1) What is 'organic' winegrowing?   Winegrowers wanting to describe their grapes as officially "organic" must use no man-made (industrially synthesized) or 'chemical' compounds like weedkillers, fertilizers, fungicides or pesticides - or anything that has been genetically modified. None of these thinghs are allowed in organics because they don't occur naturally and they can leave residues in the grapes especailly in the case of those 'chemical' spray capable of entering the vine's sap.   Organic vineyards are inspected and tested regularly by expert officials to prevent cheating. After three 'chemical-free' years the vineyards are officially classified as 'certified organic' (before then they are classified as 'in conversion to organics').     2) Do organic winegrowers spray?   Yes. The main spray is sulfur. This is sprayed on vines either as yellow sulfur dust or diluted in water as a liquid spray. Usually winegrowers spray it by tractor.     You can, of course, spray sulphur dust by hand, as I am doing here on my rented vineyard in France in 2007 (photo by Ant Palmer, copyright Monty Waldin).    Sulfur prevents oidium (powdery mildew), a common vine fungus disease affecting grape yields and quality. In fact it is used by all winegrowers, not just organic ones. Sulfur is allowed in organics because it occurs naturally and is a contact spray - meaning it leaves no residue in the grapes or wine.   The other main spray is a copper-based one (the traditional version is called 'Bordeaux' mixture) which combats another common vine fungus disease called peronospera or downy mildew. As a contact spray it leaves no residue in grapes, but can damage the soil. Its use is being increasingly restricted in Europe.     3) What about fertilizer?   Organic growers can't use man-made fertilizers, not because these are produced at huge environmental cost (although that in itself is a good reason for not using them) but because they are man-made, and thus, lifeless salts. They work by dissolving in the soil when it rains and feeding the vines directly - like a drip feed.   The organic approach is completely different. It involves feeding the soil, rather than the vines, often with worm-rich - and thus living - compost. The food the vine roots need arrives when worms and billions of microbes move around and work the compost into the soil. So whereas the 'chemical' approach involves feeding the vines directly the organic approach is that the compost feeds the soil, and then the soil then feeds the vines. Like this the vine roots can then put down more complex root systems making for stronger vines and more complex-tasting grapes.     Wineries can make compost by layering winery waste - grapeskins (in this case red ones) on top, threshed grape stems on the bottom - with animal manure, in this case from a herd of 250 Biodynamic milk cows -sandwiched in the middle. The finished compost piles are covered with straw to keep the rain and sun off and to keep the warmth generated by microbes breaking the compost down within. In six months the compost will be ready for spreading on the vineyard soil.     4) What about pests?   Organic growers work to a 'prevention rather than cure' strategy. Chemical pesticides can kill off most pests - for a while at least, until pests become so resistant to them the pesticides are rendered ineffective. They also have the negative effect of contaminateing both soil and groundwater. Worst of all they usually kill off most of the naturally occuring insect predators that might have wiped the target pest out in the first place.   For example: chemical sprays that kill spider mites - which burrow into vine leaves causing vines to stress out - also wipe out the ladybirds whose favourite food is, er, spider mites.   The organic approach is try to provide the flower-rich habitat that the ladybirds need over spring and summer to thrive and control the pesky mites. They do this by sowing seeds of flowering clovers between the vine rows in winter. There are fewer pests - and the vineyards look at lot nicer, too...    Bare earth eroding in a pest-afflicted conventional vineyard The same vineyard the following year after it had been sown with a mix of seeds that included crimson clover (to attract beneficial insects), common vetch (stops soil being washed away by winter rains) and oats (to decompact the previously hard, moonscape-like soil).     5) Is organics so perfect?   Not quite - there are plenty of contraditions in organics. Some organic sprays used to control pests aren't always very friendly to beneficial insect predators - although most organic sprays are made from  naturally occuring plant extracts or micro-organism rather then chemical compounds.   Organic growers don't have to pick their grapes by hand but can use machine harvesters - although machine picking does keep costs down.   Controlling the weeds growing right underneath the vines is the most labour-intensive, and expensive problem organic growers must face.   Organic growers can't use man-made weedkillers which speed up the work and so reduce financial costs.   Organic growers can use naturally occuring pine resin as weedkiller and some even burn weeds off with fire.   But the most common organic approach to weeds is to plough. One drawback is that ploughing burns roughly double the amount of tractor diesel as you would weedkilling. But at least you don't contaminate the groundwater - weedkillers are notorious water table polluters.     I had weeds under the vines in my rented French vineyard ploughed by horse in 2007. Horses last worked here in the early 1970s, when the tractor took over.     And organic winegrowers in wealthier regions - like Burgundy, Champagne, Loire valley, and Alsace - and in South America where many prefer to travel on horseback than by car - are returning to ploughing weeds out by horse. It takes much longer than with a tractor, but is gentler for the soil. And vines are less easily knocked over by horses than by tractors.     6) Does organic mean expensive?   Organic growers can't compete on price with the very cheapest, mass produced wines.   This is because chemical weed control is cheaper than the organic plough. Also chemically fertilized vineyards can produce 30% more wine than organically fertilized ones. Consumers can decide if they want quantity, or quality.   Also, the organic 'prevention rather than cure' approach almost always means spending more money on labour costs - thinning out excess vine shoots by hand in spring and summer so the grapes get more air, wind and sun and are less prone to rotting.   But as soon as you move away from mass produced wines (wine above £6-8 in the UK, or $10-12 in the USA) the organic alternative arte often simply more interesting to taste - composted vines have much more complex root systems than chemically fertilized ones, and produce smaller, more concentrated, more flavoured grapes.   They will also have been less manipulated in the winery - containing at least 30% lower levels of the near universal wine preservative sulfur dioxide, for example.     7) Does organic mean no hangover?   You get a hangover from drinking too much wine, organic or otherwise.   However, almost all winemakers worldwide add sulfur dioxide during winemaking, because it slows down the natural process by which wine turns to vinegar (from vin aigre meaning 'bitter wine' in French).   Some people claim sulfur dioxide makes the 'hangover' effect worse - there's no scientific evidence for this however.   Sulfur dioxide may provoke a reaction in asthmatics though.   Most "organic" wines are officially labelled as 'wine made from organically grown grapes' and will contain sulfur dioxide.   Some countries (eg. USA, Australia but not Europe) allow the term 'organic wine' to appear on wine labels- this means the grapes were farmed organically but that during winemaking no sulfur dioxide preservative was added to the wine.     8) Vegetarian, vegan wines   The rules governing wines suitable for vegetarians and vegans are separate from those governing organics. So just because a wine is made from organic grapes does not necessarily mean it will be vegetarian/vegan suitable.   All winemakers can add egg white, casein (from milk), gelatin (from mammals), and isinglass (from fish) to remove murky sludge or roughness from wine.   These winemaking aids do get removed from the wine before is bottled - but wine labels are not (yet) obliged to tell you whether they have been used or not.   Vegan and vegetarian organizations are working with wine producers for clearer labelling.   The only restriction on organic winemakers is they must use whites from organic eggs, for example.     9) What is Biodynamics?   Biodynamics is a stricter (some would say more extreme) and older form of organics dating from 1924.   Biodynamic vineyards are supposed to be self-sufficient or 'closed systems'. The idea is to minimise off-farm inputs, so that each vineyard becomes unique and has its own identity. Maintaining soil fertility by keeping a few cows (for their manure) is seen as a good start.   In simple terms the idea is that every time a bottle of wine leaves the vineyard, the vineyard is a little poorer as a result, so putting something back in the form of 'living' manure is a good thing.   Also, biodynamic growers feel that 'life forces' are as important to how living things grow as physical things are, like the food we eat. Food and wine should nourish your spirit as much as your body and will do so- biodynamic farmers claim - if full of 'life forces'.   These forces can come from within the earth, or from say the moon, the sun or even from within the plant.   Biodynamic growers encourage these forces by using specially prepared cow manures, medicinal plants (yarrow, valerian, stinging nettle, oak bark, dandelion, valerian, common horsetail or Equisetum) and the abundant mineral quartz (or silica) on their crops or in their composts.   Vineyards don't get replanted very often - unlike wheat fields or cabbage patches which enjoy crop rotation - and so anything like biodynamics which puts soil health at a premium must seem pretty tempting as a winegrower.   Biodynamics is becoming better known worldwide because more winegrowers - especially those with the biggest reputations to protect and maintain - are going biodynamic than ever before.     10) Biodynamics & Organics Worldwide?   The number of vineyards with official organic and biodynamic status has continued to grow steadily, even sometimes rapidly, over the last 10-15 years.   Wine drinkers who assumed that 'all wine is organic, isn't ?have now woken up to the fact that wine growing can be just as industrialised as the rest of farming: our milk, our meat and fish, our vegetables and fruits.