Riding the Wave

The winter here in our corner of the world is a time for us to take a deep breath, and to plan for the rest of the crazy seasons. We also try to take a look at the past year from a perspective of what was going on in the beverage industry around us. It is easy to keep your blinders on when you are busy, and to continue on with your path. It is important though to pay attention sometimes to industry trends and pressures that rage around us. 2022 was the year that the war on the term "natural wine" kicked into high gear. A multitude of reasons are driving this battle, chief among them being that there is no agreed upon definition of natural wine.

So before we dive into the media fervor surrounding natural wine, let me give you my definition. Natural wine is wine that at minimum is grown organically, utilizing biodynamic practices (we can dive into that separately) and has minimal intervention from the winemaker. Utilizing natural yeast, not fining or filtering and not using too much sulfur are also all components you see.  That is a lot of course, and frankly too much for the average consumer to have to follow along with. Put another way though, natural wine is made from a healthy vineyard that doesn't utilize chemicals and from juice that once fermented isn't manipulated. The phraseology here is important because this conversation is not much different from one surrounding non-processed organic foods in our local supermarkets.

Once we have a definition we can agree on, the conversation turns to what else is wrong with natural wine. Lack of consistency, cleanliness and labels that are not transparent based on the regions they are coming from. I will say it loudly for people in the back; The reason natural wine is being turned against comes down to the simple fact that you cannot replicate it on a larger scale. Most of the wine we are talking about is not consistent from vintage to vintage. The reason being that every year is different, so why in the world would your wine turn out the exact same way each vintage? Keeping a clean winery is important, but probably not necessary to bleach the entire space. It is also hard to be transparent on your labels when your winemaking region does not allow you to list the information needed to be transparent. (In many countries, winemaker councils administer standards for the region, and can disbar you from using the region's name)

There is a lot here, and I am just scraping the surface of this topic and its surrounding cultural battles. I am by no means only flying the flag of natural wine as the only way forward for our stores or the wine industry. Finding small wineries who make great wine in a healthy manner is what we are focused on. Not carrying wineries who still spray with heavy chemicals is important to us not just for all of our health, but for the future of the agriculture industry. Organic, Biodynamic, and Natural are not all interchangeable terms and for sure it is easier to get your vineyard certified organic than it is to practice the other two options. Take what you read in a major publication with a heavy grain of salt when it comes to this topic. There is not one publicly traded company or a Fortune 500 company who profits off Natural wine. The question you should ask yourself then, what is the larger wine world afraid of?

– David