Tell me, why should I drink Natural Wine?
Because it’s good! But also because it’s sustainable, environmentally friendly and the real expression of the terroir. A tasteful explosion, new aromas and flavours that you’ve never experienced before. Good natural wine is made by amazing winemakers; considering that they cannot correct it artificially, you can really experience their winemaking skills.
So, every Natural Wine is good?
Unfortunately…no. Natural wine doesn’t necessarily mean good and being a natural winemaker doesn’t automatically mean being a genius. Sometimes it happens that the result is just not good, especially if there was a bad year (cold, hot, rain, etc.). But when it’s good… it’s really good! That’s why we trust our wine dealers and their selections…and you should too!
Yes, but I had a Natural Wine once and I didn’t like it…
Maybe it wasn’t good. Maybe it wasn’t the right bottle for you. Or maybe you are too used to the conventional wines and these new aromas and flavours were just too much for you. But don’t worry, not all natural wine tastes like that. In our selection you will find a huge range of choices, going from classic clean to mild to funky. And we are here to help!
Ok, but what exactly is Natural Wine?
A wine can be called natural when nothing is added, and nothing is taken away.
There is not an official definition of «natural wine» but, generally speaking, a wine must be produced in a sustainable, organic, or biodynamic small vineyard, made from grapes which are not sprayed with chemical pesticides or herbicides, and grown without using synthetic fertilizer to be called natural. The grapes are handpicked, and the wine naturally fermented with its own native yeast. After that the winemaker does not use any additives to correct the wine (added acids, egg white, sugar, flavour correctors, chemicals, etc.) and they are slightly filtered. Sometimes the winemaker adds just a bit of sulfur to stabilize it.
Let’s get technical, what’s the difference between Conventional, Organic, Biodynamic, and Natural Wine?
Conventional Wine: use of pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizer in the vineyard (sometimes they spray this shit with helicopters!). Harvest with the help of machines. Use of chemical selected yeasts for fermentation. Use of 60 different additives and added sulphites (up to 400 mg/l!). The WHO (World Health Organisation) recommends a maximum of sulphites of 0.7mg per kg of body weight per day. So a person of 65kg should not have more than 45mg per day. At 350mg/l – a full glass would put you over the recommended max. And this is roughly the 90% of wines in commerce.
Organic or Biologic Wine: no use of pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizer in the vineyard. No rules about handpicking, machines can be used. Use of selected yeasts for fermentation. Use of 44 different additives and added sulphites (up to 205 mg/l).
A bit better than conventional wine but mostly a huge marketing operation, you still drink a lot of chemicals.
Biodynamic Wine (Demeter): follows the philosophy of Rudolph Steiner, treating the earth as "a living and receptive organism." The wines have better expressions of terroir and nature stays in balance. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are forbidden, grapes are handpicked and during the wine making process no additives or selected yeasts are used, only a bit of sulphites (up to 90 mg/l).
Natural Wine: nothing is added, and nothing is taken away. No added sulphites or just a few (up to 30 mg/l). Just wine!