Organic Wine and Biodynamics

This article is Part II of a two part series by Céline Guillou. Part I, "Green Wine: What Does "Green" Mean? Does it Taste Better?", can be viewed here.

Organic Wine

For many years, the simple mention of “organic wine” inspired a less than enthusiastic reaction from wine consumers, who generally viewed purveyors of organic wine as “tree-huggers”. In the last few years, however, this negative perception has begun to diminish as new farming and winemaking techniques have dramatically improved the quality of those wines. This improvement also coincides with the much-needed attention that is now being paid to environmental issues. As a result, the once derided organic wines are increasingly appealing to consumers and critics alike, whether initially motivated by their palates or social consciences.

The biggest problem today is that the term “organic wine” is actually often misused, at least in the United States where the USDA’s standards for organic certification differ from those in other wine-producing countries. Like in other countries, to be certified organic a wine must be made with grapes that were grown in a vineyard that uses organic farming techniques. This essentially means that no chemical or artificial fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or other treatments were used on the grapes.