Loire Valley Wine Bureau, concurs. “Because the Loire is pretty far north, it’s a tough region in which to do farming with no intervention at all,” he says. “But, paradoxically, it has been a leader in what I would call ‘natural winemaking,’ which includes all three of those practices [organic, biodynamic and sustainable]. What [sustainable] really means is responsible.” But, he notes, unlike the aisles of your local grocery store, organic varietals from the Loire won’t always broadcast the distinction on their labels.
“You need to get certification to call your wine organic,” Ross says. “There are a lot of organic winemakers in the Loire, and a lot of them will not say so on the bottle, because they don’t want that to be a gimmick. They want people to judge the wine on its own merits.” The same is true, he adds, of the numerous biodynamic farmers. “Some of the leading producers are biodynamic, but once again, most of them don’t make a big deal about it.”
is managing editor and electronic media editor of Today's Chicago Woman. She is active in various local and national women’s groups, including Step Up Women's Network, Rape Victim Advocates and the TCW Foundation, and is a member of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ Young Professionals. She writes and speaks about local, national and international women's issues, including in her blog, “Twice As Well."
