New EU rules for organic wine

New EU rules for organic wine will soon come into force. With the new regulation, which will apply from this year’s harvest, organic wine-growers will be allowed to use the term ‘organic wine’ on their labels.

The labels must also show the EU organic logo and the code number of their certifier, and must respect other wine-labelling rules.

Although there are already rules for ‘wine made from organic grapes’, these do not cover wine-making practices, i.e. the whole process from grape to wine.

Wine is the one remaining sector that is not fully covered byEU rules on organic farming standards under Regulation 834/2007. The new rules have the advantage of improved transparency and better consumer recognition.

They will not only help to facilitate the internal market, but also to strengthen the position of EU organic wines at international level, since many other wine-producing countries (US, Chile, Australia, South Africa) have already established standards for organic wines.

With this legislation, EU organic farming is now complete and covers all agriculturalproducts.

Organic wine must, of course, also be produced using organic grapes – as defined under Regulation 834/2007.