Hey guys,
I’m planning to visit Sonoma, but I’m a fan of natural wine. Are there any radical producers over there that I could visit?
Cheers
No brainer, Nicolas. TonyCoturri. The wines can be pretty funky & age very erratically. His wines have never met a bacteria they
didn’t like.
Another would be HardyWallace of Dirty&Rowdy.
Tom
You might want to visit Salinia, too - very interesting stuff.
How natural does it need to be?
Only native yeast?
Certified organic?
Give us more parameters. I consider most wine to be natural, so the extra ideas you have will help narrow it down.
The NPA (Natural Process Alliance) is the same facility, same winemaker.
Guys that try to do art, real wine, reduce the intervention to the minimum… I don’t care about standards (Biodynamic, Organic certified).
Some French big names would be La Pierre, Guy Breton, Jean Foillard, both Thévenet… that’s just Beaujolais, from Loire I could name Puzelat, Catherine et Pierre Breton there’s also monsieur Baudry who’s not a radical natural guy, but is making true wine 
And yes, definitely only native yeast.
I enjoyed Broc Vineyards wine very much on my last trip to the United States , their Carignan has some real attitude
Those look very nice, thank you very much Tom!! 
Since your definition of natural sounds quite broad, I think you’d find quite a few to your liking. Just to name one, you might check out Porter Creek–definitely on the low intervention side of things.
http://www.portercreekvineyards.com/pages/home_main.html
And someone like Unti isn’t bringing the weirdness, but they seem to make pretty much un-mucked with wines that also happen to be thoroughly delicious. Big California wines, but I’d call them “honest,” whatever that means.
http://www.untivineyards.com/winemaking/
If you’re flying into San Francisco, you might also check out Donkey and Goat in Berkley. They are walking distance from Broc.
Oh, and if you have some time to read and mull, you might check out the recent Jon Bonne book, “The New California Wine.” He definitely lauds a particular style that might be up your alley. Lots of interesting producers spotlighted.
Disclaimer: I live in Virginia and don’t actually know anything.
I’d second Porter Creek and Unti. As that Unti link says, they use indigenous yeasts. They are now doing some things according to lunar cycles, too, I believe their last newsletter said. Whatever, the wines are honest and tasty. I wouldn’t call them “big California.” Definitely Californian, but restrained by today’s standards. Same thing with Porter Creek.
Matthiasson, Massican, NPA (Salinia), D & R, Cowen, Ryme, Kenny Likitprakong (Hobo, Ghostwriter), Arnot Roberts, Two Shepherds, Lioco, Scholium Project, Idlewild, Sandlands, Ridge, Knez. This is certainly an incomplete list.
I’ve been hearing good things about Lusu Cellars, anyone try them?
That’s fair. I retract the “big” descriptor! I really like their wines a lot. Would be great to see them on Berserker Day.
Scholium
Enfield
Ground Effect
Forlorn Hope
I visited Littorai and Unti yesterday and can highly recommend both.
FYI, the current line-up at Unti is the best I’ve tasted in six or seven years of visits. And it was a pleasure, as always, to chat with George Unti. He was reminiscing about all the Southern French wines he bought from Kermit Lynch in the 70s and 80s. That explains a lot about the style of wines he and Mick make.
so for the non natural wineries, they’re unnatural?
Many of the recommendations are not in Sonoma.
Here would be my list
Natural Winemakers:
Coturri
Dirty and Rowdy
Hardesty Cellars
Salina
Minimal Intervention:
Arnot Roberts
Ceritas
Joseph Swan
Kenny Likitprakong (Hobo, Ghostwriter)
Littorai
Wind Gap
I may have a couple of these in the wrong category but I think all would appeal to you.
The OP was looking for help, not a fight. Play nice. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Yup. Big fan.
Not in Sonoma though. They’re in Berkeley. Broc and Donkey & Goat are on the same block.