Pierre Guigui on the History of Organic Wine in France: "Conventional Production Costs More for the Community"

In America, Guigui is not a household word, but in France, many know him for his years as wine editor of the prestigious Gault & Millau. He became a specialist in organic and biodynamic and a champion of these wines, starting an organic wine festival and competition in Paris in 1996. When this pioneering ventures started, more than 200 producers participated, showing how widespread the movement was even back then. 

Today more than 13 percent of French vineyards are certified organic with more on the way. It's been estimated that more than 300 producers in Bordeaux alone are converting to organic certification this year.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Guigui for this article written for Wine Business.com earlier this year. 

In order to help American readers understand more about the history of the now popular organic wine industry in France, I am sharing this article with you. It was published in the French wine magazine Vitisphere and, thanks to Google Translate, here it is in English. 

Should you prefer to read it in French, see: https://www.vitisphere.com/actualite-95109-Avant-une-retraite-bien-occupee-Pierre-Guigui-fait-le-point-sur-le-developpement-des-vins-bio.htm

Some themes are common to the state of organic wine in the U.S.–the lack of understanding (and appreciation for) organic wines, despite the fact that a disproportionate share of top wines come from these producers. The overlooked fact of conventional wine–polluters don't pay, but taxpayers do–for water pollution and other ecological impacts. 

Boldings are mine.

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27 years ago, you launched an organic wine fair, Amphores: was it visionary when you see the current growth of the category?

Pierre Guigui: "No matter how the wine is made, the winemaker can do whatever he wants, if the wine is good, it is good!" Thirty years ago, in the 90s, this watered down sentence was commonplace in the professional world where questions of ecology, the environment, the dangerousness of synthetic chemicals, additives, inputs, corrective oenology, industrialization, etc. were not relevant (and yet ...).

Sometimes we could also hear, "The other day I tasted an organic wine, frankly it was really bad." And, very often, the person who had uttered this sentence had tasted at most two or three wines from organic farming during the year (the wine-making specifications were formalized in 2012 [in the EU]). To form a general opinion, so categorical, based on the appreciation of a few wines seemed unreliable to us and the idea of ​​organizing a more exhaustive tasting in order to better understand the motivations of these organic winegrowers seemed essential to us.

Was this competition also there to reward quality organic wines, in the face of a more heterogeneous offer at the time?

I have never shared this point of view. As early as 1996 certain names, precursors of organic, biodynamic and even nature were already known or in the process of being. 

In Alsace: Pierre Frick, Kreydenweiss and Weber. In Bordeaux Le Puy and Meylet. 

In Burgundy: Dominique Derrain, Montchovet, Leroy, Vignes du Maine, Rateau and Giboulot. 

In Champagne: Fleury. 

In Loire: De l'Ecu, Cailloux du Paradis, La Sansonnière, Coulée de Serrant, Pierre and Catherine Breton. 

In Provence: Romanin, Sainte Anne and Hauvette. In the Rhône: Combier and La Canorgue. 

All these winegrowers were precursors of "wines from organic farming" by already practicing "cleaner" than conventional vinification and, from memory, some were even in a natural and / or biodynamic approach.

In view of this list, the proportion of talented areas out of the 200/250 organic producers in 1996 is remarkable. And this without counting other names a little less known, such as Garrelière, Gaillard for the Loire or even Bordeaux already in the avant-garde like Courson, Ouzoulias, in Rhône Jean David et des Cèdres or even Eugène Meyer one of the very first (if not the first) biodynamist of France based in Alsace.

Other names in a natural movement were in the organic landscape but not necessarily certified in 1996 such as Marcel Lapierre, Pierre Foillard, Yvon Métras (Beaujolais), Gramenon (Rhône), Pierre Overnoy (Jura)… And each year the list s 'extension with prestigious names, great talents, illustrious unknowns yet artisan winegrowers but little communicating. Organic wine has always been good, you just had to put a magnifying glass on it.

How do you see the current commercial development of organic wines: a long-awaited deployment or the fear of industrialization?

Organic will develop when it is accessible to as many people as possible. The greater the demand for this type of wine and food, the more production will turn to organic. This question is crucial, because organic production costs more for the end consumer, but conventional production costs more for the community. The costs of cleaning up are stratospheric. 

Cost of cleaning up nitrates in water? "70 euros per kilogram, and between 60,000 and 200,000 euros per kilogram for pesticides" according to the study by the general commissioner for sustainable development, etc.

We discuss here the notion of indirect costs (sometimes called externalized costs). Indeed, a conventional industrial wine of a few euros is more expensive (to the community) than an organic artisanal wine. 

Without wishing to overwhelm with figures yet another example: "the additional estimated household expenditure, generated by this pollution linked to surpluses of nitrogen and pesticides of agricultural origin would lie at least in a range of between 1,005 and 1,525 million d. euros, including 640 to 1,140 million euros passed on to the water bill, representing between 7 and 12% of this bill on a national average. »And this not to mention the costs related to diseases etc ...

As for industrial bio, it remains for me less polluting than industrial chemicals.

How do you see natural wines in this landscape?

I think everyone benefits from a continued vagueness with non-organic natural wines, which sometimes claim to be more organic than organic, and which in fact are "out of control". Everyone does what they want and peuy, but natural wines that make people believe they are organic without certification, it remains a deception. The consumer is no longer in this jumble of labels and self-proclamation. Unfortunately, to date you have found plain wines that are non-organic with SO2 levels that no one has checked. Fake natural wines remain for me a brake on the development of organic.

You are also involved in the association of Breton winegrowers: with climate change, does the future of French wines lie in new terroirs, such as Brittany?

The vine has always existed in Brittany as in Île-de-France. And this even before global warming. It does exist in Champagne, while the rate of sunshine is not the highest in France. But this region has invented a wine that matches its climate. In Brittany, we can speak of a renewal with a climate that will facilitate maturity.

Does this Breton viticulture have to be organic at the outset to be part of the future?

Young people who settle in Brittany are generally very attracted to organic products. The future will tell if this will translate into certifications but very likely.

You are not completely leaving the sector: what are your projects?

Yes, if I stop running the competition, I won't leave the world of wine. I run a “know how to drink” collection at Apogée. I am organizing a trade fair "Buvons terroirs" with around fifty organic winegrowers, the first edition of which will be on November 22. And I freelance a bit on demand. For the rest, it is associative, such as the "Buvons Pantin" show in June, Breton winegrowers, the brand new "Movis" association which brings together journalists and authors of wine and spirits ... A busy retirement.