ANALYSIS OF REGULATORY FRAMEWORK AND STANDARDS FOR ORGANIC WINE PROCESSING: OVERVIEW OF DIFFERENT ORGANIC WINE-MAKING STANDARDS

This presentation is based on work done in the ORWINE project, a European Research project focused on organic wine processing. One objective of this project is to formulate proposals for future common regulation on organic wine at European level. Organic grapes come from vineyards conducted under organic farming methods (EC Regulation 2092/91) Because wine is excluded of the scope of the EC regulation (annex 6, concerning processing organic food), there is till now no legal statute for organic wines at European level, but only for wines coming from organic grapes. It results that the sole overall rules to be applied to wines processed from organic grapes are those contained in the EC Regulations 1493/1999 (annexes 4 and 5) and 1622/2000, which define the oenological practises and treatments allowed for wines in Europe. Due to the current CMO wine reform and the influence of third countries at international level (OIV and WTO), the European legal framework for wine production is moving towards in a sense of opening to more flexibility in oenological practises. Nevertheless, organic vine-growers have developed specific approaches for processing their wines in a way they consider in compliance with organic farming principles. These private initiatives in the producing countries have taken the format of standards or charters and appear more restrictive than the legal requirements for wine, with limitations concerning the use of additives and technical processes at all steps of wine processing, from grapes picking to wine bottling and storage. A particular place in the organic agriculture movement has to be recognized to the bio-dynamic organizations, which have also in some countries wine processing standards...