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iDealwine picks
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Viticulture
General :
The «bio» designation covers certified wines produced by biodynamic or organic methods, sustainably produced wines, and «environmentally friendly» wines that are not officially certified.
These designations apply to recent vintages (the date of certification, if known, is specified in the estate description).
See the blog article for more information on this designation.
Biodynamic :
The «biodynamic» designation is used for all estates certified as using biodynamic methods, as verified by one of the two official bodies, Demeter or Biodyvin. All wines produced by biodynamic methods are also certified as organic.
This designation applies to recent vintages.
Organic :
The «organic» designation covers all estates certified as using organic methods, as verified by one of the bodies approved by the Ministry of Agriculture, such as Ecocert.
This designation applies to recent vintages.
Sustainable :
The «sustainable» designation covers all estates certified as using integrated or High Environmental Value (level 3 Environmental Certification) techniques.
This designation applies to recent vintages.
Evironmentally friendly :
The «environmentally friendly» designation refers to estates practising environmentally friendly wine-growing techniques, but that have not opted for certification or who are still in the process of converting to organic agriculture or biodynamics. These estates may have adopted biodynamic principles (non-certified) or simply no longer use chemical products.
This designation applies to recent vintages.
Natural :
Wines which are produced without any added sulfur (or almost any) and with no other inputs. However, given that there is no official body to issue the natural wine label, it is based on winemakers’ statements.
This designation applies to recent vintages.
Known as the Loire Valley or the ‘val de Loire’ in French, the wine-producing land of this region is one of the furthest-spanning in France in that its vines cover 1,000km, from the Massif Central to Nantes. There are 70,000 hectares cultivated – 52,000 of which are classed as AOC – and they touch the following 15 départements: Loire-Atlantique (44), Vendée (85), Maine-et-Loire (49), Deux-Sèvres (79), Vienne (86), Indre (36), Indre-et-Loire (37), Sarthe (72), Loire-et-Cher (41), Loiret (45), Cher (18), Nièvre (58), Allier (03), Puy-de-Dôme (63), and Loire (42).
Whilst wine-growing culture in the Loire Valley is nothing new, it’s true that it’s success really took off from the beginning of the 20th century, in France as well as abroad, notably in the UK. Its origins date back much further, though, to well before the Roman conquest, as proven by several amphora pots found in Chalon-sur-Saône and Angers.