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What is organic wine?

How is organic wine produced and what is it? Answers to frequently asked questions

How many times have you heard about organic farming and organic wine, but let's take a closer look at what it is.
Organic wine is the basis of any well-made wine, of all the artisanal wine you can find on the market.

In general we talk about organic farming when describing an environmentally and customer-friendly approach that is sustainable and does not alter the ecosystem present. Basically, no synthetic chemicals are used in the field. If you stay with me until the end I will answer some of the most frequently asked questions.
 

How does this translate into organic viticulture?

An organic product can be recognised by its green logo with stars, and in Italy it is certified for marketing by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (MIPAAF), according to European Union directives, it must be obtained at 95% with products that are themselves certified organic.

It takes 3 years to convert to organic. There is no obligation for certification, which is why not all organic producers boast certification. In our experience, certification, however important, is a waste of time, the wineries we work with are selected directly in the fieldobserving their working methods. We have often found even more natural ideas in companies without certification.
 

Organic Wine

In our vision, organic wine corresponds to the entry level of the genuine, respectful and real wine category. Del craft wine. The requirements for an organic wine are few and simple, but they are often atavistic for most producers, the big ones, who produce wine like a packet of crisps, in millions.
Between fungus and mould, it is often difficult, even depending on the year, to complete a harvest free of problems, and this is why the big producers resort to chemicals in the vineyard. You have to understand them, they have to maximise, to the detriment of quality, and they cannot afford bad vintages. It goes without saying that such a wine cannot be considered organic, nor respectful of the environment, let alone the end customer.
This is why those who produce organically should be applauded and rewarded, because they do not look for subterfuge and always deliver a wine that is up to scratch.
 

Requirements

As I said, they are few and far between; leaving out chemicals is already a good start, even if the use of copper sulphate is permitted in minimum quantities of 4 kg per hectare. A good practice is to limit oneself to under 3 kg. A hectare is a vast area to protect and this type of intervention manages to do so, even if it is gradually being abandoned in favour of more virtuous approaches that are still being tested.
 
The trend is to create real ecosystems in order to safeguard the well-being of the vine and the soil. Insects and leguminous plants can regulate nitrogen in the soil..
 
Another good practice is to reduce irrigation; the soil must not be overworked, and an untreated grape only needs rainwater (when available) or emergency irrigation. This benefits the body and aromatic qualities of the grapes.

Vinification

 
In the winery there are no particular rules, except to respect the total sulphur dioxide (the famous sulphites) in the artisanal wine being produced.  The maximum limit for whites is 150 mg/L and for reds 100 mg/L.. Laboratory yeasts can be used and fermentation can be controlled, so as not to run into any unforeseen problems, to the detriment of the authenticity of the product, to be honest.
 
This is why we have defined organic wine as an entry level of artisanal wines; there are in fact even more natural and qualitatively better methods of vinification.
Natural wine and biodynamic wine, due to different ideological assumptions, are the next step in the sense of artisanal wine.
 
 
 
 

I will now answer some questions about organic wine

There is often confusion on this subject, partly because the production giants often frown upon those whose ideas are so high as to reject mass-produced wines and systemic chemistry, and therefore have no interest in taking the discussion to higher levels.
 

Frequently asked questions

Organic wine tastes different from the wine I am used to drinking, I am not convinced, why?
When I was a young sommelier, a customer once stopped me during the service and whispered in my ear how unconvinced he was by the organic wine because it tasted different. I smiled quietly because the taste he had perceived so far away was actually the typical expression of the territory and the vines that made up the red blend he was sipping. It was very close, in fact, to the true taste of wine from that appellation. A wine produced using chemicals in the vineyard and in the cellar can easily be called a wine substitute, even if it costs 100 euros. Not all expensive wines are also good, perhaps expensive ones are, but that is a broader issue.
 
What is organic wine?
A wine made from grapes grown according to European organic farming regulations
 
How to produce organic wine?
Well, we've explained that, copper sulphate in the vineyard at the most, not even that if possible, and respecting the limits of total sulphur in wine, 150 mg/l and 100mg/l for white and red wines respectively. Again, if possible, much, much less.
 
How to make a good organic wine?
In fact organic wine, as you may have guessed, is a rather generic expression, and from our point of view the less we intervene the better to obtain a quality wine. The grapes must be selected manually, discarding those with defects, thus obtaining a very low yield per hectare, ranging from 60 quintals/ha to 20 quintals/ha of many of our producers. In the cellar, the indigenous yeasts that proliferate there must be used and fermentation must be consequently spontaneous. Limit as much as possible the use of sulphites, which are antioxidants and stabilisers naturally present on the cuticle of organically grown grapes.
 
Organic wine pros and cons?
There are no cons, the better the approach in the vineyard the better the wine and its relationship to your health will be.
 
Does organic wine contain sulphites?
Yes, and it couldn't be any other way, given that sulphur dioxide is a typical product of alcoholic fermentation. No wine is without sulfitesbut if they are added manually, this must be indicated on the label. What we simply read on the label is an antioxidant additive.

 

Organic wine or biodynamic wine? These are two wines that share a common idea of respect for the environment and the territory in which they are produced. In the first case we have explained this at length, in the second we refer to this article. We will only mention here that biodynamic wine is the result of more extreme and even less invasive agriculture than organic wine, with ad hoc preparations in relation to the treatments to be carried out.
 
Organic Wine or Natural Wine?
The natural wine is a wine made from grapes grown using at least organic principles, but which in reality limits human intervention even further, eliminating it altogether in the vast majority of cases. In the winery, the naturally present indigenous yeasts that trigger spontaneous fermentation at spring temperatures. It is called natural wine but naturally produced wine would be preferred.
 
How do you make organic wine at home?
It always depends on whether the criteria already mentioned are used in the vineyard, for the rest the home winemaking process follows the winery's on a larger scale, broadly speaking maceration, racking, refining and bottling.
 
What is the difference between white wine and organic wine?
One does not exclude the other, but a white wine may not be produced organically and will be called conventional.
 
How to taste an organic wine?
It can be tasted like any other wine, but a tasting can certainly give a truer indication of the typicality of a grape.
 
Who drinks organic wine?
Organic wine is chosen by those who care first and foremost about their own health and then that of the environment. By those who want to drink well and appreciate the real characteristics of one or more grape varieties.
 
So, do you like organic wine? I'm sure I do! We look forward to seeing you on Apewineboxes.com
 
 
 
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