Glenn McGourty: Organic Viticulture's Impacted Viticulture

Let's face it - it ain't easy growing grapes organically. It's not nearly as formulaic as chemical systems with dangerous herbicides like Roundup. You have to be more observant, more sensitive, and more tuned in to the grapes to succeed in organic circles.

But little known is how organic wine growers have impacted the sustainability movement. Glenn McGourty, PhD, tells us how organic viticulture's approaches - cover cropping, cultivating biodiversity, and minimizing sulphur application - have led the way for sustainable wine grape growers (who are not yet organic).

McGourty is also the editor of the newly released Organic Winegrowing Manual (published by U.C. Davis) which I wrote about earlier.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Glenn this summer for a book proposal I am working on on organic viticulture pioneers and leaders.

McGourty writes a regular column in Wines and Vines called Grounded Grapegrowing and is widely recognized as one of the leading lights in organic viticulture in the U.S.

Read the article online in this month's Wines and Vines here.