Organic wine - its official, but not organic enough for some

The new regulations governing organic wine production in the EU came into force on the 1st August 2012 but according to a report in Decanter magazine some in the industry say the rules do not go far enough. Before the new rules winemakers in Europe could only certify grapes as organically grown and not the wine as organic. But now there is cause for concern in particular over the rules relating to sulphur dioxide - the levels for organic wine are 30-50% lower than the limits for conventional wine which various bodies in Europe aren't happy with. Others take a more positive approach. Chris Atkinson of the UK based Soil Association which has tougher sulphur dioxide limits for its own scheme said the new rules set a baseline from which to move forward. Organic wine specialist Vintage Roots, welcomed the EU regulation as ‘a step in the right direction’ and have started to list wines as ‘low sulphur’ if they use at least 50% less than the EU maximum.