Organic
- This one is simple. The stipulated conditions for organic wines are the same as those for organic foods. Namely, no chemical or artificial fertilizers or pesticides are used.
Biodynamic
- Like organic vineyards, biodynamic vineyards eschew pesticides and fertilizers. In addition, they take it a step further and engage in a set of farming practices that focus on the vineyard as a full ecosystem. The goal is for the entire farm or vineyard to be self-sustaining and farmed following the ecosystem's natural cycles. Biological diversity is a key component and at least 10% of farm acreage must be set aside as a preserve. Many of these farms keep animals whose manure is used to fertilize the soil. Some biodynamic farmers incorporate lunar cycles and astrological influence into their practices.
Sustainable
- A bit vague and all-encompassing. Both organic and biodynamic farmers are likely to consider themselves sustainable. In addition to the above, sustainable wineries may focus on energy efficiency or water conservation.
Natural
- While the first three groups look at how the grapes were farmed, natural wine refers to how the grapes are processed. Natural wines are low-intervention wines. They tend to be hand picked, juiced without machines, and hand-pressed (rather than mechanically-pressed). These wines lack added acid, sugar, enzymes, or sulfites.
Thanks for sharing this Amanda. I've often found the labelling of these classifications confusing and un-transparent.
ReplyDeleteFor example, last week I was purchasing a bottle of wine as a gift for a friend. They told us that they liked 'natural wine', and so we were searching a wine store for a suitable bottle.
The store attendant directed us to a small shelf of 'organic wines', and also pointed out several other bottles in different parts of the store that were apparently also 'natural'. However none of these bottles had any indication on their label that they were 'natural'.
We eventually ended up buying the one bottle in the store that said 'natural' on the label.
This experience was interesting, as I realised we ended up making our purchase entirely on the basis of a label which we had no real way of verifying or trusting. And in fact many of the other wines that were 'organic' were likely better and cheaper. But we ended up making our purchase entirely on the basis of the 'signalling' that we wanted to communicate to our gift recipient:
"We know you like natural wine, and this wine says that it's natural"