How to define a natural wine

I was once asked to describe natural wine in more detail. From where and when it comes from. In short, the definition is simple, natural wine is a wine made using traditional methods and where there are no (or few) external additives. But if we want to go a little further is a little more complex.

To explain Natural wine we may need to try to see what wine is. Wine is the result of the fermentation of sugar present in grape juice into ethanol by yeast. But this transformation does not occur in a laboratory using only pure elements. The reaction is done within the grape juice, with sometimes, grape skin, raffle. The fermentation will not only produce alcool, but also some nice aromatic molecules that will give the wine its flavors and some other chemical components. But as the fermentation process can be delicate and complex, traditional winemakers can use several additives not only for the wine preservation but also to correct the color, the taste, to add some aroma or flavor, … The list of authorized additives in the European Union is important. And it’s not about Sulfate Dioxide (a chemical preservative added during the process but also one of the fermentation by-products). It can go from egg albumin to activated charcoal and other chemical or natural elements. Some of these additives are made to preserve the wine, some help producers to make the taste of wine similar year after year, bottle after bottle, or add aromas or flavors. Imagine an artisan making ham, it will use salt as a preservative, some herbs, and perhaps black pepper, the final taste will be a combination of the artisan talent and the quality of the product. The same kind of ham, made by an industrial will still have salt, herbs, and black pepper, but there will be also some additives to correct the color, the taste, or the texture of the ham so it will be the same every day of the year, it will be standardized. We can think that process to enhance wine for better sales come from our industrial age. Well not really. During the “révolte des vignerons” in 1907, winemakers from the Languedoc region in France, unit under the watchword, “Vive le vin Naturel” (Long live natural wine). At this time big producers used to add water and sugar to increase the volume of wine they can sell, creating an overproduction crisis. One of the outcomes of the protestation was a new law in the French legislation limiting what can be done in the wine. This law (with a lot of modifications is still in force in France today). It is maybe the first documented claim to create a wine with less intervention.

More recently, during the sixties in the Beaujolais terroir, in France, a new movement was created by a few winemakers. Their influence comes from the ancestral tradition on how to make wine and by two oenologists teaching how to make wine with fewer intrants. The movement gained popularity outside the Beaujolais region from Bourgogne to the world.

This is, in short, the history of natural wine. But history doesn’t make a definition. What is permitted and what is not permitted in Natural Wine? There is no formal and definitive definition. If industrial additives that alter the taste, flavor, or color of the wine are logically banned what happens to the other.

In Natural wine, one additive focus all discussion, sulfite. Sulfite is a natural product. It’s a by-product of the fermentation process. Sulfite is conservative, it limits bacterial growth. It is not new, The usage of some form of sulfite is documented in the antic area. In the current legal regulation, winemakers are allowed to add 150mg of SO2 per liter of red wine and 200mg per liter of white wine (in organic wine production the allowed amount is between 100 and 150mg).

Natural wine winemaker mostly doesn’t add sulfite to their wines. You may find on the label, “sans sulfite ajouté” (no added sulfite). Few natural winemakers still add a small amount of SO2, less than 30mg, for the preservation of the most fragile wine. The limitation of sulfite is de facto, the signature of a Natural Wine. But bear in mind that sulfites are a natural product, ass it is also one of the results of fermentation. That is why you will still find the “contient des sulfite” (content sulfite) warning on most wine bottles.

Another important point in Natural wines is the grape harvesting model, Manual, or “vendange manuelle”. Why is it important? Manual grape-picking allows to choose the best grapes, and leave those who are too rotten or simply not enough ripe. You then have total control over the vinification process. Manual grape harvesting is not limited to natural wine, several appellations added the manual vendange as part of their specifications.

Natural wine limits the number of external components from the grape growing to the bottling. As an agricultural product, winemakers need to think about how to protect grapes against insects, diseases, and other threats. There is no real consensus in the natural wine movement. You can find grape grow under the “Agriculture Raisonnée” principles (with the label Terra Vitis) where the use of phytosanitary products is limited. You can find organic principle (under the label Agriculture Biologique) and biodynamic principle.

The limitation of external components is not limited to what you can do before harvesting the grape and the bottling. Yeast, the essential biological army in winemaking, must be indigenous. They must be present, naturally on the grape (have you seen a thin white layer on the grape berry skin, this is the natural yeast) and also where wine is made. No external or industrial yeast. Yeast is essential, it transforms sugar into alcool but also, by other reaction give taste to the wine and limit bacterial activity.

So far we have defined some of the characteristics of natural wine, no or little added sulfites, manual harvesting, limitation of intrants during grapes growings, indigenous yeast. But how can one be sure that a particular wine is natural wine? You can of course ask your wine shop, but you can also look for a certification label on the bottle. The French do love certifications, and for natural wine, you will find not only one certification label but 3.

Without an official definition is difficult to estimate the size of the natural wine vignoble across the world. In France and in Italy, the estimation is about 2% of the grape production surface, with more than 500 winemakers across France.