The European Union has now officially decided on a definition for organic wine and will allow organic wine producers to identify their wines as organic, rather than the former vague “wine issued from organic grapes” label. The new terminology for the wine labels will state “Organic Wine” or “Vin Biologique.” Gwenaelle le Guillous, the director of Syndicat des Vignerons Bio D’ Aquitaine, told Decanter.com that these is an official logo for organic wines just like other organic products have the right to carry.
The new organic wine-making rules introduce a “technical definition” of organic wine. One of the rules regarding organic wine is that the wine inlcudes 30-50% less added sulphur than conventional wines, also no use of additives such as sorbic acid, and a full traceability processes for organic verification.
This long awaited change to organic wines comes on the hells of the EU’s new quality charter. Wines are now deemed to be organic by practice at both the vineyards and the wine cellars. According to Decanter.com, a total of 3,945 vineyards in France are organic, a number that has doubled in three years and now represents 6% of France’s total vineyards. Decanter.com also reports that The market itself is worth €359m in France, a growth of 11% since 2010, and 90% over the past six years. Ninety-two percent of hypermarkets and supermarkets across the country sell organic wine, offering on average 12 different labels.
To learn more about the EU’s decision on officially labeling organic wine, check out their press release.
