When it comes to organic wines, there are two major categories: ‘Organic Wine’ and ‘Wines made with Organic Grapes.’ Here’s a quick overview of each.

Organic Wines

For a wine to be labeled as ‘Organic’ it must only use organically grown grapes and avoid synthetic additives. Both the growing of the grapes and the winemaking process must be certified. This includes making sure the grapes are grown without synthetic fertilizers. Other agricultural ingredients that go into the wine, such as yeast, also have to be certified organic. And then, any non-agricultural ingredients must be specifically allowed and can’t exceed 5% of the total product. Finally, while the winemaking process naturally yields some sulfur dioxide (sulfites), the winemaker cannot add sulfites to an organic wine. (Note: Sulfites are commonly added to wines to stop the fermentation process and/or as a preservative in the bottle).

Wines Made with Organic Grapes

Wines made from organically grown grapes are much more common. This means there were no synthetic pesticides or herbicides used in the vineyard. Yeast and any other agricultural ingredients used in winemaking aren’t required to be organic, but have to be produced without excluded methods (like genetic engineering). Finally, sulfites may be added to these wines.

Natural, Bio-Dynamic and Sustainably Produced Wines

Wine labels may also carry the terms ‘Natural,’ ‘Bio-Dynamic,’ or ‘Sustainably Produced.’ As you might have guessed these wines are not the same as organic wines. We’ll explore them in the next post. Cheers!