Renaissance des Appellations is an independent group of Biodynamic wine-growers founded by wine French producer Nicolas Joly of the Clos de la Coulée de Serrant, a domaine in the the Loire valley with its own appellation or monopole, the Clos de la Coulée de Serrant AOC. The English language term for Renaissance des Appellation is ‘Return to Terroir’.

Aims: According to the Renaissance des Appellation’s website (source, retrieved 16 June 2019) wines must be of high quality, and must fully express their appellation by showing ‘great originality’, meaning terroir-driven wines with a strong and unique sense of place.

Level one: Winegrower members must be certified organic (a 36 month process) for their whole domain as a baseline. They must have practised biodynamics for a minimum of 2 years (it seems the two can go hand in hand, eg. go organic in year one, add Biodynamics in year two and into year three). Members do not have to practise Biodynamics to the extent of also being certified by either Demeter or the Syndicat des Vignerons en Culture Biodynamique, aka Biodyvin. Fermentation via local wild yeasts. Neutral re-yeasting is permitted for Champagnes, Champagne method and cremants to produce bubbles. | No wood chips, no reverse osmosis. No precipitation agents (CMC – Carboxy, Methyl Cellulose). | No potassium sorbate (an anti-oxidation agent). | Sulfur is permitted, preferably in its natural volcanic foam. Ageing in 200% new wood is not permitted. Natural fermentation processes must be followed: by excluding correction (via sulphites, phosphates, etc.) of nitrogen deficiency. Fermentation activation agents (vitamins, thiamine, yeast hulls, etc), the addition of enzymes, bacteria, aromatic additives or any products resulting from synthetic chemistry are not permitted.

Level two: Replanting with mass selection rather than clonal selected budwood. Irrigation is not allowed for European producers. | Manual harvesting only. | No chaptalisation. No cryo-extraction (freezing the grapes). | No modification of the natural balance of the must or the wine; acidification or de-acidification in any form is not allowed (natural malolactic fermentation is permitted). | No addition of gum Arabic. | Biodynamic agriculture for a minimum of 3 years. 

Level three: Manual harvesting in several passes. | No sterile filtration or anything below 2 microns. | No centrifugal filtering. | No collage. | Organic or biodynamic certification for at least 7 years (full restoration of the vineyard’s ecosystem). | Respect for the natural developmental conditions of the plant including meteorological influences. Prohibition of any form of irrigation for all new-world producers. | In the event of difficult climatic conditions, an exceptional dispensation may be accorded in cellar practices.

Member wineries by country: Chile. | Germany. | Italy. | New Zealand.