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.