A Wine Lover’s Guide to Sustainability

By Lauren Samson

 

As the movement to consider the environmental impact of our food system grows, individuals and businesses both have a role in practicing social responsibility. In the wine industry, winemakers are progressively moving towards, or should I say a return to, a more “organic,” “sustainable,” and “biodynamic” style of farming and production. We see these words often in the wine world, but what exactly do they mean? Are they just fancy words that make what’s inside the bottle more expensive or do these words bring real value to the wine?

 

As a wine lover and consumer myself, it’s important to me that I understand what these words mean so that I can confidently make decisions when buying wine. First, lets explore the word “sustainable,” which is a huge movement with no real regulation. Sustainable wines may come from producers that practice greener efforts, such as renewable energy, and strive for lower waste and emissions. Some domestic third-party certifiers, such as Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing (CCSW) and Sustainable in Practice (SIP), seek to enhance transparency, but wineries can claim they’re sustainable without any certification or regulation. Although wineries that claim to be sustainable are a good start at finding more environmentally responsible wines, with no real guidelines as to what this means, it could be just another marketing scam.

 

But what about organic?

 

To be organic, you have to be certified by a USDA-recognized third party certifier. Wineries must avoid using synthetic pesticides on the fruit and in the soil with absolutely no use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Although a very small percentage of non-organic ingredients are allowed, the grapes themselves and the yeast used for fermentation must be organic. It can get a little confusing because a wine can be made with organically-grown grapes and not be an organic wine. Sulfites are the ones to blame here! To be a fully 100% organic wine, you are not allowed to add sulfites to your wine (naturally occurring sulfites from fermentation are present, however), whereas “organically-grown” means all organic growing practices were implemented when the grapes were grown, but after they were harvested, there were no regulations on production.

 

Ok, enough on what we can’t be done. What about what can be?

 

Organic growing and winemaking practices lay the foundation for Biodynamic farming and is a prerequisite for Biodynamic certification from Demeter, the sole Biodynamic regulating agency. So what does the term “biodynamic” mean? Biodynamic is a holistic approach to agriculture, viewing the land and the vines as one living ecosystem. Everything is connected and tuned into the patterns of the earth: the equinox, lunar patterns, sunset. The goal is to emulate nature and create a self-sustainable environment while integrating agricultural, biological, and ecological scientific knowledge into crop rotations, compost production, plant diversity, and soil and animal practices. Animals play a major role by grazing and trimming the vegetation around the vines while fertilizing the soil. Many believe the best wines are made by allowing the earth to guide the farming and production decisions. After all mother nature knows best!