True Cost of Organic

True Cost of Organic

Beauty shot of L'Acadie Blanc in bloom photobombed by bee, 2024

Our Gaspereau vineyard has been organic from inception -  20 years next year since planting the first organic vineyard in Nova Scotia!  Costs are substantial compared to conventional wineries but our drive comes from the heart and we wouldn't do it any other way. Here are some examples of the costs for organic wine,

Farming Practices

The organic approach is to manage a heathly living soil so that it provides for the vines. We brew plant-based grape pomace compost and horsetail teas, all from our property, to inoculate soil and protect leaves and clusters. 

Pests are monitored and biodiversity is encouraged to attract natural predators with selected cover crops between rows, herbal plots of cilantro and dill, and natural forest.

Certification Costs

We have two levels of organic certifiication - producer (vineyard) and processor (winemaking). Both have rigorous inpections and audits including mass and traceability. The organic logo on every one of our bottles is the end result and shows our customers transparency and integrity. 

Organic certification is required to be able to be certified to the Biocyclic Vegan International standard, an added level of sustainability that has costs such as sourcing organic cane sugar for sparkling tirage liqueur that has not been filtered through bone char. Their logo is on our bottles to show transparency of our vegan wine.

Environmental Stewardship

There are many pesticides available for conventional wineries that protect vines from within (systemic) and there are residues in wine and groundwater. Only naturally occuring contact inputs are allowable for organic and they can be costly.

The Canada Organic logo is 15 years old this year and Choose Canada Organic is celebrating. Our winemaker Bruce was on the working committee with other organic winemakers across Canada to decide on standards. Visit their site for more information.