So many questions surrounding organic wines, so here’s a few FAQs that we’ve tried to answer without getting too bogged down in detail :

Q.  What is Organic Wine?         Organic wine is wine made from organically grown grapes.   Any chemical compound used in organic grape growing/wine-making must not have any detrimental effect on the environment or on human health.

Q.  I thought wine was natural? What chemicals are used?        Wine is indeed a very natural product, but ‘non-organic’ wine growers may choose to protect their vines by using synthetic pesticides, fungicides or herbicides.  Organic wines only use natural such products.

Q.  How do I know it’s organic?        New regulations were enforced in 2012 ensuring certification runs right through from vineyard, harvesting to bottling.  A certified ‘organic’ wine will carry the term ‘organic wine’ on the label.

Q.  What if it isn’t certified?          It’s an expensive business becoming certified ‘organic’ (literally thousands of pounds)and some wine growers prefer to spend their well-earned money elsewhere.  This means that there are many growers who choose to follow organic principles but who are not bothered about gaining the certification.  (We like these people – ethical to the core, but not bothered about a piece of paper.)

Q.  Is Organic Wine better for me?          Well, whilst the effects of too much alcohol intake will have adverse effects on us all, Organic wines are friendlier to us and the environment.  No synthetic toxins and considerably less sulphites mean we are ingesting a more natural product.

Q.  Anything else I should know?          One more thing….. remember that ‘organically certified’ wines are certified under their respective countries’ organic regulations.  The regulations vary from country to country, which means one country’s regulatory definition of ‘organic’ may differ considerably to another’s.

Check out Leon Barral> – a master of organic naturalness.