As you explore types of wine you may find yourself wondering what exactly natural wine is.

When it comes to wine, there’s a lot out there. There are reds, whites, rosés, bubbles, and within those a whole variety of grape varietals and tastes. But nowadays we’re starting to see even more classification, with wines getting labeled as organic or biodynamic. Navigating the wine world can feel intimidating.

While most people nowadays are used to hearing the words “organic” and “biodynamic” attached to both their food and their wine, there is another vino category that may not have heard mention of: natural wines.

But wait, aren’t all wines technically natural?

Produced from grapes, yes. And this may be what has made the discussion of natural wines so polemic, because if some wines are referred to as natural wines, it puts all other wines in the “not natural” category.

So what are natural wines? First off, unlike with organic or biodynamic wine, there is no certification for natural wines, and therefore no official definition. Natural wines are wines made with as little human interference – that means chemical and technological – as possible. In other words, wine made with grapes and little else, letting nature take care of the growing and the fermentation. Others refer to natural wines as “nothing added, nothing taken away.”

As you can imagine, producing types of wine in this way takes a lot of work. As New York Times writer Eric Asimov wrote, “The fact is that making wine without benefit of chemicals or other technological shortcuts demands precision and exactitude. Far more so, perhaps, than in conventional winemaking.”

Vines are grown organically, or even biodynamically, grapes are hand harvested and the fermentation process takes place in a way that’s as natural as possible. That means minimal to no additives during the winemaking process. Additives that are often used in the winemaking industry include sugar, acidifiers, and tannins. Even sawdust is used sometimes. Who wants to be drinking wine made with sawdust? Laboratory cultivated yeasts, instead of natural, indigenous yeasts, can also be used, and you can also encounter a variety of manipulations of the wine like micro-oxygenation to accelerate aging.

Natural wines are growing more and more popular among people who are concerned about sulfites as well. Sulfites refer to sulfur dioxide, which acts as a preservative in wine. While sulfites are naturally occurring in wine, winemakers can also add in sulfites during the winemaking process and natural winemakers will add little to no sulfites.

In the world of modern day agricultural, natural winemakers are challenging the traditional practices of modern, industrial winemaking, just like other men and women in the food industry devoted to the art of their craft, be it traditional bread baking or beer brewing.

What does this mean for you the drinker?

If you’re used to traditional, industrial wines, switching to natural wines is going to taste different. Natural winemakers have to depend on the natural elements – soil, weather, yeasts, etc. – to produce their wine, and instead of adding and manipulating wines which can help to stabilize a wine and standardize its flavor, their wines will taste as nature wants them to taste. That means that natural wines can often be a little less stable, murky because they haven’t gone through a filtration process, and you never know what you’re going to get. But that means that you get more of the terroir in a natural wine, and you get a wine that’s true to the natural fermentation process.

Just like traditional wine, not all natural wines are good, but there’s also an element of surprise that is special. Alice Feiring, a well-known source on natural wine, once said this in an interview with The Splendid Table:

One of the best examples that I have is when I was at a party, when Frank Bruni just came over to the states to be the dining critic at The New York Times. I said, “Hey, Frank, taste this.” He burst into laughter and he said, “Alice, what the hell is that? That is the most beautiful example I’ve ever had.” He went out and bought a case the next day. A conventional wine never can do that to you.

Think of it in terms of a tomato. When you buy a regular tomato at the grocery store, it’s a bit bland and you get a taste that you expect. Buy an in-season, heirloom tomato on the other hand and you’ll find yourself diving into a sea of flavors. Two different heirloom tomatoes can have two very different flavor profiles.

Where can you find natural wine?

Since natural wine isn’t a certification, for the consumer, it’s not always easy to find. Start with the back label, if you seen any indication of “made without additives” or “made with just grapes” that’s a good thing. It’s also helpful to find a knowledgeable wine seller who knows a thing or two about natural wines and can help point you in the right direction.

France is known for its natural wine culture, but now there are more and more natural winemakers in the U.S., including La Clarine Farm, Donkey and Goat, Kelley Fox Wines, Montebruno and Wind Gap.

If you are looking for natural wines from abroad, Jenny and Francois Selections are NY-based natural wine importers, and they are well known in the business. Natural Wine Company out of Brooklyn is another great resource.

Winelandia is a food and wine blog that last fall launched a retail component selling natural wines. Currently they only ship to California, but we can hope that eventually they will expand.

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Image: Anna Brones

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ColumnExploring natural wine in the heart of Provence.

It’s the middle of July. The Provencal sun is intense, and finding shade under an oak tree is of the utmost importance. The vineyards are dry, and at times dusty, but the bright green of the vines pops against the blue sky. The color is even more intense when a lavender field makes its way into the background. Sleepy small villages dot the countryside, 12^th century castles and cathedrals rise high out of the landscape. The smell of lavender hangs in the warm air.

This is the region known for peaches, apricots, honey and wine. Roadside stands offer up fresh picked fruit and down every winding road you’re sure to find at least one sign for a tasting room.

“Ah, aren’t those vines beautiful?” says my French friend and truly wine savvy friend Alain. He did five years of oenology study after all. This guy knows his wine.

The bright green leaves burst from the knobby brown vines that twist out of the ground, each one surrounded by a patch of grass. “Looks organic,” says Luc.

“How do you know that they’re organic?” I ask.

I would consider myself an amateur wine lover, and there is much to learn.

“Normally the organic vines have much more grass and greenery growing around the base. No pesticides to kill everything off,” responds Alain.

Of course. That seems simple enough. We pass another vineyard, here the vines are eerily straight and exactly the same size. There isn’t any grass to be seen. The ground underneath the green vines is clean, as if someone came through recently with a broom. The difference to the last vineyard is visually quite clear.

In the quaint town of Seguret we stop at the tasting room of Domaine de Pourra, one that Alain ensures is a good bet. The white wine is complex, thick, and has nothing to do with any white wine I have ever tasted in the United States. The red, a small-run production made predominantly with Syrah grapes is smooth but strong, and the after taste is sweet. Try to describe these wines and you’ll have a difficult time; there is a lot going on in each bottle.

Here in this region there are plenty of viticulteurs, and among them a handful of organic. But if you know your wines, you’ll know that it’s not just about the regular labels.

Natural wine has been on the market for quite sometime, and in France it is popular with the same crowd that believes in buying local and seasonal; but in the United States has, for a long time, gone under the radar.

I once heard an explanation of natural wine that likened it to an heirloom tomato. You can go to the supermarket and buy a perfectly round, red tomato and you know exactly the taste you will get. Or you can buy an heirloom tomato, a fruit that is rich, diverse, and whose taste can be completely different depending on which variety you end up with. In a good heirloom tomato, picked fresh from the garden, you can almost taste the soil it was grown in. Such is the case with natural wines, drinks that pay homage to their terroir, and are always a little different with each season, and sometimes even, bottle.

“Natural wine?” you say, “isn’t all wine natural?”

Well, yes. But much like most things that we consume, wine has become hugely industrialized, big name vineyards producing large amounts that can be exported around the world. Profit and production go hand in hand, and costs are minimized and output is maximized. That’s how the world works in the global economy after all.

But there are still small productions, especially in wine heavy cultures like France, and in the wine industry, just like in agriculture and the food industry, there is a return to a production more artisan; the craft of making something, and making it well. We see it in cheese, in honey, in olives. A love for the production of something, making it as it should be made, a return to a more natural process, one where human interference is minimized and the raw elements are allowed to do what they do best.

Grown in organic, low-yield vineyards, and harvested by hand, one of the main differences between them and a more traditional wine is that you have none or very little sulfur added to the end product. Although naturally occurring during the winemaking process, it has become standard to add in even more sulfur so that the wine preserves better.

A natural wine doesn’t necessarily mean a better wine, just like an organic label won’t always ensure better taste, but choosing one means choosing a product that is made as it should be, with passion and commitment to bottling one of nature’s most amazing libations. In fact, many winemakers won’t even mention the word “natural”; for them it is simply a question of making good wine. Which means knowing your winemaker, knowing the region and knowing your grapes. That’s the kind of research any food lover should be able to get behind.

At the end of the day we drive to the base of the Dentelles, a top spot for climbers and a popular hike for the view over the landscape. It’s quiet and blazing hot, we’re comforted by the shade of the trees. Near the trailhead, on just the other side of the gravel parking area there is a vineyard. The vines are twisted and knobby, plenty of grass underneath them. They seem to stretch for miles, happy to be soaking in the warm sun.

“Pourra,” says Alain.

Farm to table, vineyard to glass. The process is almost as beautiful as the drink itself.

This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

Images: Anna Brones

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