An organic wine is that wine whose grapes have been cultivated without using any synthetic fungicides, herbicides or fertilizers. Organic wines are thus free of chemicals.
The biodiversity is really important in vineyards where organic wine is produced, the owners of these vineyards opted for natural help, for example in California plum trees are planted in organic vineyards as they attract Anagrus wasps that then eat the vine leafhoppers.
Nowadays, organic wine consumption is growing, hopefully not as a trend in the current society but as an awareness of the dangers of chemicals in food and drinks.
The Organic Wine Certification
In order to get an organic certification, the wine producers need to undergo regular inspections. Each country has its own association for these matters like the Soil Association in England, the Ecocert in France of the CCOF in California.
Currently some vineyards are in the process of reconversion, meaning that they will go from a conventionally maintained vineyard to a fully organic one. This process will take three years. After that time, the theory says that the grapes will be stronger as the soil and the ecosystem will help the vines.
Finally, some wineries do produce organic wines but don’t want to have an official certification as they consider it not strict enough or because it needs to be paid.
Legislation on organic wines
According to the European legislation, grapes grown organically should use minimum amount of chemicals. Pesticides and fertilizers are not allowed but there are natural alternatives that wine producers use, these are the manure for the soil and natural sprays for the vines. Organic farming means no use of pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers or herbicides.
There’s an ongoing discussion about the use of preservatives in wine production. Regarding grape growing it is agreed that this should not use any chemicals but during the process of fermentation a preservative, sulfur dioxide in most cases is added to preserve the wine during a long time. This is a matter of discussion as most wines are considered to gain qualities after a few years of bottling.
In Europe wines that have added sulfites but that use grapes grown organically can’t be labeled as “Organic wines” but are rather labeled as “wine made from organic grapes”. In the United States this distinction is not possible, meaning that all wines labeled as organic need to be grown organically and have no sulfites.
Natural wine and sustainable farming
The actual tendency in some wineries is to go to a natural winemaking process, meaning the organic and biodynamic production of wine. These farmers practice a non interventionist approach, and use minimal or no sulfur dioxide. However natural wine has no certification yet.
There is also a movement to sustainable farming on vineyards. Some examples include the composting and cultivation of plants that should attract insects favorable for he vines or encouraging the biodiversity in the vineyards, allowing weeds and wildflowers to grow. They will nurture animals and also force the vines to produce fewer grapes and thus making the existing ones more tasteful.
