2020 will go down as a very challenging year for many of us and confronted with all the restrictions and regulations put in place around the world we had to re-think how we would celebrate our annual Organic Wine Week and ensure that our friends and community could still take part and help us spread the organic message.
We embraced the digital world much more than in previous years and were lucky enough to have wonderful partners who understood the importance of organic wine and were willing to pull out all the stops to celebrate with us. Luckily in New Zealand we were still able to hold a few smaller events across the country, giving the public a chance to sip and savour some great examples of organic wine, with the makers.
We have included the list of all the digital tastings from the week and links, so if you didn't get a chance to watch them live, then feel free to sit back with a glass of organic wine and experience some really interesting conversations between wine professionals and organic winegrowers.
organic wine week online tastings and events
During Organic Wine Week, Fine Wine Delivery put together four fantastic offers on renowned organic wines: Rippon, Dog Point, Millton and Te Whare Ra. Customers who purchased any of these offers automatically received a personal invitation to attend an exclusive online tastings over 4 days. Jeff Poole spoke with James Millton, Nick Mills, Ivan Sutherland and Anna Flowerday about their experiences with organic farming and challenges along the way. Please note; if you would like the recordings of this session, please email sarah@organicwinenz.com
GLENGARRY AND LOVEBLOCK
Coinciding with the start of #organicwineweek, Glengarry hosted a virtual tasting of @loveblockwine with Erica and Kim Crawford introducing their new Loveblock Tee! Pushing all sorts of boundaries, the Loveblock Tee has no sulphur added, with green tea the only preserving agent. BioGro-certified organic and vegan-friendly, this is a new category – not quite natural, but not conventional either – and all the more exciting for it. Click on the picture to link through to the IGTV chat.
JAMIE GOODE’S ORGANIC WINE WEEK IG LIVE SERIES
Jamie Goode, wine writer and wine columnist with UK national newspaper The Sunday Express, was joined for three separate conversations with Clive Dougall, OWNZ Chair and co-owner of Deep Down Wines, Claire Mullholland of Burn Cottage and James Millton from Millton Vineyards to discuss organics and biodynamics in New Zealand. Below are the links to those conversations.
ORGANIC WINE - DISPEL THE MYTHS AND EMBRACE THE FUTURE
Lucky for us, Session Four of the New Zealand Winegrowers webinar diaries also coincided with Organic Wine Week, so this session examines how sustainability, organics, biodynamics and natural wine all come together and their place in the markets.
Click here to watch online NOW.
Lead Master - Stephen Wong MW With - David Keck MS, John Szabo MS & Ronan Sayburn MS
ORGANIC WINE WEEK WITH THE SOCIAL HERBIVORE
- pairs New Zealand organic wine with food
🍷 Master Sommelier, Jen
🍀Vegan Food Consultant & TV Host, Priya
🍡Plant-based pairings elevated
📚 World’s 1st book of vegan food & wine pairings
Vegan certified
Biodynamic
Organic Click on the above image to view the tasting
organic wine week new zealand events
SHERWOOD QUEENSTOWN ORGANIC WINE FESTIVAL
To kick off Organic Wine Week, Sherwood Queenstown hosted an organic wine festival in the stunning courtyard of their property. The format was simple, people paid a small entry fee which gave them a wine glass and access to the 10 winery stalls, including @quartzreefwines, @mountedardwinery, @windrushorganic, @churtonwines, @ripponvineyard, @carrick_nz, @seresinestate, @domainethomsonwines, @aurumwineslucie, @kellywashingtonwines.
The weather was stunning, atmosphere chilled and with a wood fired BBQ outside, serving delicious food, it was a perfect way to start OWW 2020.
THE MANA WINE FEST
The Mana Wine Fest, held in the stunning grounds of Rock Ferry in Marlborough, saw the coming together of five local organic wine producers, live acoustic music by the very talented Campbell Lauder, delicious food by Karaka Cuisine and a whole lot of sunshine. It was a real celebration of Organic Wine Week with over 15 organic wines being poured and enjoyed on the day.
ORGANIC WINE WEEK at GLASS RESTAURANT
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND
glass Bar & Restaurant, Wellington, along with Churton Vineyards and Natural State, hosted a Meet your Maker evening. Jack Weaver took over the glass pour list for the night and matched them with stunning revolving plates and snacking dishes prepared by Chef Romesh.
100% ORGANIC 'WINE BY THE GLASS MENU @ SCOTCH Scotch Wine Bar & Wine Shop, Blenheim celebrated Organic Wine Week by creating an organic only glass pour menu, showcasing some of the best organic wines on their list and in their wine shop.
ORGANIC WINES BY THE GLASS AT NOBLE ROT, WELLINGTON
For all Wellington Organic wine lovers Noble rot offered a real treat during Organic Wine Week: a delicious selection of organic wines by the glass.
MONTH LONG ORGANIC WINE MONTH AT SPECIALIST CELLARS, LONDON
Specialist Cellars love organic wine SO much that they wanted to stretch this period out for the whole month! Which meant promoting some incredible producers that work tirelessly to create certified organic wines. They chatted, sipped and swirled on all their socials about the importance of drinking organically and some of their fav 'go-to' wines!
REGIONAL WINES IN-STORE TASTING Regional Wines in Wellington held an in-store wine tasting with our very own organic and biodynamic members Churton and Natural State.
ARDEN BAR & KITCHEN | NELSON
Arden is an avid supporter of all things organic and so during #organicwineweek, from 21 September to 27 September, Arden served a 'special' glass of organic wine each night to their customers.
This matched with their new Spring menu, was an unmissable experience for the people of Nelson.
And if that's not all, a few of our partners put together their own blogs, articles, posts to celebrate the week and talked about the importance of organics in the wine community. Check out a few of these in the links below.