Organic and Biodynamic
In its simplest terms organic wine is wine made from organically grown grapes. This essentially means that the winemaking process is free from man-made chemicals such as artificial fertilisers, chemical herbicides, synthetic insecticides or pesticides or genetically modified products. Anyone can practise organically, but producers need to be certified in order to label their wines organic. The exact rules and regulations in the production of an organic wine differ from country to country.
Biodynamic wine is the product of winemaking with the lowest intervention possible. The Biodynamic winemakers think about their vineyard in relation to the planet as a whole. These growers integrate the spiritual, ethical, and ecologically friendly ethos of biodynamics first defined by Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner in the 1920s, predating the organic movement. To run a biodynamic vineyard, it would also have to be organic, but not all organic vineyards are biodynamic.
Wines with added sulphites can still be labelled organic in the EU. Biodynamic wines do not contain added sulphates but they will contain low levels of naturally occurring sulphates.
