Drink Eat Love

OCD about "Natural Wines"

 

(Garnacha vines in Rioja own their own rootstock)
I have been going nuts for the pass three months about "Natural Wines", for some reason I am obsessed with the idea of what "naturall wine" means. Since there is no true definition nor singular practice of it there are many answers. There are arguments raging in the press, on blogs, and between winemakers as to what "naturall wine making" is or is not. I whole heartily believe in minimalism when it comes to producing wine but what makes it "natural". Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon believes that wine labels should have ingredients list just like a can of soda, I agree (Link to The Pour's article on Grahm). Since 2007 he has put labels on his wines detailing exactly what is in his wines. To some, including himself, Mr. Grahm's wines are "natural", to others they are not...why? 

Wine, Naturally

I've been researching the natural wine movement for an upcoming article, and have been really intrigued by what I have found. For those of you not in the know (as was my case a month or so ago), natural wine or vin naturel — it is a French thing, after all — aims to do as little intervention as humanly possible in the creation of wine. I have linked some good resources to read up on after the jump, as they say.

Much of the intervention that is avoided is mechanical and additive, including the laundry list of legal ingredients that Alder over at Vinography came up with a few months back.

Green Wine - Ecology in a bottle

Eric Asimov has a good article in today's New York Times regarding organic, sustainable, and biodynamic practices in wine making and selling. It provides a good beginner's overview on these categories and what they roughly mean. Many of you in the Bay Area that pay attention to such things may have noticed a trend toward sustainable/organic/biodynamic being noted on wine lists. Retailers around here are also starting to distinguish wines in this way.