In a new undertaking, Baileys of Glenrowan has transitioned over to Australian Certified Organic principles.

Inspired by the success of its 2012 Baileys Organic Shiraz, the Glenrowan winery has ventured back to traditional winemaking techniques, used when the winery was first founded in 1870.

As a result of this transition, all of Baileys of Glenrowan’s estate-sourced table wines will become organically certified wines as of the 2015 vintage.

Winemaker Paul Dahlenburg said some of the winemaking techniques the winery is now using as it transitions to organic certification, were those used by Baileys’ founder Richard Bailey, who took a minimal intervention approach.

“These days we take the best of old-world winemaking practices and combine them with modern winemaking techniques guided by organic principles to produce our wines at Baileys,” Paul said.

“It has been many years in the making to become fully certified organic – first the Baileys of Glenrowan Vineyard became fully certified in 2011, then in vintage 2012 we produced our first fully certified organic wine – our Organic Shiraz. We’ve now taken the final step of becoming fully certified organic, both in the vineyard and in the winery for all our estate-sourced wines, including our old vine shiraz.”

“The move towards organics made so much sense for us at Baileys, as this style of farming is particularly suited to Glenrowan’s warm and dry climate, which lends itself to a minimalist approach. The wines are a true representation of Glenrowan fruit, with regional characteristics that really shine through,” Paul added.

In order to gain organic certification, there are a number of regulations that a winery must comply with. These include only using organically approved products; maintaining a cleaning register; keeping ferments healthy and robust so that fermentation occurs in a clean and pure manner which minimises sulphide production; and passing annual audits both at the winery and in the vineyard.

Paul also said: “It’s a more holistic approach to winemaking. For example it has forced us to investigate winemaking techniques that create a healthy and robust fermentation process – which means that we are less likely to have to intervene post-fermentation.

“We see true potential in organic winemaking and can’t wait for people to taste the 2015 portfolio as the wines are released in the coming years.”

The 2013 vintage of the Baileys Organic Shiraz is currently available for $27.99. The winery is also expected to release a number of other shiraz wines over the next few weeks from the 2013 vintage. Baileys of Glenrowan is distributed by Treasury Wine Estates.