By Gal Zohar
As a keen seeker of trends in the wine trade, I can no longer ignore what everyone seems to talk about lately. Natural wines. But what are they really? With no clear definition the term seems to cause more confusion than sense. Whereas in order to bear the terms organic or Biodynamic clear guidelines have to be followed natural wines seem to crown themselves.
A late Friday chat with La Chapelle’s (Galvin’s new restaurant) wine team managed so shed some light on this blurry trend. Wine Buyer Andrea Briccarello (previously of Corrigan’s, Bentley’s and Umu) and Sommelier Nicolas Verhoye (previously of L’Anima) describe themselves as natural wine fanatics. Although the list at La Chapelle is diverse and mostly populated with the more conventional stuff they personally, seem to favour what they describe “alcoholic juice”. We asked the fanatics to give us their 30sec definition on what these wines really are:
Despite Andrea and Nicola’s love of natural wine they are happy to recommend wine that don’t follow the natural philosophy. Their wine list is clearly not based only on their personal taste. Neither does it try to force the guests out of their comfort zone. According to the two a real sommelier must be able to see beyond his personal taste and cater for all. See the fanatics explain their more practical approach.
Natural or not we seemed to agree that it’s down to the wine. I still find it difficult to put my finger on what’s natural and what’s not. Maybe categorising wine so generally is simply impossible. One thing’s certain, if you’re in need of some natural wine love Andrea and Nicolas are the right people to talk to.
Tags: La Chapelle, Natural Wine, sommeliers, Video
Having worked with natural wines for a bit of time, I can say that they do have their charms. However, there is a lot of dross that you have to muck through to get the good stuff. Is it worth it? I think that conscienscious producers are already making wines that are as close to natural as possible. Maybe we should take the time to have a closer look at the way the wines are harvested and made rather then a lazy, shorthanded way of saying natural wine is the way to go. I’ve had some natural wines that you wouldn’t want to give to your worst enemy.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bibendum, Thomas Lippert, Denise Medrano, Denise Medrano, Mr Zohar and others. Mr Zohar said: @thewinesleuth Hi, would love to hear your thoughts on natural wine. http://bit.ly/bYjJL5 [...]
Natural wine is in deed a very broad term. Some are wonderful, different and a real palate shocker. Like any other wine category (or anything else…) some might cut corners and use the term for marketing reasons. Natural wine is for me simply an honest wine that is made according to a less is more philosophy.