WTF is Natural Wine?

What Is Natural Wine?

Natural wine is more than a trend; it’s the world catching up to an ancient winemaking tradition. Wine lovers can taste the difference between naturally made wine with very little intervention in the fermentation process and transformation and conventional wines. Natural wine or *fermented juice* to others has no additive or processing aides. Fining or filtration is also down to minimum. The result is a wine full of microbiotic and wholesome goodness.

Makers of natural wine start with organic farming, using permaculture methods. Permaculture methods are design principles focusing on patterns and features characterized by resiliency in existing natural ecosystems. Growing vineyards with permaculture ensure no use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Grapes simply soak up the organic goodness of the soil and environment.  

How Is Natural Wine Made?

Simply put, natural winemaking can be summed up into two stages - one, growing and picking; two, pressing, fermentation and bottling. Grapes grown without the use of any chemical substances and are hand-picked instead of machined harvested. After juicing the grapes, the juice is placed in vats for a period of time to catch native yeast from the air. This begins the organic fermentation process. Winemakers do not put any additives such as oak flavoring, sugar, acid or even an egg white during fermentation. So, the whole process is organically grown grapes handpicked, fermented with yeast from the environment, and minimal filtration used when bottled.

Origins of Modern Natural Wine

It all started in France, naturally (pun intended), when some French winemakers adhering to low intervention methods connected. Though isolated by their regions, they were able to connect, exchanged ideas and processes. This started the movement, like any other, getting connected, fortifying ideas and processes. Other winemakers from other parts of Europe and the world who’ve been doing the same process came out and formed associations as well as selling their products. No one can keep something as delicious, beautiful and exciting under wraps for long.

The first natural wine tasting was in 1999, La Dive Bouteille. There were 15 winemakers and 100 attendees. This became a yearly event that boasts of hundreds of winemakers and thousands of wine lovers attending. It became a much-anticipated annual event.

Natural Winemakers

The movement is spreading all across the globe. Wine drinkers from New York to Australia are becoming aware of the difference between the conventional winemaking and more traditional, austere and provincial. The kind of wines these makers produce either come from native grapes, imported during colonial occupation, or specifically bought and grown to cater to winemakers’ ideas and whims.

A refreshing surprise to the list of natural winemakers, some hail from Georgia. If permissible, the whole Eastern European country should be included in the list because of its winemaking tradition that hasn’t changed for generations, centuries even. Although considered a new technique in the world’s wine scene, it is actually considered the birthplace of winemaking -an over 8,000 years old traditional method. Wines from the country are the very spirit of Eastern Europe where grapes of variety of colors are fermented - skin, stems and all in large clay jugs called orqvevri, and then buried deep in the ground to keep the wine at a constant temperature to retain flavor and other qualities. Just the way it’s been done for hundreds of years.

Here are the wines that you must try:

1. Saperavi, - The wine produced by Shalauri Cellars from Telavi, Republic of Georgia is made from the saperavi grape, native to Georgia. It is described as very robust, and rich that can be drunk even when opened a few days earlier. The fermentation process produces flavors of ripe cherries, prune plums, dark chocolate and spices such as cloves, cardamom and dried herbs.

2. Fusco,- Bodegas Albamar makes this wine from Mencia grapes. Albamar is a descendant of winemakers in Galicia, the albariño-heavy region of Spain. It is the first red wine, named from the Galician word for darkness, since the winery is known for producing whites. And the leap to making reds with Mencia grapes is a success with its distinct lightness and complexity. 

3. Shiraz/Grenache, Tikka the Cosmic Cat, - Where will we be without an Australian Shiraz. Jauma makes sure we are completely covered in pairing the naturally processed wine with deliciously marinated grilled meats from the barbie. The wine originates from McLaren Vale, South Australia with 15% grenache. Tikka the Cosmic Cat has undergone the natural fermentation process of cultivating native yeast, unfiltered with just right acidity to compliment the grilled steaks and other red meats.

4. Grenache, En Avant Doute, - The list will not be complete without a wine from France. En Avant Doute is produced by Domaine Jerome Jouret of Rhone, France. The family-owned vineyard is just a few years old, planting, plowing and hand picking the grenache native to Rhone region. The distinctively light strawberry and menthol flavors are just the right match to sausages and regional specialty - breaded and fried tripe.

5. Bloomer Creek Cabernet Franc - This CF is a product of Bloomer Creek Vineyard from Hector, New York. The location seems to be an impossible place to grow grapes, with the cold and damp weather. But it works for winemaker Kim Engle and Debra Bermingham. The handpicked and naturally fermented wine ages in Hungarian oak barrels for 10 months and bottled - unfiltered. This gives the wine some black licorice, raspberry and blueberry flavors that are perfect with lamb flavored with garlic and herbs.