Organic food:

• Produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. (similar to Sustainability)
• Produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.
• Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones.

Before a product can be labeled ‘organic,’ a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.”

Consumer Brochure, USDA National Organic Program (NOP), http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/Consumers/brochure.html.

From the United States Department of Agriculture National Agriculture Library website: ”http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/ofp/ofp.shtml. Retrieved May 18, 2008.

The final national organic standards rule was published in the Federal Register on December 21, 2000. The law was activated April 21, 2001. The rule, along with detailed fact sheets and other background information, is available on the National Organic Program's website, http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/

Since the 2003 vintage the wine label cannot make an organic claim of any kind on the Principal Display Panel (PDP) unless the wine has been certified by an accredited certifying agency, The basis for the certification are the standards of the National Organic Program (NOP). (Producers with gross organic sales of less than $5,000 are expempt rom certification).

To make an organic claim (“made with organic grapes” included) on the PDP, both the vineyard and the winery must be certified. There should be a certifier statement identifying the agent that certified the handler of the finished product. (“Certified organic by [name of certifier]").

All alcohol imported into the United States must be certified to the NOP regulations in order to sell, label, or represent it as organic. Foreign standards are not recognized in the United States. In addition, all labels must be submitted for approval to a certifying agent as part of their organic system plan and must be approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) before use. Whether the wine can say “organic” will depend on its content and will be determined by the certifying agent in concert with the TTB.

• 100% Organic 100% of all ingredients must be certified organic i.e. may normally not contain any allowed processing aids or auxiliaries (unless or organic agricultural origin). Allowed: water & salt.
• Organic (95 percent+) allows for five percent non-organic ingredients, only when organic agricultural ingredients are not available. The USDA seal and/or certifier logo may be used on the label, but this is not a requirement. However, the certifier statement on the information panel is a requirement. There can be not be any sulfites added to the wine.
• “Made with organic grapes” (70 percent+) allows for 30% non-organic ingredients when organic ingredients are not available to the producer. These wines also may have the addition of sulfur dioxide. The resulting wine might have added sulfites during the processing not exceeding 100 parts per million. The producer cannot use the USDA seal. The certifier’s statement is a requirement but not the certifier's logo.
  This designation is available to vintners who farm or purchase grapes grown on certified acreage and their bottling winery's handling and processing operations also must be certified according to the National Organic Program regulations.

See the attached attached chart 'Labeling Alcohol Beverge Containers" for easy to read outline. From United States Department of Agriculture - Agriculture Marketing Service website: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3004313&acct=nopgeninfo. Retrieved July 8, 2008.

See attached to view sample wine label showing the Guidelines for lableing wine as "organic". From the United States Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) website: http://www.ttb.gov/pdf/wine.pdf. Retrieved July 2, 2008.

NOTE: Use of and measurement of Sulfites: The addition of sulfites are due to their being a wondeful preservative. In the production of wine, the addition of sulfites usually is in small amounts measured in " parts per million" (ppm). The legal limit in wine is 350 ppm. The range for most wine with added sulfites seems to vary between between 25 to 150 ppm. According to United States federal law, a wine containing 10 ppm or more of total sulfites, must display on the information label that it "contains sulfites". The 100 ppm level is the total sulfites measured at the time of final bottling and it is allowable to have naturally occurring sulfites in organic wine. Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) labeling requirements requires wine labels to list “contains sulfites” if they exceed 10 ppm.

This wine does not require certification as long as the organic claim is limited to an ingredient statement and there is no reference to certification or any certification agent (name or seal).

However, unlike most organic food products, there is no requirement for an ingredient statement on alcohol products, so it seems odd to to print an ingredient on a wine information label. The use of this claim simply advises consumers that the wine is from organic grapes while not needing any certidication.

Although the wine is exempt from certification, the producer is not exempt from from the NOP record keeping and commingling and contamination prevention requirements. Additionally, TTB will not approve labels making an ingredient statement claim without submission of the organic certificate supporting the claim.

The United States Tax and Trade Bureau and the United States Food and Drug Administration approve both types of organic wine label designations. For more information see: www.ttb.gov/labeling/lbeling_organic.shtml.