Certification


I’ve been planning for ages to do a post on the unintended consequences of legal definitions. It turns out procrastination means that the world has caught up with my intentions. In late March, INAO – the French organisation that oversees agricultural products (including wine) with geographical indicators – introduced a new category for wine. A previous post had touched on the argument for a legal definition of ‘natural wine.’  The...

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Sustainability vs Veganism


Posted By on Nov 9, 2019

Here’s the thing. Despite what would probably seem the common-sense view of the relationship, approaches to sustainability and veganism, at least in wine-making, don’t necessary overlap. Indeed, depending as always on how you define things, at times they are in opposition to each other. This is an observation worth exploring. I am not taking sides in the issue. Rather, my goal here is to point out that things are, as always,...

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Certification


Posted By on Oct 7, 2014

One topic that merits further attention is the question of who decides to seek certification for their set of practices, and why. By certification I mean the process whereby a given organisation, such as Demeter for biodynamics, recognises that you are operating in accordance with their principles. There are different organisation who will certify someone is operating within organic, biodynamic, or a defined ‘sustainable’ framework....

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