Why is organic wine more expensive than regular wine when the producers have saved money on fertlizers?

Question

Surely organic wine should be cheaper as, if there are no pesticides etc involved then the production costs are lower hence getting a cheaper wine. Are producers duping us on the health issue and thus charging more for the same product?

Answer 1

Actually it is more labor intensive to weed, prune, and protect from insects without the pesticides, and fertilizers, in my opinion. But you may be right, we could just be getting duped, like electric/hybrid cars(planned obsolescence)......there are conspiracies we have not even imagined...some are good, many are very bad.....

Answer 2

My guess would be that since they use less fertilizers and pesticides, they're able to grow their grapes at a slower rate than if they used the other things. That gives them a smaller supply, forcing them to sell each bottle for a higher price to cover their expenses and turn a profit.

Answer 3

well... its not fertilizers, some still can be used.  mostly organic fertilizers though, which are more expensive.  Pesticides can't be used MOSTLY.  those have sometimes been completely removed, or replaced by pest-eating instects in some cases, which of course are expensive to raise and ship.

Answer 4

There are a few reasons for organic wine being more expensive.  Your argument that they save money on fertilizers is not logical.  If NOT fertilizing was a good cost cutting measure, conventional growers would take that route themselves.  If NOT spraying pesticides was a good cost cutting measure, the pesticide companies would be bankrupt.

Fertilizers and pesticides have the goal of increasing the amount of produce that an area of land will yield.   Many of the  pest fighting strategies used by organic farmers are labor intensive.  Processing and applying organic fertilizers is also labor intensive.

Anything that is 'certified' organic has gone through some kind of third party auditing process.  This costs money and it will be passed on to consumers.

The winemaking process would have to be organic too, I assume.  That means more auditing and also none of the convenient chemically assisted shortcuts that the modern winemakers use like silicium dioxide and potassium metabisulfite.

The economics of scale drive up the price of organic wine as well.  If people vote with their dollars, more companies will start competing withing the organic niche and prices will drop.

I was involved in a Fair Trade Organic coffee company for years and we sold brewed coffee at a loss to attract loyal customers and to be competitive with non organic retailers.  Fresh roasted bags of coffee were selling for probably twice what you would have paid for a can of coffee at Walmart.  We weren't competing with Walmart.

Answer 5

Organic vines yield less grapes per plant and have higher percentages of damaged plants due to bugs.  So the wine producer has to either have more plants and a larger staff or have a far lower yield of finished wine per season.  Which in turn raises the cost of the finished product.

I don't believe that the wine producers are attempting to dupe anyone simply make a healthier product and maintain a profit margin.

Answer 6

I agree with Just M.

Answer 7

Hi Ali,

The truth is that organic wines are not more expensive than conventional wines. If that is your experience, then it was just coincidence. Most organic wines I've tasted were very affordable.

Some of the other answers make good points: it's true that organic farming is very labor intensive but organic farmers will tell you "the more work you do in the vineyard, the less you have to do in the winery". And with this statement, you understand that vines, even when farmed organically, are still treated against bugs, grey rot, mildew,... The difference is that they are treated with natural products.

While being certified organic is a long process that does cost money, the cost is not high enough to explain a "selling price increase". Especially when it's spread over thousands of bottles. Also bear in mind that  a lot of people are organic without being certified.

I don't believe there is any duping involved, although the wine business, like any other, has it's share of miscreants and frauders. Before one starts farming organically (or bio-dynamically), one must be in a certain mindset. In that mindset, your desire is to farm your fruit in a sustainable and respectful manner, in order to create a product as natural as possible with as little intervention as possible.

Marcel Lapierre makes organic wines in Morgon, France and his wines sell for $16 in the US. Quintessa makes bio-dynamic wines in Napa, Ca. and their wines sell for well over $90... price is more often a sign of prestige rather than a guarantee of quality.

You therefore have a choice, in this consumer-driven society, wether to buy organic or not. Sometimes it will cost you more and sometimes less. In the end, the less sulfites you drink, the better for you!

Hope this answers some of your questions.

p.s. the grapes never come from China...

Answer 8

Because the grapes come from China, probably -

Strange that your name being Ali, you ask so many provocative questions about wine .

Answer 9

Part of it, you are paying for the organic name, but to be perfectly honest, if you are organic, you have more waste. You must throw out any grapes with bugs or mildew and such.