Without Nutrition Label, Understand These Certification Icons

Every wine in the Avid Vines portfolio has the same characteristics.  They are organic, sustainable, imported to the U.S. in chilled containers held at 57F, and leave you with a clean experience containing no regrets.

What does organic mean? 

It’s all about how the farmer treats the land, the air, and the water.

Why should I care? 

I’ll answer this question with another: Ever wonder while everything we consume has a FDA mandated nutrition label on it, why anything with alcohol in it, does not?

There is strong regulatory, once criminal, history and truf wars regarding alcohol in the U.S. Today, the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) agency make the rules regarding labels. In the absence of putting an ingredient list of all the trace elements that go into the wines we drink, the appearance of third-party, certifications which result from credible audits of production methods, is the only clear indication that what’s inside the bottle is clean of all kinds of things that can cause a headache. 

Organic farming means no pesticides are sprayed on the vines during their growth and there are no chemicals in the soil from which the vines grow.  Plus, there is no heavy machinery in the vineyards during the harvest which would throw out a lot of exhaust.  All of that would pollute the soil.  The vines would then soak it up, and it would sit in the grapes. Once the wine-making process begins, those pollutants become concentrated.  These impurities in the body are likely to create a histamine reaction the older we get, which leads to inflammation, which in turns explains the headaches some people experience when drinking wine – despite staying hydrated.

Who wants that?

Sustainability goes hand-in-hand with organic farming.  Together, they maintain a virtuous cycle.  Farmers want to protect the land so it continues to provide the incredible harvest we desire, so they deploy a variety of techniques to enable a good growth cycle.  For example, Avid Vines’ owner-growers compost material to nurture the soil and grow herbs, flowers (often times roses) and vegetables in between the rows in the vineyard.

Don’t expect a beautifully manicured golf course experience.

It’s more like a jungle where weeds and other plantings compete with the vines for their nutrients and that struggle makes for a better end result.  You may also see other agriculture like sheep and goats in the vineyard.  All together, this biodiversity enhances the flavor of the grapes and ultimately these very special bubbles because it adds more minerals and complexity.  It’s like having a better canvas from which to paint something.

You don’t just have to take our word for it.  All of this work is documented, reviewed, and audited, earning our farmers hard-won certification including:

• Viticulture Durable en Champagne (VDC): The region of Champagne designates its own label based on a 160-point audit that signals the highest standards in sustainable farming exclusively in that area.

• Haute Valeur Environmental (HVE): A 3-level designation for agricultural products in France that demonstrates excellence in promoting biodiversity in the vineyard and climate stewardship across the air, water, and soil. Lots of products outside of French wine obtain this certification in France. You’ll find it on the paper sleeves of baguettes, chocolate, cheeses, cider, etc. 

• Champagne Vigneron Independant: This label denotes owner-growers identified in France with the letters RM for récoltant-manipulant.  It is reserved for the few who grow grapes on their own land and use it to produce their own wine using their own production equipment (e.g., press, bottling, etc.) vs the use of a co-operative’s.

• Champagne de Vigneron: This label also describes the efforts of an owner-grower who grow grapes on their own land yet come together with other growers to share the use of production equipment like the press, storage tanks, and bottling as members of a co-operative..