Walk into any wine bar in London and you will see both terms on the menu. Organic wine. Natural wine. They sound similar. They are often used interchangeably. But they mean quite different things — and understanding the difference helps you choose the right bottle.
THE SIMPLE VERSION
Organic wine is certified. Natural wine is not. That is the most important distinction.
Organic certification means an independent body has verified that the grapes were grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or artificial fertilisers. In the UK, the main certifying bodies are the Soil Association and OF&G.
Natural wine has no official definition and no certification body. It is a philosophy rather than a regulated category — generally meaning minimal intervention from vine to bottle, but the specific practices vary enormously from producer to producer.
WHAT IS ORGANIC WINE?
Organic wine starts in the vineyard. Certified organic growers work without synthetic chemicals, using natural methods to maintain healthy soil and healthy vines — cover crops, composting, biodiversity, and working with natural ecosystems rather than against them.
In the winery, organic certification has historically been more about the farming than the winemaking process, though EU regulations introduced in 2012 also set limits on certain winemaking additives for certified organic wine.
The result is wine made from cleaner, more naturally grown fruit — and typically a more expressive, terroir-driven flavour profile.
WHAT IS NATURAL WINE?
Natural wine is a broader movement that encompasses both the vineyard and the cellar. Natural winemakers typically use organically or biodynamically grown grapes, but go further by also minimising intervention during winemaking.
This often means: wild yeast fermentation rather than commercial yeasts, no fining or filtering, little or no added sulphites, and no use of additives like tartaric acid or oak chips.
The results can be extraordinary — wines of real character and complexity. But they can also be unpredictable. Some natural wines are funky, volatile, or cloudy in ways that some drinkers love and others find off-putting.
WHAT IS BIODYNAMIC WINE?
Biodynamic wine goes further than organic. It treats the farm as a self-sustaining ecosystem, working in harmony with lunar and seasonal cycles. Biodynamic producers use natural preparations to maintain soil health and vine vitality.
It sounds alternative, but biodynamic farming has deep roots — the Hoch family in Kremstal, Austria, who supply Loco Wines with PROST!, Rizzling, The Groover, and Left on Red, have farmed biodynamically for over 20 years on vineyards that date back to the 1640s.
WHICH IS BETTER — ORGANIC OR NATURAL WINE?
Neither is objectively better. It depends what you are looking for.
If you want certified, consistent, approachable wine made from clean organic fruit — organic wine is the answer. If you are drawn to the more radical, hands-off philosophy and willing to embrace more variation in the glass — natural wine is worth exploring.
At Loco Wines, we sit deliberately between the two. Our wines are certified organic — the farming is independently verified. But our winemaking is minimal intervention where it matters, and we work with producers who share our values around clean, honest winemaking.
We remove the intimidation. We do not remove the integrity.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Organic wine = certified, regulated, consistent.
Natural wine = philosophy, not regulated, variable.
Biodynamic wine = holistic farming system, goes beyond organic.
Easy drinking organic wine = all the quality, none of the jargon. That is what Loco Wines makes. Shop the range at locowines.co.uk.
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