Organic rosé wines

Clarifying the juice, shielding it from air, stabilizing it before bottling: every rosé goes through these steps, and each one can call for a winemaking additive. For organic wine, that additive comes from an EU list shorter than the one for conventional wine, set by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1165.

Enzymes, for Clarifying Only

After pressing, rosé juice is cloudy: bits of pulp and skin float in it, held in suspension by the grapes' pectins. Pectolytic enzymes break down these pectins and help the particles settle to the bottom of the tank. This step, called settling or débourbage, happens on the must, before fermentation.

In conventional winemaking, these enzymes can serve other purposes, and the list allows others too, such as glucosidase or beta-glucanase. Organic rules allow only five enzymes, pectin lyase, pectin methylesterase, polygalacturonase, hemicellulase and cellulase, and only to clarify the must or the wine.

Inert Gases and Vitamin C Against Oxidation

To handle the wine away from air, during racking or in a partly empty tank, the organic list allows nitrogen, carbon dioxide and argon. Carbon dioxide keeps the same limit as in conventional wine: a still rosé treated with it holds no more than 3 g/L when sold, with less than 1 bar (about 15 psi) of pressure at 20 °C (68 °F).

Argon comes with one restriction: it cannot be used for sparging, which means bubbling a gas through the wine to drive out a dissolved gas such as oxygen. For this job, organic winemakers can only use nitrogen.

L-ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, is still allowed: it protects the wine against oxidation, alongside sulfites. Air and oxygen gas also stay on the list, for winemakers who choose to aerate their wine.

Organic Rosé Sulfites: 150, 170 or 220 mg/L

For organic rosé, the sulfur dioxide limit falls into three bands of residual sugar (glucose and fructose):

• Under 2 g/L: 150 mg/L at most;
• 2 to under 5 g/L: 170 mg/L at most;
• 5 g/L and above: 220 mg/L at most.

The last two limits are those for conventional rosé, 200 and 250 mg/L, lowered by 30 mg/L. Only the driest band gets a cap of its own. A medium dry rosé, with more sugar, usually falls into the top band.

Potassium bisulfite and potassium metabisulfite, two other forms of sulfur allowed in organic wine, count toward the same total.

Questions About How Organic Rosé Is Made

Can organic rosé be treated with PVPP?

Organic rosé is made without PVPP: this polymer, allowed in conventional wine, is not on the list of products approved for organic wine. In conventional winemaking, it lowers the wine's level of phenolic compounds, the ones that make it turn brown over time.

What is organic rosé fined with?

Organic rosé can only be fined with the fining agents on the organic list, such as bentonite or pea protein. The list also includes potato and wheat protein, gelatin, casein, egg albumin and isinglass. For most of these agents, the organic version is required when it is available.

Can organic rosé contain potassium sorbate?

Organic rosé is made without potassium sorbate: this preservative, allowed in conventional wine, is not on the organic list. It is mainly used to keep a wine with residual sugar from refermenting in the bottle. Lysozyme, another preservative used in conventional wine, is not on the list either.

Where can you buy organic rosés direct from the winemaker?

You can buy organic rosés direct from the winemaker on Avenue des Vins. Your order ships straight from the producer, with no middleman.

See also: Organic red wines - Organic white wines - Biodynamic wines