The audited certifications, and what “natural wine” does and does not mean
Natural wine has no official definition in Switzerland: it is an approach, not a label. For an audited guarantee, look for the Organic, Bio Suisse Bud or Demeter certifications, which are checked every year. Vegan is a separate matter: it concerns how the wine is clarified, not how the grapes are grown. All four can be combined.
This guide explains what each term covers, from vine to bottle, using the rules summarised by FiBL, the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture.
There is no official regulation for natural wine, points out Swiss Wine Valais, the Valais wine trade body. Most producers agree on four principles: organic or biodynamic grapes, spontaneous fermentation with the grapes' own yeasts, no winemaking additives, and little or no added sulphites.
Sulphur is the real point of debate. According to Swiss Wine Valais, natural wines contain anywhere from zero to about 80 mg of added sulphur per litre, while conventional wines may reach 150 mg for reds and 200 mg for whites and rosés. The Swiss natural wine association has banned any addition of sulphites at bottling, which led some members to leave.
In France, a private charter governs the term “Vin méthode nature”: certified organic grapes, hand harvesting, native yeasts, no additives, no filtration or reverse osmosis, and at most 30 mg of sulphites per litre, with a different logo depending on whether any were added. Each wine is declared every year and spot-checked. Nothing similar exists in Switzerland.
Without sulphur, wine is less protected. When the grapes are perfect and the winemaking is controlled, Swiss Wine Valais speaks of striking complexity and purity. Otherwise faults appear: oxidation (bruised apple, vinegar), reduction (rotten eggs) or mousiness, an unpleasant off-note.
These wines also need more care at home: cool, steady storage without temperature swings, according to the wine body.
In Switzerland, the legal minimum is set by the federal ordinance on organic farming. FiBL sums up the rules: no herbicides, no synthetic fertilisers or pesticides, limited copper against diseases, and two calendar years of conversion. In the cellar, some additives and processes are banned and sulphur is capped: 100 mg per litre for a dry red, 150 mg for a dry white or rosé.
An independent body inspects each farm every year. Organic can cover only the vines: the ordinance allows a farm to grow its vines organically and the rest differently.
The Bud (Knospe) is the label of Bio Suisse, the Swiss organic farmers' federation, created in 1981. According to Swiss Wine Valais, it requires the whole farm to be organic, not just the vines, and 7% of the land to be set aside for biodiversity: meadows, hedges.
In the cellar it is stricter than the ordinance, according to FiBL: at most 120 mg of sulphur for a dry white or rosé instead of 150, no added ascorbic acid or tannins, and grape heating limited to 65 °C instead of 75 °C.
Demeter is the biodynamic label. It builds on organic and Bud requirements and adds the use of biodynamic preparations on the farm. FiBL describes it as stricter than Bio Suisse on several points in the vineyard and the cellar.
In practice: three years of conversion instead of two; less copper, at most 4 kg per hectare per year on a plot against 6 kg under the ordinance and the Bud; native yeasts, with cultured yeasts allowed only if fermentation stops; grape heating limited to 35 °C; and far fewer additives, with gelatine, for example, excluded.
Because fining, the step that clarifies wine by binding the particles in suspension, can use animal products: egg white, milk casein, gelatine or isinglass from fish, explains Swiss Wine Valais. FiBL shows that egg white and casein remain allowed, under conditions, under the organic ordinance, the Bud and Demeter.
A vegan wine is clarified with mineral products such as bentonite, a type of clay, or activated charcoal, or simply left to settle until the particles drop. Vegan says nothing about farming: a vegan wine is not necessarily organic.
Organic: official certification under the federal ordinance, checked every year; covers grape growing and winemaking. Bud: Bio Suisse's private label, stricter, whole farm. Demeter: private biodynamic label, the most demanding. Vegan: private labels, separate from organic; covers fining. Natural wine: no official certification in Switzerland; the term rests on the approach the winemaker declares.
On Helvitic, each wine page shows what the winery declares. Organic, Demeter and vegan rely on external checks; the “natural” mention is the winemaker's own declaration. Our organic wine selection only includes audited certifications.
Organic
Grapes grown without synthetic pesticides or chemical fertilisers, limited cellar inputs. In Switzerland the best-known label is the Bud (Bio Suisse).
Certification checked every year by an independent body.
Demeter (biodynamics)
All organic requirements, plus running the estate as a living organism: natural preparations, biodiversity, even lower input thresholds.
International label, audited annually.
Vegan
No animal-based inputs, particularly for fining (clarification): no egg white, casein or fish glue.
Certified by dedicated labels — independent from organic.
| Mention | Official certification | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Organic | Yes (Bud, EU organic) | Grape growing + limited cellar inputs |
| Demeter | Yes | Organic + biodynamics (whole estate) |
| Vegan | Yes | Fining, without animal inputs |
| Natural | No — declared approach | Winemaking (yeasts, additives, sulfites) |
Or continue the journey: serving your wine well
No. Most natural winemakers farm organically, but nothing requires it in Switzerland, since there is no official definition. Only an Organic, Bud or Demeter certification guarantees it.
Biodynamics, certified by Demeter, builds on organic rules and goes further: biodynamic preparations, three years of conversion instead of two, native yeasts and far fewer cellar additives, according to FiBL.
Almost always a little: yeasts produce them naturally during fermentation. Additions range from zero to about 80 mg per litre according to Swiss Wine Valais, against the 150 to 200 mg allowed in conventional wines.
Because fining may use egg white or casein, which are allowed in organic wine. Vegan wine is clarified with mineral products such as bentonite, or simply by letting it settle.
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