Organic Wine - Natural Wine

Natural Wine

Natural winemaking is a style of winemaking that can be applied to any wine. It is loosely defined as using native yeasts in the fermentation process and minimal or no sulfur dioxide in the winemaking process. It may also mean unfined and unfiltered as well. Natural winemaking is not governed by laws (at least not in the U.S.) and has no inspection or verification process (unless it is a biodynamic wine). Estimates are that less than 10 percent of the organically grown wine in the United States is made in a natural winemaking style, most of which is certified biodynamic wine.

Natural winemakers may or may not use organic or biodynamic grapes in their wines. Using native yeasts and relying on minimal manipulation often means that wines have a more unique profile from year to year. Different vintages vary more than conventionally made wine because of the non-interventionist approach. This is a key part of the natural wine aesthetic which emphasizes the least amount of intervention to bring the true flavor of each vintage to the glass.

The natural wine movement has grown in popularity in response to what some observers have called "Parkerization" or the globalization of wine tasting. A small number of critics' palates and the points system has come to define the market value of wines. The effect of this on wine producers has been to try to manipulate the taste of their wine (for example trying to increase the intensity of fruit and oak) in order to please certain wine critics and get higher ratings. As a result critics of these critics say this is causing an increasing uniformity amongst wines and a loss of regional and varietal character. The natural wine movement is one response to the global commodification of winemaking.