Charter of
Quality

The goal of the Honest Wine Festival is to bring producers and consumers together to enjoy a shared appreciation for the vinification of wine in such a manner that promotes minimal impact on the environment. While the challenges of climate change are frequently changing, the guidelines of our fair represent the best practices for cultivation and vinification at the time.


We acknowledge that certain practices may become obsolete over time and recognise that those participating as producers are driven in their goal to produce incredible wines while minimising their environmental footprint. Our goals for our wines are inclusiveness, and all wines presented must be made to Vegan.org standards.

Vineyard Standards

  • No chemical herbicides in the past two years. (Transitioning organic should be promoted!)
  • Minimal water consumption moving towards dry farming.
  • Regenerative, Organic, and Biodynamic Farms are automatically approved.
  • Organic pesticide use before using inorganic pesticides. Inorganic is used only when organics have failed.
  • Minimal copper sulphate usage in the vineyard.
  • Limited soil tillage: to preserve the soil's natural balance, limiting soil disturbance as much as possible. This makes it possible to reduce the overall environmental impact and encourage soil regeneration and limited carbon release.
  • Minimised agricultural machinery and limited weeding. Between carbon emissions and soil compaction, it is hard to specify a specific amount, but moving towards sustainable cover crops and grass cover is the ultimate goal of this intended limitation.
  • No forced or underpaid labour.

Winemaking Standards

To Exhibit at the Fair

  • No inorganic fining methods.
  • Less than .8 molecular SO₂ free SO₂ on dry wines and less than 1.5 molecular SO₂ on sweet wines.
  • Fining with organic pea proteins and bentonite is acceptable. No other fining agents approved.
  • Crossflow, pad, lenticular, and column filtration is acceptable.
  • No Reverse osmosis filtration or DE Filtration (diatomaceous earth filtration).
  • Must adhere to Vegan winemaking practices.
  • Organic Nutrients are allowed in primary fermentations to prevent stuck fermentations.
  • Inorganic nutrients and non-GMO yeast are acceptable in stuck fermentations.

Natural Stamp

To receive a natural stamp on the booth, the following additional criteria must be met:

  • Native or wild yeasts in primary fermentation. (NON-GMO Champagne yeast acceptable for sparkling wines on secondary fermentations.)
  • Native malolactic fermentations.
  • No blocking Malolactic fermentations using fining agents.
  • 35 PPM Total Sulphur in wines.
  • No Filtration or Fining.

Bottling Standards

  • Sub 500-gram bottle weight for still wines.
  • Sub 900-gram bottle weight for sparkling wines.
  • Minimal to no use of foils preferred for cork applications.

Final Thoughts from Our Founders

Our goal as stewards of the planet is to never stop working towards change and improving not only our quality of life but the quality of lives of others as well as the planet. We recognise that even as we create these standards some of them may not be realistic or short-sighted in creating a vision of a better product that supports the planet. Thusly we aim to always work towards being better — to the planet, to others, and to ourselves.

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