On July 22, 2026, Adam L. Huss of the Beyond Organic Wine podcast and Substack, with the support and cooperation of dozens of other wineries, wine sales professionals, and wine educators around the world, has announced a global boycott of all wines produced from vineyards that use herbicides, including glyphosate (RoundUp). # boycottherbicidewine #boycottglyphosatewine Huss states: “Herbicides are not necessary to grow wine. In fact, by degrading soil health they decrease the potential quality of wine. It’s time we start defining ‘great wine’ in a way that includes the most important aspect of its greatness: how it was grown. There is no excuse for using herbicides in viticulture that can rationalize the harm they cause to human and environmental health. We drink wine to add beauty to our lives, and herbicides only create ugliness.” Beyond Organic Wine is entirely listener & reader-supported. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thank you. Inspired by the story and activism of a fellow winemaker living with cancer, Nick Dugmore of Stoke Wines in Australia, as well as the recent executive order by US president Donald Trump to increase glyphosate production, and the US Supreme Court decision which further removes the power of people to protect themselves from the potential harms of glyphosate, Huss announced the boycott to call attention to the pervasive use of herbicides in winegrowing, and to generate a groundswell of support and education aimed at peer-pressuring wine producers, wine sellers, wine reviewers, and wine drinkers to stop supporting the use of herbicides in wine. “Karen MacNeil has taken a very public stance in opposition to the use of unnecessarily heavy glass wine bottles. She and others have decided that there isn’t any good excuse for using these heavy bottles, and the resulting harm from the increased CO2 footprint is significant enough to take action. So she has publicly refused to review wines sent to her in heavy bottles. This is really important, and I and many others support this whole-heartedly. We are at the same point in history when it comes to the use of herbicide in the growing of grapes,” Huss says. “I’ve found that many people who love wine already have this boycott in place in their personal lives. Now we all need to take a very public stance against the use of these unnecessary chemicals in the production of wine because the harm to wine quality, human health, and the greater community of life far outweighs any perceived benefits.” Glyphosate (packaged and sold as Roundup by Bayer/Monsanto) is the most used pesticide on earth, and because of that it will inevitably become the “poster child” of the boycott, Huss says. But there are many other herbicides: Atrazine, Trifluralin, Pendimethalin, Glufosinate, 2-4D, Dicamba, among others. Though some of these are not used in wine production, due to the fact that they kill vines on contact, the boycott is against all herbicides in wine. “The question I’ve gotten the most since the announcement of the boycott is ‘How do I know if a wine was made from vineyards that use glyphosate?’,” Huss says. “It takes some work, but it’s important we do this work, and there are some short-cuts. First, if a wine or its vineyards are certified Organic, Biodynamic, or Regenerative Organic, you can rest assured that no glyphosate or chemical herbicides were used to grow the wine. Unfortunately, most other ‘sustainability’ certifications for vineyards allow the use of glyphosate and other herbicides (Napa Green is a notable exception as of 2026). Secondly, if a wine doesn’t have one of these certifications that prohibit herbicides, ask them directly. Literally call them and ask them if they use herbicides. Some other rules of thumb: if their website only talks vaguely about their farming practices and refers to them as sustainable without getting into details, that’s a red flag. Also, look at the winery website for photos of the vineyards. If there aren’t any, that’s suspect, and if there are photos and there is bare or mostly bare dirt under the vines, especially if it’s a neat strip of bare dirt next to strips of grass growing between the rows, that’s a huge red flag. They could be tilling under vine, but most often they’re spraying glyphosate. If a winery website has no mention of their farming at all, that’s a red flag. And lastly, as a rule of thumb, if you’re buying wine in a grocery store and it doesn’t have organic, biodynamic, or regenerative organic certification, and you don’t have time to investigate further, you can assume they used herbicides. Its use is the unfortunate default for industrial wine production.” How you can get involved: 1. Spread the word – Post about your participation in the boycott on your social media, websites, newsletters. Talk about it in your restaurants and put it on wine lists. Put a sign announcing the boycott on the door of your wine shop or winery. Announce it on the invitation to your wine tasting. Do your own press release to local press about your participation in the boycott. Be clever and have fun with this. Go viral. 2. Take action – Enact a zero tolerance policy toward glyphosate in wine. Quit the wine clubs you belong to if the wineries use herbicides. Don’t buy wine that you aren’t sure was made without herbicides (if you don’t know, you can assume it was made with glyphosate), stop serving wine made with glyphosate at meals and in restaurants, at wine tastings and fundraisers. Stop selling wine made with herbicides in your shops, bars, restaurants. Stop reviewing and recommending wines made with herbicides in your magazines, social media, and other publications and media. Do this publicly and loudly. Ask your local wine shop to start a “No herbicides section” and help them determine the wines that should go into it. Let people know that the use of glyphosate in wine is inexcusable and should be eliminated. #boycottherbicidewine #boycottglyphosatewine Beyond Organic Wine cannot exist without you. Please consider subscribing. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com/subscribe
