Choosing Sustainable Wine: A Conversation with Chris Whitehouse

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Choosing Sustainable Wine: A Conversation with Chris Whitehouse

Published October 2026

In this week’s newsletter we touched on how to choose a wine that’s genuinely made with care for the land. It’s harder than it sounds: “sustainable” isn’t a regulated term on a wine label, and the shelves are often full of claims that are difficult to check.

Here, Chris Whitehouse, Supervisor at Knepp Wilding Kitchen & Shop and the person behind our organic and biodynamic wine collection shares his insights. Here’s what he looks for, what makes him wary, and the English wine that changed his mind.

“Sustainable” isn’t a regulated term on a wine label, but “organic” is. When you’re choosing a wine for the list, what do you look for?
There are a vast number of labels and awarding bodies claiming sustainability, and a huge amount of greenwashing in the wine industry. But my choices always start with quality. Quality and sustainable practice tend to go hand in hand: a producer who really engages with their soil health is far more likely to put the same love and care into the winemaking itself.

It’s also important to check who is accrediting a sustainability claim. Organic certification (vin biologique in France) is a great place to start, but even better is Demeter, which certifies wines as biodynamic. Where organic says “I’m not harming my soil now”, biodynamic says “I’m adding to my soil to improve it for tomorrow”. That’s done with composts and preparations, and also by encouraging a diversity of plants and wildlife.

Wineries that genuinely farm this way are proud of it. They’re excited to share their data and talk about what they do. If a producer isn’t happily offering up the facts to back their claims, that’s a huge red flag.

The Wilding Kitchen & Shop works with slow-grown produce from our own land, which tastes different from conventionally farmed food. How does that shape your choices?
One of the exciting things about working here is our connection to what’s grown and reared on the land. The work our Market Garden team and Butchery do gives us produce with a vibrant depth of flavour, and it demands wines with equal energy.

The great thing is that organic and biodynamic wines naturally take up a range of macro and micronutrients from the soil that aren’t present in “conventionally” farmed grapes. What’s more, by allowing the vines to be attacked by pests, fungal infections and diseases, they build up their natural defence mechanisms: antioxidants. This allows for lower use of sulphur to protect the wine from oxidation, and lets the grape’s natural flavours sing.

Is there a wine that surprised you, or challenged an assumption you had?
There’s a consensus among many English winemakers that, with our marginal climate and wet weather, the only vineyards that can commit to organic certification are those with billionaire backers. Albury Vineyards changed my mind.

Albury is family-owned, certified organic, farmed biodynamically, and a founder member of the Wine GB Sustainability Scheme. Their Silent Pool Rosé, which we serve at the Wilding Kitchen & Shop, is fresh, easy-drinking and particularly delicious.

If a customer has £15 to spend and wants something that tastes great and was made responsibly, what should they buy?
There’s no bad wine on our list, but everyone’s palate is slightly different, and not everyone will enjoy the same wines, especially once food comes into it. My advice is always to ask for a second opinion.

I’d humbly describe myself as someone who knows a fair bit about wine, but I’ll never know a wine list better than the people who work with those wines every day. Even if you’re not sure what you like, tell a server about a wine you’ve enjoyed before and what you’re planning to eat. They should be able to guide you to something you’ll love.

Knepp Wilding Kitchen & Shop, Worthing Road, Dial Post, RH13 8NQ · 01403 470 690