Three Years Before “Organic”: The Time Behind a Wine Label

Wine labels often carry a small organic certification mark, varying by region of origin. Bottles imported into Bangkok are no exception. Most people read that mark as a statement about the present: “This wine is made using organic farming methods.” That is not wrong. But the mark certifies more than the wine’s current status. It also tells us that the vineyard has been farmed organically under official oversight for at least a prescribed period of time. The mark carries that history with it.

Organic certification includes a waiting period known as the “conversion period.” It is the transition between switching a vineyard to organic farming and being allowed to call its produce “organic.” Until that period is complete, no matter how faithfully organic practices are being followed, wine made from those grapes cannot be labeled “organic.”

The Significance of Three Years

The EU’s organic regulation, Regulation (EU) 2018/848, sets different conversion periods depending on the type of crop.

Grapevines are classified as perennial crops, which remain rooted in the same place and continue growing year after year. For these crops, a conversion period of at least three years is required before the first organic harvest.

Annual crops such as vegetables and grains, by contrast, must be under organic management for at least two years before sowing. Because one period is measured against harvest and the other against sowing, the two are not directly comparable. But in terms of the periods specified by the regulation, grapes require an additional year.

So when does the clock start? Under the regulation, the earliest starting point is when the producer formally notifies the authority responsible for organic certification that the operation is converting to organic production. The clock does not start on the day the grower happens to stop using pesticides; it starts when the vineyard comes under official oversight. The system does not allow producers to retroactively move that date backward based simply on their own declaration.

What Happens While the Clock Is Running

Throughout the conversion period of at least three years, the vineyard is already being farmed organically. Yet under the rules, wine made from grapes harvested during that period cannot be sold as organic.

For producers, this can be a difficult stretch. Farming without conventional chemical inputs requires additional work, yet that effort cannot necessarily be reflected on the label. The grower bears the labor and costs associated with organic cultivation while, from the consumer’s perspective, the wine may remain indistinguishable on the label from one produced through conventional farming (the common approach, which uses synthetic chemical inputs). This continues for at least three years.

The regulations do provide an intermediate designation. Plant-based foods containing only a single agricultural ingredient may, after more than twelve months of conversion, be labeled as “in-conversion.” But this is distinct from an “organic” designation, and such products cannot carry the EU organic logo.

The Term “Organic Wine” Is Not That Old

There is another layer to this story of time.

The regulatory framework allowing wine itself to be labeled “organic wine” took effect on August 1, 2012. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 203/2012 established organic requirements not only for growing grapes but also for the winemaking process. Only wines meeting both sets of requirements could then be called “organic wine.”

Before that, organic rules applied only to the vineyard. Labels therefore used wording such as “wine made from organically grown grapes.” The claim referred to the raw material, not to the wine itself. As a regulatory category, “organic wine” has a history of only a little more than a decade.

Certifications Are Built in Layers

Biodynamic certification makes this structure of time even clearer. Biodynamics builds on organic agriculture by incorporating ideas based on natural cycles, including the phases of the moon.

Biodyvin, a French biodynamic certification specifically for wine, requires members first to hold organic certification that meets the requirements for use of France’s AB organic mark. On top of that foundation comes a four-year conversion to biodynamic viticulture. Certification is granted only after the producer passes inspections conducted throughout that period. Those inspections are carried out by the certification body ECOCERT.

Demeter, the international biodynamic certification system, likewise states that conversion from conventional agriculture generally takes about three years. For farms that have already held organic certification for three years or more, that period may be shortened.

Biodynamic certification therefore rests on a foundation of organic certification, with another set of requirements layered on top. The marks are not simply lined up side by side. They are built one upon another.

How Long You Wait Depends on the System

There are other certifications related to wine as well. Each rests on a different basis, and each requires a different length of waiting.

Alcoholic beverages have been covered under Japan’s organic JAS system since October 2022.

The table’s “Basis,” “Scope,” and “Conversion period” columns show the standards that each system sets. Confirming that those standards are actually met is a separate matter. Some systems, such as AB and Biodyvin, entrust the operation of their standards to a third party, the certification body ECOCERT. Demeter, meanwhile, is inspected by national Demeter associations in each country. The organization that sets a standard and the body that inspects it are not necessarily the same.

This table reveals three differences.

The first is whether the basis is statutory or a private arrangement. EU Organic and Organic JAS are grounded in law: a producer cannot label a product “organic” without certification. Demeter and Biodyvin, by contrast, are standards set by private organizations, and whether to pursue them is left to the producer’s own choice.

The second is whether a certification can be obtained on its own or must be built on top of another. EU Organic and Organic JAS can be obtained independently. Biodyvin, however, requires holding AB organic certification as a condition, and Demeter, too, generally presupposes organic certification. The structure is one of a foundation, with something else layered on top of it.

The third is how the length of the wait is counted. The statutory systems agree on “three years before the first harvest.” Biodyvin counts four years from the start of conversion. Demeter’s length varies depending on whether organic certification is already held. Even when the same term, “conversion period,” is used, what marks the starting point and how it is counted differs from system to system.

The Tense of a Wine Label

An organic certification mark tells us what a wine is now. At the same time, it tells us something about the past: that the vineyard has been under organic management for at least a prescribed period. The label speaks in the present tense, but folded inside it is the past tense.

And that time cannot simply be added later. A producer can decide to plant a different grape variety or replace winery equipment and begin doing so that same year. A conversion period, however, generally has to be lived through. A producer who has not completed the required conversion period cannot simply spend more money this year and put “organic” on this year’s label.

Bangkok brings together wines from France, Italy, Japan, and neighboring wine regions, each carrying the rules and certification systems of its origin. What those certification marks guarantee is not that one farming method is inherently superior to another. They guarantee that the required waiting period was actually completed.

That small mark on the label is the vineyard’s résumé condensed into a symbol.

This article is intended solely to explain the certification systems and conversion periods that govern organic wine, for informational purposes only, and does not aim to promote or encourage the consumption of alcohol. / บทความนี้จัดทำขึ้นเพื่ออธิบายระบบการรับรองและระยะเวลาปรับเปลี่ยน (conversion period) ของไวน์ออร์แกนิก เพื่อเป็นข้อมูลความรู้เท่านั้น มิได้มีเจตนาเพื่อส่งเสริมหรือโฆษณาเครื่องดื่มแอลกอฮอล์ สำหรับผู้มีอายุ 20 ปีขึ้นไป โปรดดื่มอย่างรับผิดชอบ

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