Thoughts from the Grapevine – Vol 2 Issue 2 – Natural Wine – Part 1

The natural wine community has been resistant to standardize and create a legal certification for natural wines. However, most proponents agree to the following principles:

• natural wine must be made from hand-picked grapes that are farmed either sustainably, organically or biodynamically.
• during winemaking, ambient yeasts are used in favour of flavour-enhancing cultured yeasts.
• intervention in the winery should be kept to a minimum.
• little or no sulfites should be added during the winemaking process.

In fact, the community’s resistance to regulation seems consistent with the principle of “limited intervention”. This principle leads to certain typical practices in both the vineyard and the winery that are common among most producers of "natural wine". 

In the vineyard use of synthetic fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides, and pesticides are not permitted. Instead, natural steps are taken to improve the quality of the soil and, hence, the health and disease-resistance of the vine. Key features include:

• The structure of the soil is improved and the amount of biomass in the soil (microbes, beneficial insects, and worms) is increased with compost that helps to breakdown the soil. As a result, nutrients, particularly nitrogen, that are important to vine growth are slowly released.
• Cover crops are grown, reducing soil erosion, and adding life to the soil. When necessary, they are plowed into the soil to create a natural compost.
• Only natural fertilisers such as animal dung and natural calcium carbonate are used. In some cases, particularly if moving towards biodynamic farming, animals are raised on the farm and allowed to roam freely.
• Polyculture of the vineyard is increased by the addition of cover crops, planting hedges rather than raising fences, and increasing the biodiversity in and around the vineyards by growing fruit trees or keeping bees nearby.
• Natural predators (i.e. parasitic wasps), cover crops or mulch are used to reduce dust, while the use of pheromone capsules to create sexual confusion replaces chemical pesticides.
• Traditional remedies to combat mildews, such as copper sulfate, are used judiciously. The weather is closely monitored to determine when spraying is necessary.

Some farmers may use systemic vineyard products absorbed by the pores of the vine rather than “contact treatments”. This requires fewer treatments per year and thus fewer heavy metals absorbed by the soil. For example, Floris Lemstra, Owner and winemaker at Château Canet in Languedoc, a Terra Terra Vitus ® property, treated his vines only 6 times in 2018 compared to 18 treatments by his neighbouring organic farmer.

Hand-picking ensures that healthy grapes are transferred to the winery, which helps reduce the amount of SO₂ required. Mechanically harvested grapes are easily damaged and suffer rot which can result in early oxidation and potential bacterial damage.