Today we often hear people talk about natural wines – but what does it really mean? Is it a trend? Does it have a little more to do with mother nature? Is it worth supporting this wave of independent natural wine producers? Or shall we carry on drinking conventional wine (and contribute to unethical and less environmentally friendly agriculture)?
Philosophies behind natural and conventional wine differ greatly. Natural wines emphasises biodiversity and soil regeneration, while conventional wine focuses on meeting production quotas through manipulation.
As more consumers embrace natural wine, it’s time to leave the industrialized approach and opt for chemical-free, nature-respecting options.
Let’s have a closer look at the different practices adopted:
Table of Contents
Conventional Viticulture
Conventional growers control the life of the vineyard with a series of toxic sprays. Their aim is to keep the vine ‘healthy’ by killing anything that might be harmful to it.
Contrary to what the names suggest, insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides all kill much that is beneficial or necessary to the vine, including the natural predators of the pests.
Nature designed them to control the microbial life that would take years for the soil to recover, thus making the vine incapable of properly depending on the soil.
Organic Viticulture
Organic farming strictly controls the use of chemicals by law, and almost none of the chemicals available to conventional growers are permitted.
The organic grower concentrates more on trying to grow a healthy vine that’s able to withstand pests and feed itself naturally, than on sheltering the vine from anything that might harm it.
This means developing healthy soil and a balanced ecosystem within the vineyard. It also means a lot of hard work.
Biodynamic Viticulture
Rudolph Steiner’s ideas inspire biodynamics, an organic farming approach viewing farms and vineyards as living systems with “formative” forces.
Furthermore, it differs from other organic farming by using herbal sprays and composting techniques, known as ‘preparations,’ and regulating operations by a lunar calendar. Biodynamic practices, such as making “Horn Manure,” may appear bizarre, but they benefit soil life.
After World War II, synthetic chemicals increased productivity and profits, but in the 60s and 70s, French winemakers, known as the Gang of Four, returned to traditional winemaking methods.
Their love as well as their respect for nature-inspired new generations of sustainable winemakers, and many are popping up around the world. The wine industry is taking biodynamics seriously, and Demeter, an independent organization, certifies it, which has resulted in high-profile converts.
Criteria for classifying Natural Wines:
- Hand harvested grapes
- Organic or biodynamic
- Spontaneous fermentation
- Native yeast
- Minimal fining
- Minimal filtering or unfiltered
- Neutral vessels like old barrels, concrete, or amphoras
- Very low amount of SO2 or none at all, in many cases
The decision of whether to add sulphites or not brings us back to the low intervention philosophy, which allows only native yeast to go through the fermentation process and prohibits the use of additives to avoid flavor and color manipulations.
Key Points Commonly Used in Making Natural Wines
To understand how conventional producers abuse sulphite usage, one must consider that they commonly use sulphur dioxide at four key points in conventional winemaking, although they may choose to make further additions if they feel insecure about what they are making.
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- Picking: Metabisulfite is applied to inhibit the action of wild yeasts and prevent oxidation. This allows the winemaker to delay the process of rushing the grapes to the winery.
- Crushing: Producers add SO2 to prevent wild yeasts from initiating fermentation before adding cultured yeasts, which are bred to be more resistant to SO2.
- Fermentation: At any point during fermentation, but most commonly at the end to stop or prevent malolactic fermentation. A natural winemaker has to wait for the malo to finish naturally.
- Bottling: To prevent oxidation (or any other microbial action) in the bottled wine. In sweet wines, there is the danger that fermentation will restart.
Certainly, a natural winemaker would only ever use sulphur dioxide at bottling, only in white wines, and only in very small quantities. Many natural winemakers don’t use it at all.
Orange wine for example is a type of white wine that has been around for centuries. To make orange wine, leave grape skins and seeds in contact with the juice to extract color, tannins, and flavors.
It’s also known as skin contact, amber, macerated, or Ramato wine. Press white grapes, put them in a neutral vessel, and leave them with skins and seeds for days to months, creating oxidative characteristics that pair well with food.
Conclusion
Do keep in mind that not all wines are the same. You can expect to find a wide range of natural wines that differentiate in colours, aromas, flavours, textures, as well as complexity.
This may vary from the grape variety, soil type, microclimate, and the vats that they age and ferment in (huge factor). Almost guaranteed to find an orange wine that suits your taste buds if you don’t make a hasty judgment.
You can also visit the website below and discover more about wines and get a 15% discount coupon with code: ‘EILVIP’. Visit the website below to redeem on low intervention wines.
- Website: www.wineyl.co.uk
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Wine Writer
