#1108478 added February 16, 2026 at 9:18am Restrictions: None
Copper? I Barely Know 'Er.
Well, no, I haven't started suddenly following Wine Spectator. Though I might. Still, I'd rather drink it than read about it, except maybe in this case:
Okay, well, if it's truly an indispensable tool, then the answer is "stop being 'organic'" or "move out of France."
The irony (another heavy metal) here is that copper is considered "organic" for agricultural purposes. Which is distinct from the chemical meaning of "organic" (carbon, not copper, compounds), and the original meaning of "organic" (from organs).
My amusement at this is tempered only by knowing that, in French, what we call organic in the agricultural sense is called biologique.
It leaves organic winemakers confronting an existential question: How do you protect vines from downy mildew when your primary defense has been eliminated?
Because no one in France has ever confronted an existential question before.
“Copper is a natural element, naturally occurring in nature,” said Gérard Bertrand, a leading vigneron in southern France and advocate of organic farming.
Uh huh. Okay. I'm letting the repetition of "natural" slide there because it's either a translation or someone's second or third language. But I'm not going to let the natural fallacy slide, oh hell no, not me.
Once more for the back row: "natural" doesn't mean "good." Poison ivy is natural. Tobacco is natural. Arsenic is a naturally occurring element much like copper.
Copper is a naturally occurring element and is approved worldwide for organic agriculture. Critically, there is no equivalent for organic farming. The other options are forbidden synthetic fungicides.
Not, mind you, that I'm coming down on one side or the other here. I don't know enough about copper toxicity or viticulture in general to weigh in on what France did, and even if I did know enough, they wouldn't give one single shit about my opinion. All they care about is that I enjoy the finished product and keep sending them money in exchange.
Copper, while it does protect vines from fungal disease, is a persistent metal that accumulates irreversibly in the top few inches of vineyard soils. In large quantities it disrupts essential microbial communities and earthworm populations that define healthy terroir. It can also contaminate the waterways that flow through wine regions. There are also mounting concerns about its impact on vignerons and vineyard workers themselves.
Well, there you go. Look at that: something natural isn't good for you.
Regarding a way forward, Jestin remains optimistic, hoping that scientific research can devise alternatives to copper.
Honestly, I hope so too. French wine is expensive enough with tariffs.
Trade body SudVinBio cautioned that producers may abandon organic practices altogether.
About that, I don't care.
Two copper products remain authorized, but they carry stringent restrictions, which may make them less practical. Without viable alternatives to copper, how does organic viticulture survive in regions where Bordeaux's Atlantic humidity, Burgundy's continental rainfall, Cognac’s and Champagne's persistent dampness all create conditions where mildew protection determines vineyard sustainability?
I have another article in my pile about the American chestnut, which used to dominate Blue Ridge Mountain forests until a fungus destroyed the entire native population. It'll pop up eventually, but the point for now is that things change. And right now, things, climatically speaking, change even faster. France is very strict about its wine growing policies; for instance, they don't allow irrigation apart from whatever rains fall. So either they can become less strict, or wine growing will shift to some other region.
Which would be a shame, but at least they'll still have cheese. Which I don't think has any copper in it, but I haven't tested it for that.
