Organic wine

Introduction
At the time of Robert Parker and his heavy bodybuilded wines, the organic wine movement is becoming increasingly important. Across the world the number of estates converting to organic farming is increasing markedly. France leads the way.
Nearly 10% of French vineyards should be converted to organic in 2012, making the wine industry one of the fastest growing organic sector, according to a survey released by the independent growers' union.
These last four years, the growth surfaces converted to organic wine has accelerated markedly. Between 2009 and 2010, the increase was 32.8%, said the organization as a national observatory. Today, 6.2% of the vineyard is organic (52,000 hectares) and in 2012 the area should reach 10% (80,000 ha), said independent growers.

The strict definition of organic wine is that it is grown according to a standard that excludes all wine growing practices that are damaging to the health of the environment, consumers and farm workers, especially pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, soluble fertilizers, and dangerous additives, as well as enhancing biodiversity and ensuring traceability.
This detailed Standard is developed by the organic industry itself, with the support of government, and will hopefully soon underpin a legal definition and protection of the word "organic" from use without 3rd party certification for compliance with that Standard.
A broader definition of organic wine follows on from this, that when artificial inputs are replaced with natural farming practices, there is a qualitative change in the fruit that is grown. Research has shown that organically grown fruit has more antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, because the vines are able to access so much better nutrition through a health soil food web, than through drip-fed soluble fertilizers.
The wine loving world has now begun to make this connection. Organic wine is more than just "chemical free", "preservative free", or "medicinal"