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How to identify Organic and Biodynamic wines and what are they?
How to identify Organic and Biodynamic wines and what are they?
Jan 01, 2018

Organic wines are produced from grapes that are grown and processed via organic farming. They excluded the use of artificial chemicals like pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. The objective is to produce wine respecting the health of the soil and wine drinkers.

 The rules of wine-making processes vary from one winery to another. However, the principle of organic farming will remain the same. On the other hand, the use of sulfates is greatly reduced in the organic wine-making community, even though is it widely used as a wine preservative around the world.

 To identify organic wines, look out for the "AB" logo (Agriculture Biologique) or the leaf symbol as pictured in the header.

 Going into a deeper level, Biodynamic wines follow the principles of organic farming but has an additional set of rules that focus on soil sustainability - soil preservation and creating a healthy biologically ecosystem. Biodynamic agriculture activities take into account the natural weather cycles, soil health, and even the phases of the moon. In Biodynamic grape farming, vineyard or terroir are considered as a living organism.

 The practice of Organic and Biodynamic grape farming has become popular in recent years for most winemaking regions in France. Although these practices involve heavier manual labour with lower yields, the market share of organic wines has tripled in France over the last 3 years, reaching 8.2% of the vineyards (in 2013) with 10 to 15% of them following the Biodynamic principles.

 Do Organic and Biodynamic wines taste better? Though there are no distinct differences in the mouth for most, some suggest that Organic and Biodynamic wines possess stronger aromas and ‘personality’ as they express the characteristics of the soil with more intense notes.


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