Introduction: The grading system presented below does not refer to organic or non-organic wines, but, simply, explains the procedures which allow an appellation to define itself.

It is possible to pass from 1 to 3 "green" stars and then to add to this the usual grading system used by wine guidebooks.

This system encourages wine growers to improve their work and helps to inform consumers of the effects of farming practices and wine-making procedures on the quality of an appellation.

* Obtaining one star:

An AOC wine has a special taste which reflects the soil and the climate.

Therefore, farming methods should reinforce the organic life of the soil and avoid all chemical products.

• No weed killer which destroys the life of the soil.
• No chemical fertilisers which are responsible for abnormal growth. These fertilisers are salts. The plant, therefore, has to ingest more water and must grow in order to compensate for the salt levels which are imposed.
• No chemical synthesis products which can perturb photosynthesis and alter the taste of the wine.
• No systematic treatments which are absorbed by the sap of the plant within half an hour and which, other than having a negative effect on the plant's metabolism, can also leave residual traces in the grape.
• No perfumed yeast.

** Obtaining two stars:

In recent years, important technological advances have meant that it is possible to recreate tastes which had been modified by bad farming practices. With the use of good farming techniques this technology becomes obsolete, meaning that each wine maintains its own original taste and that the consumer can be sure of the product which he has purchased.

• No machine-assisted grape picking in order to avoid damage to the grape which can lead to oxidation.
• No addition of external, foreign yeasts.
• A ban on adding enzymes to the must. Good farming practices provide good colour.
• No inverse osmosis concentrates. This procedure can lead to imbalances, especially on the ageing process.
• No cryo-extraction which distorts the balance of the wine.
• No refrigeration to the point of solidification.

 
*** Obtaining three stars:

• No de-acidification or re-acidification which alters the balance of the wines.
• No addition of ascorbic acid, or of potassium sorbate.
• No chaptalization, even with concentrated musts.

 
All of the wine growers who have adopted this charter produce authentic and, therefore, inimitable wines because the relationship between the soil and the climate is different everywhere in the world.

The wine grower, who signs this chart in the presence of a bailiff, agrees to follow this deontology for his entire crop. He is informed that he may be visited at any time by a member of the group.

All of the wines from the "Domaine de Graillefiot" hold 3 stars *** from this chart of quality.

All of our wines are produced by means of Biodynamic farming (Controlled by ECOCERT and DEMETER).