Our Definitions

Organic
Organic farming excludes the use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and other artificial agents. Organic certification can be obtained after 3 years of transition away from chemical-intensive conventional agricultural practices. These basic rules are similar all around the world. But there are many different levels of certification in Europe and in the USA.

Practicing Organic
This is the term we use for winemakers who are in transition from traditional agriculture to organic agriculture. They cannot claim to be organic yet, but we respect their path toward being organic by all means possible.

Biodynamic
In addition to following the organic-farming rules, biodynamic farming sees the farm as a holistic living system. In a biodynamic vineyard we may find different plants, legumes, flowers, and vegetables planted during different seasons. This fortifies the soil and the entire ecosystem. The major actions in a biodynamic vineyard are planned in accordance with the lunar calendar, respecting the moon's influence on all living systems (ocean tides, but also human energy).

Natural Wine
Natural wines are not legally defined; they are made using little human intervention in the vineyard and in the cellar. Only indigenous yeasts are used, and no additives. No fining or sterile filtration is done before bottling.
The result is that, with a few exceptions, natural wines often present residues and are not consistent from one bottle to the next. There is no category for natural wines in this website; I do offer a few of them, but I select them because they are organic and high-quality, not because they are natural per se.

Vegan
During the making of a vegan wine, no product of animal origin is used at all. One might ask, are animal products used in normal winemaking? The answer is yes, even if it is a very limited practice: for example, a few milligrams of egg white sometimes goes into a large tank to clarify or stabilize the wine. The egg white coagulates with residues and also absorbs some bitter tannins, and then precipitates to the bottom, to be easily removed before bottling. I classify as vegan only the wines that are clearly defined as such by their winery—although many winemakers nowadays use enzymes not derived from animals to obtain the same results.

Sulfites
Sulfites are sulfur-based compounds that occur naturally during fermentation and are also commonly added to wine as a preservative. Every wine contains some level of sulfites; the question is how much. Conventional producers often add significant amounts to guard against oxidation and extend shelf life, which is practical but not without trade-offs. Organic wines are held to lower sulfite limits, and USDA Organic wines cannot contain any added sulfites at all. The wines on this site tend to fall well below even the organic thresholds, because the producers behind them rely on careful cellar work rather than sulfites as a shortcut. For more on this topic, including the headache question everyone asks about, see our deep-dive on sulfites.

Terroir
Terroir is a French word that has no clean English translation, which is probably why it has stayed French. It refers to the complete natural environment in which a wine is produced: the soil, the climate, the altitude, the slope of the hillside, the exposure to sun and wind, even the surrounding vegetation. When a wine "expresses its terroir," it tastes like the place it came from rather than like a generic version of its grape variety. This is one of the strongest arguments for organic and biodynamic farming. Without synthetic chemicals in the equation, there is less interference between the land and the glass, and the terroir comes through more clearly.

Cru
Cru is a French classification term that translates roughly to "growth" or "vineyard." In practice, it designates a specific vineyard or group of vineyards recognized for producing wine of a particular quality level. In Burgundy, you will see Premier Cru and Grand Cru on labels, indicating vineyards that have been formally ranked based on centuries of observed quality. In Piedmont, the concept is similar with designated vineyard sites for Barolo and Barbaresco. A Cru designation tells you the wine comes from a specific, respected piece of land, not just a general region. Organic and biodynamic producers working Cru vineyards tend to produce some of the most distinctive wines available, because the farming lets the site speak for itself.

Pét-Nat
Pét-nat, short for pétillant naturel, is a style of lightly sparkling wine made using the oldest method of producing bubbles. The wine is bottled before fermentation has fully finished, so the remaining sugars create a gentle, natural effervescence in the bottle. No sugar is added, no second fermentation is induced, and nothing is done to filter or clarify the result. What you get is something a little cloudy, a little unpredictable, and completely transparent about what is in the bottle. The good ones capture something that more polished sparkling wines often lose: a sense of spontaneity and place that feels closer to the vineyard than to the cellar.

For a deeper look at what organic wine means and how certifications work across different countries, see our Complete Guide to Organic Wine. For more on sulfites specifically, see Do Sulfites in Wine Really Cause Headaches?