It was the first warm day of spring in the Pas-de-Calais last Saturday. In the Blakeney Wine shop in Hardinghen we had a sparkling Montlouis on tasting. This was a wine from Domaine Jousset called Bubulle a wine made using Méthode Naturelle. I was chatting with customer about Natural Wines and how there was no offical body that gives a universally accepted definition of what is a Natural Wine as opposed to one that is Organic or Biodynamic. There is the Association des Vins Naturels but not all producers adhere to their criteria. So I scratched around to find some clues as to what makes a wine natural.
Generally speaking Natural Wines are wines made using the minimum of chemical and technological intervention. There is no existing certification at the present but most of the winemakers agree that the wine should meet some or all of the following criteria:
The grapes are organically or biodynamically grown and handpicked.
The vineyards are low yield.
There are no added sugars or foreign yeasts (fermentation is carried out using yeasts that occur naturally on the grape skins or in the air).
There is no fining or filtration.
There is no manipulation of the acidity (using tartaric acid and the like).
There are no other additives to control mouth-feel (tannins, wood chips etc).
There is no micro-oxygenation to mimic the effects of slow barrel maturation.
There is little sulphite added (on some occasions there is no sulphite added though these rarely travel far from the domaine).
In essence the Natural Winemakers are aiming to make wines that best represent their skills, the terroir, the traditions and customs of their appellation.
Obviously not all non-Natural wines should be considered inferior – far from it, and not all Natural wines are good enough in quality, work in progress you could say. But with more and more vineyards converting to organic methods and minimising their intervention, Natural Wines may well become the standard.
At Blakeneys we have selected some already and are constantly on the look out for new additions.
Domaine Goisot, Domaine Saint Nicolas Fiefs Vendéens, Mas des Agrunelles, Mas Nicot, Château Tire Pé, Domaine Plageoles, Domaine Jousset, Domaine Cosse Maisonneuve, Vin Hausherr
