LEXICON OF CERTIFICATIONS Organic wine, biodynamic wine, natural wine, Vegan wine ...

Certified ORGANIC WINE



Since 2012, the wine can be organic. Before, we used to talk about "wine made from organically grown grapes). The French state labels (AB) and the European Union (12 leaf stars) guarantee the organic quality of the fruit (absence of synthetic chemistry molecules in the soil and on the plant) and the application by the winegrower of a charter in the development of its wine (from vinification to bottling). The lowering of the sulphite level (total SO2 <100 mg / L for red wines and <150 mg / L for white / rosé wines) and the prohibition of some adjuvants go in the right direction but the authorization of many inputs, devices and technologies remain authorized (carbon dioxide snow, reverse osmosis, thermo-vinification, enzymes, yeasts, shavings and others). Converting an estate to organic farming requires 3 years of control before labeling. The certification bodies in France are Ecocert, Agrovert, Véritas and Alpes Contrôle.

 

BIODYNAMIC certified WINE

  

Demeter, created in 1932, is the historic label of biodynamics. It certifies the practices of a global agriculture in which the agricultural field becomes a living organism. Biodynamics is inspired by the theories of an Austrian philosopher Rudolph Steiner, who in 1924 published a Cours d'Agriculture in which he advocates alternatives to intensive agriculture. Concretely, it is necessary to be organic and to practice biodynamics on all the agricultural surface of the field, to follow a specifications reinforced by a limitation of copper-metal in the treatments (3 kgs / ha / year in biodynamics against 6 for the organic one), to stimulate soil life, strengthen the immunity of the plant and structure it through the passage of at least 3 energized preparations during the year. It's a bit like homeopathy, we heal plants with plants and we respect the cycles of nature. The preparations are composed of plant (herbal teas), animal (dung) and mineral (quartz) materials, taking into account the terrestrial and celestial forces (dynamization). The wines are only Demeter certified if they respect a strict wine-making, aging and bottling charter: very few inputs, no technology, total SO2 <70mg / L for red wines and <90 mg / L for white / rosé wines. Since 1995, Biodyvin (a union of winegrowers) has also certified biodynamic wines.

 

NATURAL WINE

So-called “natural” wines have a low sulphite content or no added sulphite. However, there are no official regulations and each association is free to apply its own rules. The Natural Wines Association (AVN) is campaigning for legal recognition and has created specifications for its members. Recently brought before the appellation wines committee of the National Institute of Origin and Quality (Inao), the project has not been able to obtain the requested legal framework but, since 2020, a Vin Method Nature logo can end up on the bottles with the guarantee that the grapes come from organic farming, harvested manually, vinified only with indigenous yeasts without brutal practices such as reverse osmosis, flash pasteurization or thermovinification. No addition of sulfite before and during fermentation, just <30mg / L before bottling.

 

VEGAN WINE

A vegan wine is a wine made without any product of animal origin. Certification starts with winemaking, regardless of the farming method. Expertise Vegan Europe is an independent control body, it claims the most famous label, EVE VEGAN.

 

1% FOR THE PLANET

1 % for the planet is a global movement led by companies who have decided to donate 1% of their turnover to environmental preservation associations. The company BIOtiful wines has been a member of the collective since 2023.