Ep 518: Biodynamic, Organic, Sustainable, Regenerative Wine (and more) -- the Update

Wine for Normal People

These categories of "better for the earth" wines are technical, tricky, and ever-evolving, so I it was time to do an update!

In this show, I do best to break it all down in as simple a way as possible…I cover:

• Biodynamics
• Organics
• Sustainable farming
• Regenerative agriculture
• And quickly, the loose ends – vegan wine, natural wine

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Biodynamic

I discuss the main principles of biodynamic agriculture – that the farm is a single, self-sustaining organism and the farmer must encourage and guide the vines, as well as protect the soil so provides nourishment for the vines. ​The main certification for biodynamics is DEMETER.

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Organic

Organic farming is how farming was always done until the industrial revolution. The new iteration grew out of the biodynamic movement in the 1920s. This method took off in the 1970s and 80s, especially in Europe.

Different countries have different definitions of organic…

• European Union Organic Products/”Bio” in France: Organic wine prohibits most synthetic chemicals or GMOs and uses only certified organic oenological products in the cellar, including organic yeast. Sulfites are regulated.
• United States. This is a program developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). There are prohibitions on the vineyard and the winery, and added sulfites are prohibited. Because of this last prohibition, certified organic vineyards go in and out of the organic certificatio
• To make it more flexible, they added the “Made with Organic Grapes” stipulation, which is looser

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Regenerative Organic Agriculture

Although relatively new, this is likely the future of better for the earth initiatives. Regenerative starts out with the principles of organic but then adds a few other things. Watch this space…

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Sustainable Winegrowing

This is the most popular way to do better for the earth viticulture but it’s squishy. Sustainable is a catchall term that has MANY definitions. Examples of certifications:

France…

HVE: The French Ministry of Agriculture developed the Haute Valeur Environementale

Others...

Vignerons Engages

Viticulture Durable en Champagne

Terra Vitis

California: Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing

I end with a quick tour of Natural wine and Vegan wines

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