Which countries produce wines with the least amount of fungicides? Pesticides are used on grape plants to kill fungus because grapes are vulnerable to rot from powdery and downy mildew. Humid places like Bordeaux and Champagne rely heavily on chemical spraying with wines from around France showing a trace of pesticides traces in every bottle. Heavy metals where found in wine including Hungary, Slovakia, France, Austria, Spain, Germany and Portugal. Among countries faring best were Italy and Argentina. (The United States and Canada, among others, were not part of the study.) The LCBO in Ontario performs a chemical analysis on every wine sold in the province. While pesticides were a problem many years ago, the lab now rarely detects residues. Fungicides are the most commonly identified family of pesticides; they vary depending on the climatic conditions. Wet seasons may require more fungicide spraying than a dry one, and fewer residues will make it into the final product if the spraying is performed before harvest.
