Natural, organic, biodynamic, conventional wine: what really changes

In the article on Italian wine labels I admitted I’ve become a bit of a hardliner: when I buy, I mainly look at whether a wine is natural, Triple “A” or organic. That is exactly why it seems fair to explain these words without cheering for any of them. Behind each one there is something different: sometimes a law, sometimes a private certification, sometimes only the commitment of the person who makes the wine. And none of them, on its own, tells you whether the wine is good.

The rules below are those that apply in Italy and, for organic wine, across the European Union.

Conventional

“Conventional” is not a category written on the label: it is what we call, by contrast, all wine that doesn’t claim a particular method. It is most of the wine on sale, and it follows the general rules: in the vineyard, authorised synthetic products are allowed; in the cellar, all the practices and substances permitted by EU law, within legal limits.

Conventional doesn’t mean poor. There are very careful conventional producers who use very little in the vineyard and in the cellar, without feeling the need to certify it. It only means that the label promises nothing beyond the basic rules.

Organic

It is the only one of these words with a legal definition in the EU, and the only one you can check on the label. An organic wine must carry the EU organic logo, the leaf made of stars on a green background, and the code of the body that certifies it.

The rules cover both vineyard and cellar. In the vineyard, no synthetic chemical fertilisers or pesticides. In the cellar, only substances from a restricted list, some practices banned (for example removing sulphur dioxide by physical means, or partially reducing the alcohol), and lower sulphite limits than for conventional wines.

The limit of organic is that it certifies the method, not the result or the philosophy: an organic wine can be made on a large scale and look in every way like an industrial one. And the reverse is also true: not everyone who farms organically chooses to get certified.

Biodynamic

Biodynamics was born in the 1920s from the ideas of Rudolf Steiner. It starts from the organic rules and adds a view of the farm as a living organism, a calendar for the work, and “preparations” to spread in the vineyard, such as horn manure: manure left to mature inside a cow horn buried in the soil.

There is no legal definition of biodynamic wine. The most widespread certification is private, from the Demeter association, and it requires organic certification first. In 2022 Italy’s new law on organic farming was meant to put biodynamics explicitly on a par with organic. After protests from part of the scientific community, including senator Elena Cattaneo and Nobel laureate Giorgio Parisi, who questioned its scientific basis, the word “biodynamic” was removed from the final text.

It remains a choice that divides people. Many producers who follow it look after their vineyards with uncommon care, and you can taste the result. But it is hard to separate the merit of the preparations from the merit of the care itself.

Natural

“Natural wine” has no legal definition, either in Italy or in the EU, and it can’t be written on the label. The underlying idea is to intervene as little as possible: grapes from organic or biodynamic farming, spontaneous fermentation with the yeasts found on the grapes, no additives, and sulphur kept to a minimum or left out.

With no law to go by, the rules come from producers’ associations, each with its own rulebook: in Italy, VinNatur and ViniVeri are among the best known. In France, since 2020, there has been a collective label, Vin Méthode Nature, with a rulebook recognised by the French authorities.

That is precisely the limit: without a shared definition, “natural” means whatever the person using it decides. And a wine made with little intervention is also a more exposed wine: among natural wines there are extraordinary bottles and bottles with real faults, which shouldn’t be mistaken for “character”. I say that as someone who seeks them out.

Triple “A”

It is a manifesto, not a law: Agricoltori, Artigiani, Artisti (farmers, artisans, artists), born from an idea of Luca Gargano of the Italian importer Velier. Its principles are close to those of natural wine, and I wrote about it in the article on Italian wine labels.

”No added sulphites”

It means the producer didn’t add sulphur dioxide, not that the wine contains none: fermentation itself produces some. That is why even a wine with no added sulphites can carry the words “contains sulphites”, compulsory above 10 milligrams per litre.

So, what should you choose?

Each of these words says something different, and none is enough on its own. Organic is a guarantee about the method, and it is checked. Biodynamic and natural are more ambitious commitments, but they rely on private certifications or on the producer’s word. Conventional doesn’t rule out care.

For me the answer is the one I gave when talking about labels: knowing the producer and having them tell you how they work is worth more than any logo. The words help you ask the right questions.