Our stance is simplicity. A level playing field for all, to let the wine do the talking. 

  1. Not all organic wine is good. In fact, just as with non-organic wines, in years gone by there have been some truly terrible organic wines. However we believe that organic viticulture allows a winemaker to produce a superior quality of wine than when using non organic grapes.
  2. The right reasons. People chose to drink organic wine for a variety of reasons, from health benefits such as lower sulphites, environmental reasons such as no toxic spraying. However we come to organic wine with a purely selfish motive, we think organic growing can produce better wine.
  3. If a wine is listed in our results you can be assured of a great wine. Not all wines entered receive a medal, in 2016 we awarded 43 medals (gold, silver and bronze) out of 123 entries received. This assures consumers that when you see a “Organic Wine Awards’ sticker on a bottle, you can be sure of a quality bottle of wine.
  4. Certification is everything. If you’re not certified, then your not organic. The certification process is lengthy, and meticulous, however it provides a minimum standard definition for using the term ‘organic’, which in turn reassures consumers as to the vineyards practices.
  5. Independence. We aren’t affiliated with any NZ vineyard, and none of our judges work for any vineyard, distributor or in the supply chain for any organic vineyard eligible to enter the awards.
  6. Life’s not fair but these awards areUnlike many awards we do not charge an entry fee on wine, and have a very low sample requirement. This allows all vineyards big, and small to afford to compete on a level playing field.