Market organic grape grows between southern wineries

The Rio Grande do Sul, known for harbouring numerous wineries that are responsible for the bulk of the production of wine, sparkling wine and grape juice in the Brazilian market, has shown an increasing interest in planting and the production of products made from organic grapes. Despite the price of organic grape production was approximately 15% greater than the American grape-the flagship of the Brazilian producers, which means an increase in the final price, there is a good demand in the wine market, like grape juice market, according to Flavio Ziglio, Winemaker of the cooperative Aurora.
"The management of organic grape, since the soil cannot have any kind of contact with herbicide or any other type of fungicide three years ago, according to Brazilian law, requires more careful due to the pests. The producer has to be very careful or you could lose the entire crop. So it ends up being more expensive, "said Ziglio in an interview with Efe.
According to the legislation, only the copper sulfate is allowed in the cultivation of fruit, in addition to the organic compounds, which ends up making the process and influencing the final price of the products.
In the cooperative Aurora, most organic grape is used in the manufacture of table wine. In the Brazilian market, that kind of wine can cost up to 20% more than the conventional.
According to Ziglio, a kilo of American grape revolves around the $ 0.60, while the organic grape reaches R $ 0.70.
Each year, the Aurora sells 30 thousand liters of wine made from organic grapes. For each quart, is used about 1.5 kg of grapes. If compared with the traditional wine market, that number is still unimpressive. "Despite still being a small market, it is growing and increasing demand", according to the winemaker.
The same thing happens with the juice made with organic grapes. The Salton, Brazil's biggest producer of sparkling wine, doesn't make wine from organic grapes, but bet on the market of juices.
According to the company's Chairman, Daniel Salton, though this type of production be more expensive, demand has been good, and the price of the final product "does not influence much because people who are in search of this type of product does not care much about the price but with the certainty that the soil was cultivated without any fungicide".