As with the food industry, there are a lot of choices and confusion with wine types relating to health. Remember when the dairy aisle in the supermarket carried three milks only -- whole, skim, and non-fat? Now there's organic, almond, ultra-filtered, A2, lactose free, oat, etc. Having these choices isn't a bad thing, of course, but it can be a bit bewildering.
The same sort of thing is going on with wine, and it's quite confusing.
Puzzled by the back label? |
I'm only going to give brief descriptions of each because you can write many paragraphs on most of these, especially when you get into pros and cons. Do your own research on any that are especially interesting or especially confusing.
These are all based on U.S. laws.
Organically grown grapes
Government certification that there are no synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides used. This is the same as for any organic food you buy at the store. Note that there are organic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. The big one they can't use IMO is glyphosate (Roundup). Fortunately, most of the smaller, premium wine growers in Sonoma, Napa, and other areas won't use Roundup in conventionally farmed vineyards. The big ones are more likely to. This is another reason to avoid the cheap, industrial wines from the big corporations.
Organic wine
Made from organically grown grapes, there's no added sulfur. I italicized added sulfur because there is naturally occurring sulfur in the vineyards, so organic will have some sulfur, but usually less than conventional wine. Anything else used for stabilization, preservation, etc. in the cellar will be organic. The issue is with no added sulfur, an organic wine doesn't have the preservatives to age, so you should drink organic wine sooner rather than later.
Natural wine
A loosely defined and unregulated process of using natural yeasts and little or no sulfur additions. Overall, it's about minimal manipulation in the cellar. The natural wine movement came about because of backlash against the highly manipulated wine styles of the past couple decades. There's lots of controversy because there's no single definition of what constitutes a natural wine, so everyone has their own guidelines. Plus, there's a lot of misinformation on the Internet. What the natural wine movement needs is an agreed upon set of rules.
Biodynamic
This method of farming was invented by a non-farmer over a century ago and seems quite popular in Europe. It's organic, but the wines can contain more sulfur, and certain things are done according to the calendar. I picture people in the vineyard at night howling at the full moon. No, it's not quite like that, but still seems to be a combination of organic farming and astrology.
Sustainably produced wine
Sustainable farming is about taking care of the land for future generations. Sustainability also goes into economic and even social aspects of farming and wine making. The local rules are quite involved. Sonoma County has its own set of rules, and pretty much every winery in the county is considered sustainably operated. It does not mean it has to be organic, natural, etc.
Sulfate free
Well, there's no such thing as there are naturally occurring sulfates on grapes. This whole sulfur thing got started because wine bottles are labeled with a warning about sulfur, as a small number of people have asthma-like attacks from too much sulfur.
Vegan/vegetarian
Egg whites and gelatin are the most common animal "parts" used in wine making to clarify and stabilize the wine. If you believe absolutely no insects or maybe larger creature ever make it in your vegan wine or tomato sauce, etc. well, okay then.
Paleo wine
I don't know much about the Paleo diet, but it seems it's mostly about the sugar in wine. Quality dry wines are at zero or close to that on the percent of sugars left in the finished wine. The exception would be dessert wines, other wines considered off-dry or semi-sweet. Most cheap wines, red or white, contain a bit of sugar.
Carbon-neutral wine
Fermentation releases carbon dioxide. Some wineries are working to offset this with some clever ideas. Parducci Winery in Mendocino County is on the forefront, as they have been with many other environmental changes. Wine making also uses a lot of water and power. There are (more expensive) ways to reduce water usage. Some wineries have gone solar.
Low/no alcohol wine
There are processes the wine is put through that will remove most (not all) of the alcohol. Will it change the wine? Yes.
Low calorie wine
Mostly BS marketing. You can remove the sugar, making a dry wine. You can process the wine to remove some of the alcohol (see above). A dry wine will have 100 calories, plus or minus, per glass. A low alcohol wine isn't much lower. A (near) zero alcohol wine will have ten calories or so.
Low sugar wine
Marketing BS (see above).
Healthy wine
BS. So-called low calorie or healthy wine is really just a lower alcohol wine, maybe.
Clean wine
OMFG
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