NATURAL WINEMAKERS PUSHING BOUNDARIES ANCIENT-STYLE

Unlike organic wine and biodynamic wine, which have clear parameters and official certifications, natural wine does not. And although organic wine is embraced by all natural winemakers, and biodynamic wine by many natural winemakers, one can farm biodynamically or organically, and use organic winemaking methods, and the wine does not necessarily qualify as natural wine, and most of this has to do with what happens in the cellar, or, rather, what does NOT happen. In short, natural wine is synonymous with minimal intervention.

The main idea behind natural winemaking is that the juice from the grapes should be vinified as naturally as possible. As such, some of the terms attributed to natural wine are “true,” “raw,” and “unadulterated.” Some of the physical characteristics are often “hazy” in appearance and “funky” and “sour” in odor and taste, which are byproducts of natural chemical reactions that are not controlled by additives or manipulation. But let’s stop to remember that while these seemingly unorthodox terms are seen as trendy and pushing boundaries, natural winemaking techniques are ancient, hearkening to a time when technology and advanced knowledge simply did not exist to manipulate wine to a specifically desired constitution or to make it easier to regulate its consistency for storage and/or transport purposes. The world-renowned wine educator Kevin Zraly says it even better: "These wines remind me of that saying, 'what's old is new again,' with small, artisanal producers shaking up the wine world with their 'old-style winemaking' of returning to the earth and not interfering with nature."

So, again, all natural wines are organic, and some natural winemakers are farming biodynamically, or sourcing their grapes from biodynamic farms because the latter promotes minimal intervention of the natural ecology around the Vitus vinifera vines. But organic or biodynamic farming in and of themselves do not result in natural wine because once the grapes are in the cellar, the winemaker who is not making natural wine may apply additives or fining techniques to stabilize the wine, which is against a natural winemaker’s creed.

While we pointed out in the beginning of this newsletter that natural wine does not have a formal definition or official parameters, this is not completely true because in one place, France, a framework has been constructed. The authorities finally buckled under the petitioning by so-called French natural winemakers to begin the process of creating an official natural wine denomination: “Vin Méthode Nature.” Although still in the charter stage (the authorities are giving these winemakers three years to prove that the designation is viable and rigorous enough for an official denomination), a vin méthode nature wine must meet 12 criteria, such as ensuring that the grapes come from certified organic vines, are hand-picked, fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeast, and during vinification does NOT undergo reverse osmosis, filtration, tangential filtration, flash pasteurization, thermovinification, or centrifugation (The complete charter can be found here: Vin Méthode Nature Charter of Commitment). Also, an addition of up to 30 mg/L of sulfur dioxide (SO2) is permitted, but not before or during fermentation, and when it is added, the label must report that it is below 30mg/L.

We’ve selected three natural wines produced in three different parts of the world by producers who have dedicated themselves to pushing the boundaries by experimenting with minimal intervention winemaking.