- what is a natural wine and what is not -You will agree with me when I say that natural wine is a controversial topic.
Indeed, not all people like natural wines. In fact, the first person to whom I mentioned my plan to write an article about natural wine (my cousin MJ) immediately reacted by saying, “hipster bullshit wine that doesn’t hide flaws.”
The wine selection at Pastaio Via Corta, in Gloucester, MA. Owner and entrepreneur, Danielle Glantz, curates an entirely Italian natural wine selection, pastaioviacorta.com.
As I have learned, living here in the USA, this is how many Americans consider natural wine: “hipster bullshit wine.” If you too are skeptical about natural wine, this article is ALSO for you.
Unlike organic wine and biodynamic wine, there is not a single official definition of natural wine, and the entire category of natural wine is quite ambiguous. This ambiguity is not necessarily bad, it only means that we must work to get to the heart of the definition of natural wine. A useful starting point for this discussion is to define what is NOT natural wine.
Conventional Wine.
First and foremost there is conventional wine, wine produced on a large scale that involves the intervention of chemical and mechanical elements, both in the vineyards as well as inside the winery, during the winemaking process. The goal of conventional winemakers is to produce a wine that will sell quickly on the mass market. It is a pure business project, profit oriented and often to the detriment of nature and the environment and, at times, also to the health of consumers. Conventional wines are wines to please the people (is that really a bad thing?). Wine companies who make this style of wine often have strong marketing departments and are ahead of palate and packaging market trends.
To put conventional wine and natural wine in perspective, basically speaking, they are two polar opposites. They are the anchors on either side of the wine production style spectrum. In between these two extremes, we can find many important winemaking styles.
Traditional Wine.
In my opinion, the next category on the spectrum after conventional wine is traditional wine. For traditional wine I intend, wine made according to longstanding tradition and legacy, reinforced by the latest technological advances.
Langhe, Piemonte. A set of old traditional tools for wine production.
Traditional winemaking can involve the use of chemical elements or technology, but usually in a very limited way that supports the classic characteristics and the final result in the bottle. Tradition is a big thing in the old world; making wines according to a family’s tradition means doing things in the vineyard and in the cellar precisely as they have been done by past generations. This approach is clearly related to family wine customs. In the new world, tradition means creating a wine according to the style of a particular old world wine region. For instance, we often see how in some areas of the US, viticulture is totally inspired by some area in Europe (Oregon and Burgundy, for example). Traditional wine is not necessarily natural wine, but in some cases, a wine can be both a natural wine and a traditional wine (for example Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco Rabaja).
Organic Wine.
Organic wine is very popular today and almost all wine stores have a section dedicated exclusively to this category. It is funny to me, that if a wine is considered organic in Italy, it does not necessarily have the same status in the US. This happens because, in the US, to be considered organic a product must be USDA (US Department of Agriculture) certified.
Many certifying bodies participate in international organic equivalency agreements, allowing their certifications to work in others nations. For example, the Ecogruppo Italia organic certification is recognized by the USDA as well as organic certifying bodies in Canada, Japan, and South Korea.
US organic logo, European organic logo, Canada organic logo.
These entities double-check that every winery producing organic wine is respecting the rules established by law. For all the European Countries that joined the EU, these rules are established by legal acts enacted by the EU Parliament in cooperation with the European Council (EU Regulation N. 203/2012).
In the US, the USDA established these rules; “as with other USDA organic products, organic wine is made without using prohibited substances or genetic engineering (see Allowed and Prohibited Substances). It undergoes the same rigorous requirements of USDA organic certification as other products throughout its lifecycle (see Five Steps to Organic Certification). And, in addition to being overseen by the USDA National Organic Program, it has to meet the requirements of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, especially for sulfite labeling requirements.” (from the USDA website)
According to these rules, farmers are not allowed to use artificial fertilizer, artificial herbicides, artificial fungicide, or artificial pesticides. Instead, if farmers need to fight any form of threat, they can use substances with a non-synthetic chemical origin such as manure and sulfur/copper. However, and pay attention, the legislation does not mention quantities and because of this, some big operations are abusing these approved treatments by using them in huge amounts. Sulfite quantities, however, are limited by organic regulations. The maximum quantity allowed in organic wine is less compared to conventional wine.
Abuses aside, a functional use of organic rules can ensure a better results in grape quality and in the environment’s health. However, it is also true that nowadays organic legislation is quite liberal and flexible, so organic wine is not necessarily better than conventional wine or traditional wine. In the end, we can say that organic wine is not a natural wine, but a natural wine should always organic.
In my personal opinion, organic certification has little meaning, it is not the bureaucratic recognition that matters and good organic farming practices are best assessed on a winery-by-winery basis, not with a blanket certification (organic but not certified organic wine).
Biodynamic Wine.
Biodynamic wine is certainly an esoteric category! If you, like Mr. Farinetti, are a bit skeptical about biodynamic wine and the “magical aspects” of this unusual viticultural practice, I have something to tell you: just because standard winemaking practice ignores certain elements related to biodynamic agriculture, does not mean that these elements do not have a scientific basis. Simply put, the science behind mainstream winemaking has not achieved the right level of awareness and this is the only reason why some of us consider these practices to be “magical.” (I remind you that during the medieval era, without an understanding of bacteria, people also credited fermentation to magic).
A wine is considered biodynamic if it is produced according to a methodology designed by Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, esotericist. This methodology tries to encourage plants to absorb a type of energy that, according to Steiner, comes from the universe.
It is considered a sort of philosophy because the theory at the base of this practice involves the idea that plants are located inside a universe that is in balance with matter, divided in 4 states: mineral, heat, gas, and liquid), and non-matter (divided in 2 categories: energy and life).
Biodynamics is a way of farming and eating/drinking that is based on a holistic, ecological, and ethical approach. It is about respect for the land, humans, and animals. It has, at its core, regenerative agriculture that helps to clean our air and carbon in the soil.
Horn Manure, commonly known as "500," is obtained by the transformation of high-quality cow manure that has been put into cow horns and buried under the earth for the winter period.
Biodynamic wine is not invasive, it uses no chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides; not even those allowed in organic wine. According to Steiner, when vines are diseased, it is their way of expressing a disruption in their homeostasis and the only way to care for them is by using a homeopathic approach, strictly adhering to the lunar calendar. Also, biodynamic winemakers cannot use any other chemical elements or procedures during the vinification process itself. This includes, wine acidification, the adding of tannins, use of industrial selected yeasts etc.
Indeed, there is a lot of metaphysics or spirituality in this technique and many winemakers start to roll their eyes at the mere mention of the “lunar calendar.” But, I invite you to compare two bottles of Chianti, one produced as a conventional wine and the other as a biodynamic wine; you will agree with me, there is a difference.
There is not a legal regulation about biodynamic wine, but we have two important reference points, instead. We have the writings of Steiner and we have a very important private independent entity (Demeter) that provides biodynamic certifications which are recognized globally. Demeter authorizes certified wineries to use a biodynamic logo on their labels to be recognized by wine consumers.
Biodynamic wine is not always natural wine, but, in my opinion, natural wine should always be made according to the biodynamic protocol.
Natural Wine.
What we have been discussing can be boiled down into one concept: how to classify the human interference in winemaking; how human intervention can influence viticultural and vinification considering use/abuse of chemical or industrial elements and processes.
As we have said, it is a spectrum. Now we have arrived to the other end of that spectrum, natural wine. We have already discussed what is not natural wine, and now, I will attempt to show what natural wine actually is and humbly offer my own opinion about what the definition of natural wine perhaps should be.
Remember, wine does not occur in nature. All wine is the result of a chemical process initiated by human intervention (at minimum by pressing grapes) called fermentation. Therefore, when thinking about what exactly is a natural wine, remember, less is more. When you try to identify a natural wine, always ask yourself this question: is this wine made with the lowest possible human intervention, following the rule that less is more? If the answer is yes, it is probably a natural wine.
Natural wines may or may not be produced according to a specific tradition, but they must be both organic and biodynamic. However, there is something more to say. Remember, there is not an agreed upon definition of what natural wine actually is. Perhaps that is because natural wine is a synthesis of a message; it is a culture and lifestyle that represents a form of respect towards humans and nature, a cleaner form of interaction between humanity and the planet. Many people are trying to define natural wine. Many local associations are popping up around the world, each of them with specific rules inspired by the mentioned concept of low human interference.
So, in more precise terms, what makes a wine natural? Here I will an offer a straight-forward definition of what I believe natural wine is and how it should be defined. The following is my personal definition of natural wine.
A natural wine is a wine that:
is made with 100% indigenous, better if pre-phylloxera grapevine varieties;
comes only from low-yield vines (no vine exploitation);
is made in accordance with most of the biodynamic protocol;
is made only with native yeast;
is made with no added sulfites*;
is made with grapes whose vineyards are curated/harvested manually (no mechanical harvesters);
is made with grapes that are harvested respecting the vine’s natural annual growth cycle;
is made with a vinification process not involving any form of mechanical system (no temperature-controlled tanks)
is unfiltered and does not undergo any other cosmetic treatments.
Wait a minute!? What about these wines that are respecting only some or most of these points? Aren’t they also natural? No, at least not according to my strict definition of natural wine. Again, a natural wine should have as little human/technological intervention as possible.
Think about Burgundy’s clone of pinot noir cultivated in Oregon. Yes, a Burgundy clone pinot noir cultivated in the Willamette Valley can be biodynamic. It can certainly be made with no added sulfites, but in my opinion it can never consider it to be a natural wine simply because pinot noir did not arrive naturally in Oregon. So, how would we describe a wine like this? I propose the term naturally made. This would be considered a naturally made wine NOT a natural wine.
I know that this is a bit provocative. My hope is that it will help to, at least, make some room for difference inside this virtuous category. Again, remember that natural wines are epitomizing a mission, they existed in the past, and to be honest with you, they are probably the closest wine to the first-ever production of wine in human history. Every time you sip a natural wine, you are not simply experiencing a wine in your current time /space; you are taking a journey back in centuries, perhaps millennia, and experiencing wine in the way that the first wine-drinking humans once did.
Let’s go back to the beginning of this article for a moment when my cousin was talking about the “flaws” in natural wine. Is it true that natural wine is always stinky, funky, or cloudy? Not necessarily. But what is absolutely true is that we should never judge the naturalness-level of a wine by its ability to perform unpleasant notes! A natural wine can express some very light form of faults such V.A. (volatile acidity or vinegar taste), reduction (notes of rotten eggs or skunk, sometimes due to the use of lees aging), oxidation (when the extended and not controlled oxygen contact makes the wine taste off), fizz, and sediment. Most of these traits go away a soon as the wine breathes inside a glass or decanter. Natural wines have a specific way to be served and consumers need to be aware of that. In my opinion, these aspects are actually a virtue of these wines; they give the wine a sort of strong personality, almost like the imperfections that make a person’s face unique.
After all, natural wines and many naturally made wines are the most honest reflection of a specific terroir. When you are drinking them and you taste something weird, or unusual, you are just getting the most genuine soil/climate/variety/ expression that an area can offer without the mask of clarifiers or standardizing yeasts, etc. And it’s certainly true, not all terroir are good for natural wines. After all, this is the reason why winemakers starting interfering with grape growing and winemaking in the first place, to improve what the terroir has to offer.
* Sulfites are one of the most controversial topics in the natural wine world. There are many people who consider them to be the worst possible wine additive. However, a small, measured, and controlled quantity of sulfites sometimes is necessary in a wine. It depends on the vintage, the quantity of sulfites naturally present, and the need to stabilize the wine. But remember, sulfites are present in many different types of food, especially processed food, so try to not be too much of a snob about wine when you are also eating processed foods. It is true that there are wines that do not require added sulfites, but this is because they are already set with what they produce; sulfites develop naturally as a by-product of fermentation, therefore, there is no such thing as a 100% sulfite-free wine.
Sustainable Wine: a modern version of natural wines?
The topic of this last section is intentionally provocative. If it is true that natural wine is made with complete respect for nature and with absolute avoidance of any chemical additions or mechanical involvement, then, natural wine is inherently sustainable.
Sustainable wine is made with a growing and transforming process that protects the environment, supports social responsibility, and maintains economic feasibility(sustainablewinegrowing.org).
Sustainability, in general, refers to a series of different factors, which are also applicable to winemaking:
pollution impact (CO2 behind every single bottle);
biodiversity and ecological balance in the vineyards;
social responsibility (surrounding community and workers);
financial viability (avoiding waste, and being able to support the business).
In short, sustainable winemaking always considers the impact on people and the earth, preserving nature and improving the air and water whenever possible. Unlike with natural wine, sustainable wine does allow for the use of chemical additives, but in minimal and respectful ways. The idea is that in a small quantities, only to support the vine, farmers are allowed to use chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. Enough to help fight major problems, without compromising the environment by letting the chemical seep into the root system of the vine.
To use a metaphor, sustainable winemaking is how many of us approach our own health. If you have strep throat, for example, you take an antibiotic prescribed by a specialist at the right dosage for the right amount of time. This therapy, combined with extra sleep, lots of fluids, and a healthy diet brings you back to your usual healthy self. So too does a small amount of sulfites in a sustainable wine. When used at the right minimal dosage, combined with all the good care that went into the rest of the vine growing and winemaking processes you can have an excellent wine.
The potential for sustainable wine is great because, unlike natural wine, it can be produced at a medium-large scale. For people who believe in the essential importance of nature, ecosystem, and humanity, sustainable wine is how we can reconcile the conventional wine/natural wine spectrum. It is clear to me that the only possible future for wine agriculture and wine drinkers at all levels is related to the concept of sustainability.