Natural wines, organic, biodynamic and vegans.

A natural wine is the wine that seeks to minimize intervention in its process of production. During alcoholic fermentation, no commercial yeasts are added. Nor is sulfurous added for its conservation, since the only sulfurous is the one that occurs naturally in alcoholic fermentation.  It does not get filtered, clarified or corrected the sugar levels, acidity or color. France is leading the way and natural wine already has its recognition as “Vin Methóde Nature” by the French Ministry of Agriculture, the National Institute of Origin and Quality and the French Fraude Control Office. 

Organic wines carry a CCPAE certificate and the grape is certified as organic according to the European Union regulations. Everything that is not organic, both wine and vineyard, must be separated from what is ecological. Chemical fertilizers, pesticides and industrial herbicides are avoided in the production process. The use of sulfur is allowed but limited.

According to CCPAE data, more than a third of Catalan vineyards are already organic. This positions Catalonia as a state leader in organic production in general.

Biodynamic wines in the same way as organic wines, do not allow the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and/or industrial herbicides. Burial cow horns made with vegetable and mineral preparations are the substitutes for any chemical element. The use of indigenous yeasts, clarifiers of natural origin and adding sulfurous but with the DEMETER regulation (certifying body of biodynamic agriculture) is allowed.

Every day it coincides with one of the elements: earth, fire, air and water. The days are organized by days of fruit (preferable for the harvest), days of root, days of leaves and days of fear, where the vineyard should not be touched.

The Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner is the father of biodynamic agriculture. The stars influence production and everything is governed by an astronomical calendar.

Vegan wines are those suitable for vegans and wineries are also putting it more and more into practice.  If we understand veganism as a lifestyle and not only as a food, we will understand that the production of vegan wines is one where, for example, in the clarification process, egg albumin or casein (milk-derived protein) is not used in the elaboration process, any element from the animal world is not used.

The vegan wines bear their V-Label seal, a seal awarded by the European Vegetarian Union. However, at the moment there is no legislation listing the requirements that a wine must meet to be vegan.