What is Organic Wine?
Legal definitions vary in different countries. A general definition if asked would be to say that organic wine is “wine made from organically grown grapes”.
Organically grown grapes are produced without the use of fungicides, herbicides, pesticides or chemicals. The difficulty comes in the production stage. Once the organically grown grapes have been picked all sorts of chemicals can be added and even more used as production aids.
The most frequently referred to chemical is sulphur or sulphites, however there are about 200 chemicals that may be added to wine at the production stage. Most producers will of course only select a handful from those allowed. It does seem however that some mass produced wines are in fact cocktails of chemicals rather than the grape juice we like to imagine.
Most organic wine producers will add sulphites but at a much lower level than those produced non-organically. It should also be realised that sulphites occur naturally on grapes. From talking with friends and clients we can see that many people normally intolerant to wine can drink organic wines happily. It is not all about the sulphites, but these do seem to affect asthmatics among others. Additionally, the lower sulphites gives credence to the idea that organic wine is less likely to give you a hangover.
In summary, when asked what is organic wine? We would say it is wine made from organically grown grapes and with less chemicals used at the production phase than conventional wines.
To go a step further look for one of our delicious Biodynamic Wines, the next level of Organic wines. The important thing to always bear in mind is that wine should be drunk to enjoy. Saying that if it is organic it should be better for you and better for the environment.
