"One of the real surprises for us has been that after only two years the berry quality is on a par with conventionally grown grapes. I think there's a perception that it takes longer to transition to organic production, but the trial has shown that's simply not the case."
Mr Thompson said while the 2011 vintage in Hawke's Bay was one of the more challenging of his career the organic programme still produced "very pleasing" results.
The final year of the trial will see the participating wineries make wine exclusively from organic grapes and then evaluate the quality against wine made from the trial's conventionally grown grapes.
Mr Thompson had been more than convinced by the results.
"If you can grow the same quantity at the same quality for the same cost by going organic, then why not go down that route?"
He is presently monitoring 16 hectares of Gimblett Gravels vines - half being grown in the conventional style and half under strict organic controls.
He has long been interested in organics and said Mission was perfectly placed to be part of the project as it had a long tradition of nurturing the environment.
The results so far looked good.
Harvest data and disease control were virtually identical for both growing systems, while the costs of organic production were lower.
Mr Thompson said the challenges included controlling weeds and disease prevention, maintaining soil standards and ensuring strong yields "while keeping a rein on costs and producing fruit quality".
On that note he said quality was high in the test merlot and syrah blocks for the recent harvest.
"We didn't experience any differences in growth or ripening between the organic and conventional blocks.
"One of the real surprises for us has been that after only two years the berry quality is on a par with conventionally grown grapes."
He said that effectively put aside the perception that it took longer to transition to organic production.
