Oz Clarke’s favourite tipple

06-10-2008 10:31

British wine taster extraordinaire Oz Clarke has admitted that his desert island drink wouldn’t be some grand red wine, an exalted champagne or a venerable vintage port. Instead he would choose the drink of his childhood, pure British organic milk, and in our video Oz is teaching the nation how to become a connoisseur of the white stuff.

Oz is an advocate of the 4 ‘s: see, smell, savour and swallow. Using skills that would make any sommelier proud, he shows us how to use every sense to swirl, sniff and roll the flavour over your tongue. Think dollops of cream on English scones and Wimbledon strawberries.

Organic milk has all the nutritional goodness of non-organic milk, but the fact that the cows are fed on a more natural diet means that there are additional benefits. Not only does the milk contain higher vitamin levels, but traditional production methods mean that you’re helping farming in the UK and supporting local industries. Information from OMSCo, the organic milk cooperative, also shows that non-organic milk comes from farms that are allowed to use GM cattle feed, routine antibiotic treatments and synthetic pesticides. These are not permitted on organic farms, which makes it an ethical choice too.

OMSCo dairy farmer, Mike Cottrell also backs the Taste Organic Milk initiative to encourage people to take more time to appreciate the real taste of organic milk as a drink, declaring: "Our farm is organic which is what I believe to be the key to great tasting milk. We use traditional farming methods to produce purer, more natural organic milk that is good for you, the cows and the countryside. Our cattle are fed on the very best quality non GM feed, and our fields are not treated with pesticides. I really believe that happy cows mean great tasting milk."