Natural, organic or biodynamic wines? They have something in common and differ in something
Natural, natural, artisanal, low-impact, bio, organic or biodynamic - you have surely come across these adjectives for wines. What kind of wines are they, what do they have in common and what do they differ from each other?
Put simply, wines that have these attributes were grown and produced with the least possible amount of additives, interventions and without complex oenological processes. The basic prerequisite for these wines is ecological viticulture, that is, growing grapes without chemicals, that is, without fertilizers and chemical spraying against pests. Access to further processing is equally important; the manufacturer should create a product that is as "natural" as possible by avoiding excipients.
Advantages of natural wines
Wines that are marked with the above attributes have several advantages - they are produced in a way that is beneficial to the environment, which helps to maintain the local flora, fauna and keep the soil suitable for cultivation for many years.
They also have advantages for consumers - the grapes from which they are made have higher concentrations of antioxidants, so they better protect against free radicals. Some also have lower sugar concentrations. Thanks to the gentle process of growing grapes, there is no need to worry about trace amounts of chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers in these wines.
Natural or natural wine
This is how wines are defined that have undergone absolutely minimal chemical and winemaking interventions. The generally agreed definition is that they are wines that ferment spontaneously with natural yeasts. Such wines are not filtered or clarified, which means they can be cloudy. The use of sulphites is minimal and due to this and the fact that they are minimally handled, they may have limited stability and are therefore produced in smaller quantities.
They can also be certified as organic, if the cultivation of grapes complies with ecological standards, and also as biodynamic, if they are grown according to the requirements of biodynamics.
Organic wine
Organic wine is wine that is certified according to ecological standards set by law. The Organic logo on the bottle means that you can be sure that the product you are buying has been produced according to the strictest organic standards, which are followed according to EU standards.
However, according to European standards, such wine may also contain sulfites in a precisely given amount.
The vines from which organic wines are made are grown without chemical intervention - for example, they plant crops that help create a self-regulating ecosystem - this means that organic wines can be made without relying on potentially harmful pesticides, fertilized with compost.
Biodynamic wine
Biodynamics is a direction that began in the 20s of the last century, not by a winemaker, but by the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner. It represents a cultivation method based on the lunar calendar. Each day corresponds to one of the elements: earth, fire, air and water, and the days in the vineyard are divided into those that are best for picking grapes, for making cuts, cutting, for watering and those when the vineyard should be untouched.
However, biodynamic procedures are much more complex, they perceive the vineyard as one closed organism. and they also include techniques that seem unusual. For example, burying cow horns filled with compost in a vineyard, which are dug up after a certain time. They also avoid pesticides and use compost rather than chemical fertilizers. Like organic wines, they may contain sulfates.
