Natural wine is on the rise, with bottles popping up on store shelves and restaurant menus all over the country. And if you've tried to delve deeper into the world of natural wine to only feel confused and a little discouraged, we get it. The trendy labels, the funky colors, the confusing descriptors like "glou glou" and "mousy"— it can all seem like some sort of exclusive club.
But, once you pull back the pretense, wines made through organic and biodynamic processes are way less intimidating than they appear. In this episode of Farm To Table, our host Rome goes to Brick House Vineyards in Oregon's Willamette Valley to see how biodynamic wine gets made. It's time to demystify natural wine and answer some of your burning questions.
What Makes Natural Wine...Natural?
The specific term "natural wine," just like food that's labeled "natural," doesn't mean much. Any producer could theoretically slap the word "natural" on their packaging regardless of how the wine was made. And, unlike packaged food products, wine labels are not legally required to disclose their full list of ingredients.
Rather than a definitive meaning, the term "natural wine" is often used as a broader umbrella category for wines that are made with minimal additives and chemicals. Many natural wines are made with organic certification, which refers to growing the grapes without any pesticides. Biodynamic certification takes the same requirements of organic farming and extends them even further; farmers follow a specific set of guidelines that use circular agriculture to make the vineyards self-sustaining.
Many natural winemakers subscribe to the same philosophies as those who are certified organic or biodynamic, just without paying the high price for the official logos on their labels. The terminology is certainly complicated, but you can safely bet that a bottle described as natural can have the following qualities: the grapes are farmed without pesticides, the wine is fermented using yeast found naturally on the surface of the grapes or with organic cultivated yeast, and it is preserved with little to no added sulfites.
How Does Natural Wine Taste?
Just like with conventional wine, it depends on a variety of factors. Doug Tunnell, Founder and Winemaker at Brick House Vineyards, says it starts in the fields. In Yamhill County, Oregon, the balance of sunny days and cool nights creates grapes that strike the delicate balance between sweetness and acidity. At Brick House Vineyards, they even arrange the plants so that the grapes are shielded by the canopy of leaves facing west. That way, they don't develop too much sugar in the hot afternoon sun.
Savannah Miles, Assistant Winemaker at Brick House Vineyards, will test a random batch of grapes from each row to determine the perfect time for harvest. Despite using centuries-old methods for farming and winemaking, this process is done with a high-tech refractometer. This machine reflects the solid sugars in the grapes, which detects just how much sugar can be converted into alcohol.
When it comes to fermenting the grape juice and creating the wine we know and love, the flavor is also affected by the thickness of the grape skins and how long they infuse in the wine. The skins of grapes impart tannins into the wine, which adds that bitter and astringent taste you might recognize when sipping a bottle of full-bodied red. They can also affect the color of the finished wine. The same process is used to make orange wine—it's essentially just white wine that spent more time in contact with the grape skins.
How Should I Use Natural Wine?
You should drink it, of course! More often than not, since natural wines have fewer sulfites to preserve the wine for longer, they're normally consumed when they're younger. Because of their lack of preservatives, they run the risk of developing a dull, almost dirty flavor often described as "mousy." However, when they're still young and in good shape, they're extremely easy to drink. Another term you may have heard thrown around is "glou-glou," which is French onomatopoeia for the sound wine makes when you pour and drink wine rapidly. In the natural wine world, it's used to describe bottles of wine that you can easily drink.
These wines are also designed to work well when cooking. And without the added preservatives, dyes, and flavors you might find in conventional wines, you can rest assured that your cooking wine is just as wholesome as the rest of your ingredients.
Need some inspo? Check out Rome's recipe for coq au vin here.
