Is It Organic or Not

Bruce Ewert, owner winemaker, L'Acadie Vineyards

How many times have I heard it? "We are almost organic" And then a flurry of reasons of why not, usually blaming high certification costs, unbearable paperwork or the need for particular chemicals. But there is no such thing as "almost" when achieving certified organic status, and federal and provincial governments are now regulating the term so that consumers are not misled.

Organic claims used to be controlled differently in each province but just over a decade ago the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, CFIA, created the Canada Organic Standard along with a logo and accreditation of certifying bodies to perform inspections. It is equivalent to USDA and European standards. I was part of a national working committee creating standards for organic wine back then, deciding on a permitted substance list for additions such as sulfite, enzymes and yeast. The common thread is that they are naturally occurring substances and forbids conventional additives such as preservatives or GMO products and limits sulfites to half as much as in non-organic wines and only the natural form, not chemical form. A similar list exists for growing plants such as a vineyard.

The process is this - grow your grapes and make your wine using inputs and processes permitted by the organic standard, hire an accredited certifying body to inspect and perform audit trails, and then label your wine with the Canada Organic logo once you get approval. You can not make organic claims on labels, websites, brochures, etc unless you are certified organic. Some wineries only grow certified organic grapes, and some just say that they almost do, but certified organic grapes must be made into wine according to organic standards, an important last step, to be able to be called organic wine and have the logo. If the winery is not using the logo on bottles or is "whispering" that it is organic, it's because they can't, their wine is not certified.

Initially, Canada Organic regulations were enforced only for organic producers and processors that shipped beyond their provincial borders, and relatively smaller producers that sold locally were not monitored or controlled by CFIA, many claiming that they were organic even if they weren't. Problems arose, particularly at farmers' markets where the term was bantered around and put on signs just to make a sale.

Some provinces such as New Brunswick and BC quickly shored up this ability to say organic and required them to become certified and controlled with the federal standard. Last year Nova Scotia followed suit by passing provincial regulation coupled with funding to help with initial certification costs, which usually are about $400 per year for 10 acres or less.

Consumers that are mindful of the polluted world that we live in have increasingly demanded that agriculture reduce it's chemical usage and become more transparent. There are vineyards in France with dead soil from decades of pesticide use and some farm workers that applied those chemicals are now suing because of health problems. Buying certified organic is the only assurance in Canada to avoid GMO products and assurance that only naturally sourced inputs were used for growing and processing. Grapes are considered one the "dirty dozen" referring to the large amounts of pesticide used and persistence of residual chemicals in the wine. Certified organic wines and the Canada Organic logo gives wine buyers peace of mind.

Bruce Ewert, owner winemaker, L'Acadie Vineyards, Gaspereau, Nova Scotia, Canada

Webmaster note: Bruce Ewert L'Acadie Vineyards Wolfville Nova Scotia is one of Canadian best sparkling winemakers.

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Organic ~ Nova Scotia