in which he condemns to tendency of natural wines to show “process” at the expense of “terroir”. And just when you thought all of the discussion of Natural wine had run its course.
He attempts to define Natural wine w/ a list of permitted or forbidden additions. It’s always puzzled me that Natural wine adherents forbid the addition of acids…but look the other way at the addition of sugar. A bit of hypocrisy?
The interesting takeaway of this (yet another) article on Natural wines is that maybe the movement has run its course and will simply fade away into the sunset, having done its job. EGads…one can only hope. And where will that leave SweetAlice?? Searching for another windmill at which to tilt?
Tom
I always enjoy reading Jamie’s pieces and feel that he does a pretty good job of being ‘impartial’.
I like his take on the fact that so many of these wines speak more of the process than the variety, region, or ‘terroir’. It seems to mimic many of the posts you’ve written about ‘orange wines’ that you’ve tried - that they may be interesting, but speak more of the process than the variety.
That’s got to be the silliest / mail it in article on natural wine (from a decent writer) that I’ve read in a while…
“But most of all, natural wine is about being part of the club…” “Sometimes it seems that being cool is what counts…” I feel like this was written by my teenage self circa 1989…
“You can’t have it both ways: Does the wine taste of the place or the process?”
We have it both ways in many wines that people would consider excellent, benchmark, etc.
Good points - but you have to agree that there are a lot of wines that fit what he is saying, no? And there does appear to be some of the ‘cool kid’ quality to some of the producers, no?
It’s always tough to paint a wide swath and have it be ‘appropriate’ and I can certainly understand your points as well - you and some others are producing kick ass wines as part of this ‘movement’ . . .
As with most things, this is not a black & white issue.
Overall I agree with you Hardy, especially about this article being a phone-in. He does have a point, however, about people fawning over some of these wines for the sake of being natural as opposed to being good. I was at both RAW NYC and RAW LA (I tasted through your line-up and loved your work) and tasted a bunch of stuff that’s imported, that’s all over social media as being the next big thing, and that was clearly flawed (mousey flavors notably). So there is a certain amount of “in the club” attitude.
I love natural wines (and disclaimer, I import a bunch), for a variety of reasons:
-on the low-end, they tend to be enjoyably glou glou, as they say in France - easy-drinking and light with low alcohol (“vin de soif”);
-on the higher-end, they are well-made, taste of place, yet still taste like wine (a tad wild, but still recognizable as wine and not cider or something else).
To me, right now, the natural wine movement is where Organic wines were some 20+ years ago: some are dirty, some are off, but when they’re on, they’re really great. BUT what I don’t like, and that tarnishes the whole movement, is when wines are sold for the sake of being natural as opposed to being good. That does everyone a disservice.
I like that they have challenged perceptions about how wine can and should taste - perhaps there’s a bit of the ‘punk’ about it, and whilst that as a movement died off fairly quickly, elements are plain to see in music that followed up to the current day. The music industry was refreshed by punk and perhaps the natural wine movement might be seen in the same way in the future.
My favorite part about natural wines is that they’re healthy and they won’t give you a hangover. I also like that they’re made without human intervention and without any chemicals in the vineyard.
My apologies for not digging though prior threads, and it is not referenced in this article, but what is the consensus, or thoughts if not consensus, on whether natural wines can be made from irrigated grapes?
Lots of places I know grow organically, maybe even biodynamically, but in climates where dry farming is not feasible.
Another way of asking this question, since I’m of the view the whole world is a chemical reaction happening continuously, is adding H2O adding a chemical?
Honest question: Do you believe that the fawners themselves think the wines they like are “natural as opposed to being good”?
For better or for worse, I think the widespread availability of ‘natural wines’ has provided an alternative palette of flavors and aromas that some seem to prefer. I’ve had my own wines rejected by buyers at natural wine bars here in Japan as being too clean, even though the production protocols I use would fit neatly into almost any working definition of natural wine that I’ve seen.
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