After 10 years effort, the French wine industry has obtained the right to market wines officially recognized as “natural”. In collaboration with the French Ministry for Agriculture, the French National Institute for Origins and Quality (INAO) and the French Fraud Control Office, the newly created Natural Wines Union, presided by Loire Valley vintner Jacques Carroget, has established a list of criteria and a screening protocol dedicated to this new designation.
The new denomination is defined by a quality production charter and marketed under the term, vin méthode nature.
The category’s production specifications prohibit the use of inputs and winemaking techniques qualified as “brutal,”. . .
And there you are! Now we will officially know what’s natural and what isn’t. I hope that this stuff has to be coronavirus free.
It was inevitable that such a program would be put in place somewhere, and it probably makes sense that it’s being done first in France. At least as noted in the linked article, the winemaking standards don’t seem overly strict, though 30mg/L for total (as opposed to free) sulfites is on the low side. Many wines from low-intervention producers in California would likely meet those standards if a similar program was to be set up here.
“ Each brand sporting the label on its bottle has to be produced from hand-picked grapes from certified organic vines and made exclusively with indigenous yeast. The category’s production specifications prohibit the use of inputs and winemaking techniques qualified as “brutal,” such as cross-flow filtration, flash pasteurization, thermovinification and reverse osmosis. When it comes to the presence of sulfites, up to 30 mg/l of total H2SO4 is allowed in all types of wine.”
Organically grown, hand picked, endemic yeasts, as I read it. Good progress for the overall industry. Of course, that sulfuric acid addition seems quite high… If that’s mg/L total SO2, that’s on the low side. It’s basically a 35-40 ppm add before bottling, which is where a lot of the current ‘natural producers’ seem to be settling. We do some work in that range and it’s turning out well. though I’m interested to see it in a few years.
Yeah, once a set of rules are laid down, we can go back to pointing out how many CA and OR wines meet the criteria, but don’t go around calling themselves “natural”.
So…it’s not at all clear. If the grapes go across a sorting table, and rotted bunches, leaves, dead mice and snakes are plucked out…can it still be considered “natural”. What if they use an optical sorting table? What if they use (plastic) netting to protect against bird damage??
I still like my definition of “natural”. If SweetAlice says the wine is “natural”, then, by dammed, it’s “natural”. End of discussion!!
Tom
But any of these points - made in jest or not - are not manipulating grapes or the must in any way. Basically the idea is to keep hands off from the grapes or the must as much as possible. Nothing wrong in using hi-tech, as long as the wine itself is as unmanipulated as possible. Sorting grapes, removing unwanted material or protecting the grapes from birds is not affecting the grapes or the must in any way. I don’t understand what’s so difficult in this and why everybody is always making fun of naturalistas using technology with the wine.
If it’s just the cognitive dissonance that comes with the term “natural”, you’re free to come up with a different term that fits better and people are willing to use. I guess “shenanigans wine” doesn’t match the criteria.
