The production of wine is a particular field in agriculture. During the 60s, thanks to a change in mentality, due to the irrational usage of fields and industrialization, a new way of doing it was born. This “agriculture” not only takes into consideration human’s health but the environment as well.
This new point of view also entails the use of natural products to help the plant grow. Therefore, the goal is not to destroy every single parasite with whatsoever chemical product but to try to balance an excellent and natural success without levelling the ground. Whenever a grapevine presents a parasite, this approach does not concern just the seasonal and virulent side; it involves environmental conditions, time, the flora and fauna as well.
The sustainable side of this production sees the vineyard as a whole in the natural landscape and, as such, it contributes to the environment. That is to say that this new production serves to defend the environment and the animals all around, by using a biodegradable product.
Moreover, the management of water, a precious resource, is important. Usually, the vineyard does not request a huge amount of water.
Noteworthy is the management of soil. One of the most known techniques to cultivate wine in the grassing, which can be natural or artificial, permanent or limited, and total or partial. It involves the covering of growing soil with grass. The advantages are plants benefiting of more vigour, increasing of biodiversity, saving money and more. There are also disadvantages as the risk of frost and the competition of water amongst the grass and the plants.
EU organic rules for production entails, of course, the prohibition of the use of GMOs, abiding by all the artificial fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides and the use of hormones and antibiotics for animal health. When applying to get the organic certification, the EU establishes that “organic producers need to adopt different approaches to maintaining soil fertility and animal and plant health” as “crop rotation, entourage the natural immunological defence of animals, prohibition of the use of mineral nitrogen fertilisers” and so on, found on the European Commission website. It has to be proved that the soil and the animals are fed by using the organic feed.
In addition, there are particular rules for organic wine-making described in EU regulation 203/2012 on the implementation of EU regulation 834/2007 on rules governing organic wine, found on the Official Journal of the European Union, L 71, 9 March 2012. For instance, sorbic acid and desulphurisation must not be used and the level of sulphates must be lower than their conventional equivalent. Moreover, this regulation describes what products and what quantities are allowed to be used. If a farmer gets all the previously describes characteristics, the wine is authorised to display on its label the “Organic logo of the EU” as referred to in Article 25(1) of Regulation (EC) No 834/2007, called as such from the 1st July 2010.
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