Producers have nose for ethical trading

Mar 13 2009 by Helen Savage, The Journal

Wine bites

BIODYNAMIC viticulture sounds wacky with its weird homeopathic potions prepared in stags’ bladders or buried in cow horns, but the wine is often fantastic.

The leading Rhône Valley merchant Chapoutier’s makes one of the great bargains of the wine world from its own biodynamic estate in the unfashionable Coteaux du Tricastin.

The 2007 (£7.49 at Majestic) is a rich, silky red that resembles a Châteauneuf du Pape, but is better than most. Chapoutier’s wine labels are also in Braille – ever since one of their directors lost his sight.

Sagila Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (£8.25 from The Ethical Superstore) is as fine a Sauvignon from the Cape as I’ve ever tasted, with ripe grapefruit and peachy fruit and a deliciously dry minerality. It also happens to be a Black Empowerment wine.