Organic Certified
Clean, Green, Natural and Organic-What is the Difference?
The debate around clean, natural, and organic food and increasingly wine continues. Many wine brands feature gauzy images of carefree, pretty people day drinking in euro-chic settings or basking in the sun. Product descriptions include “close to natural as possible”, “full of natural goodness”, “free of unnecessary extras” or “wholly oriented around maximizing quality and environmental sustainability”. Many are not sure what these mean and asked how natural brands compare to Villa GraziellaOrganic. While we do not know specific vineyard or manufacturing practices by other companies and by no means claim to be experts, wewould like to clarify statements as they pertain to our wines.
Natural Is the Same as Organic
Natural is widely used and interpreted in many ways. Also labeled as green, pure, true, not-refined, not treated, unpasteurized or unprocessed. Natural wines can be made without using chemicals, additives or using industrial procedures. However, there are no official accreditation requirements or certification standards for natural wine equivalent to organic certified or the legally accepted definition-wine made with organic grapes.
Depending on a specific country’s certification requirements, organic quality wine is made using grapes with low intervention or minimum manipulation. There are defined protocols including restricted chemical fungicides, herbicides, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers. In the cellar: acidifiers, additives, flavor agents, processed tannins and sugars are prohibited. Specific technological processes: micro-oxygenation to speed up aging, synthetic yeasts are not allowed. While farmers often use organic growing methods and wine makers use low intervention methods, many do not apply for organic qualification because of the complex process, 4-year time frame and yearly substantial financial investment.
Clean, Slow Crafted and Sustainably Made Are Standards for Clean Wine
While these statements are enticing, they are absent of legitimate protocols or requirements for how grapes are grown, or wine is produced. The legal standard for organic certification is by the United States Department of Agriculture-USDA or reciprocal International certifying entity. The label will indicate the seal of the certifying regulatory entity of origin and operator code.
Villa Graziella wines are certified by Istituto Certificazione EticaAmbientale-ICEA. The Italian Environmental & Ethical Certification Institute. The regulatory agency assures the traceability of all the raw materials, prohibits any use of genetically modified organisms, chemical pesticides, or synthetic fertilizers. It tests and certifies the entire supply chain: from planting to harvest, crush to aging and bottling. ICEA requires certification for each new vintage, their seal and our operator code are located on the back of our wine bottle.
We all want healthier, more sustainable systems producing food, and wine. Industry-farmers, winemakers, importers, distributors, educators, and merchants collectively work extremely hard to offer a quality product in an honest and transparent manner. Together with our partners, our mission is to offer great tasting food and wine, that is good for us and better for our environment.