Most grocery stores, chain liquor stores, and national restaurants sell wines made by the millions of cases—wines made with a recipe, a process more akin to making soda than wine. In contrast, “natural” winemakers have staked their claim as the antithesis to corporate plonk. While “natural wine” is a loose stylistic description, it is generally made from grapes grown organically or biodynamically by winemakers who subscribe to a no-additions and minimal (even no) intervention winemaking philosophy.
Natural winemakers wave a banner of purity and integrity. They claim to let the grapes alone dictate the wine and firmly believe less intervention leaves the wine more true-to-place, unique, and alive. A significant amount of press ink has been spilled telling the story of natural wines. And while no official natural wine certification exists, there’s an exclusivity to the club. You’re in or out, praised or… unnatural?
In reality, hundreds and even thousands of wineries have crafted wines with authenticity and minimal intervention for decades. They, however, don’t get invited into the club. Many of these small to medium-scale producers craft wines that showcase their varietals, regions, and vintages transparently. High-tech interventions are eschewed, and cleanliness and terroir motivate their work – traits too often lacking in no intervention natural wines.
In the northeast corner of the Sonoma AVA (American Viticultural Area), Anthill Farms crafts small batch Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Chardonnay. A joint venture of three industry friends, the trio met while working at Williams Selyem in 2003, a producer of Pinot Noir savored by collectors. Today at Anthill Farms, Anthony Filiberti serves as both Winemaker and Managing Partner, producing stunning minimal intervention wines. However, he doesn’t embrace the title of natural winemaker. Filiberti explains, “Raising balanced, delicious wines that hit my mark for quality and complexity drives my work. I don’t want to follow someone else’s prescript of what is good or better, natural or not when it comes to wine.”
So what are “natural” winemakers’ prescripts? First, farming should be organic or biodynamic. Additionally, additions aren’t allowed, particularly oak and tannin powders, and sweet grape concentrates like Mega Purple. There’s little discrepancy on these points between the natural wine proponents and many small scale producers. Acidification, fining and filtering, and sulfur dioxide (SO2) in particular create the most rub. Producers use SO2 to protect wine during the winemaking process, especially during the aging period in barrel or tank, as well as in the bottle. SO2 is both an anti-oxidant and anti-microbial, and producers deeply value these protective properties. While some natural winemakers allow for low-level SO2 additions, many nattie wine purists believe no compromise should be made. No SO2, no acidification with tartaric acid, and no fining or filtering. Some wear t-shirts, “NO COMPROMISE.” For Filiberti, SO2 is unjustly demonized. “I like what SO2, at the correct level for each wine, does for wine. Often I find the wines express the individual qualities more clearly with the right amount of SO2, especially over time in bottle. I can’t figure out how something like SO2, that is needed for healthy life, has become bad. The spoilage of volatile acidity (VA) and other things, along with early oxidation, diminishes so much of not just the individuality, but the pure delicious pleasure wine brings.”
For those who agree with Filiberti, natural wine producers and advocates peddle too many wines with noticeable levels of VA, which masks the wine itself, putting a blanket over its ability to showcase its place – its singularity. There’s too often a homogenizing affect in which the wines tastes like natural wine, and little more can be said. Wine can and should taste good, in large part thanks to the modern understanding of fermentation, spoilage, and tools that keep wineries and wines clean – particularly SO2. Choosing high VA wines rather than clean expressions is an embrace of purity over deliciousness. This is often done by claiming a moral high ground. Sometimes its an image of turning back the clock, other times a false demonizing of SO2’s effect on health. Truth be told, SO2 at is not a danger, especially at the low levels used by many great, smaller-scale producers. Yes, wine may have tasted like natural wine a thousand years ago, but most were barely palatable.
Graham Nutter, proprietor of Château St Jacques d’Albas in Minervois, France, bought the property in 2001. When acquired, the fields contained little biological diversity largely due to the pesticides and herbicides used by the prior owners. Through years of careful tending using sustainable and most often organic practices (the estate will be certified organic as of the 2019 vintage), the health of the soil has flourished, and the fruit shows newfound complexity and dexterity. “Our vines are now more resistant to drought and powdery mildew than before,” touts Nutter. As for his winemaking, “We are minimalist in our wines. We use low level of SO2 and minimal fining or filtering. Our judicious use of these tools allows us to maintain a level of consistency in what we achieve – we want to show terroir.” The desire to show place rather than volatile acidity or premature oxidation drives many minimal intervention winemakers to avoid a whole-hearted embrace of the title “natural winemaker.”
In Crete, Greece, Bart Lyrarakis of Lyrarakis Winery adds, “No, we don’t call ourselves a natural winery. We try to be at every stage of production, but when we have to intervene, we will do so.” Lyrarakis simultaneously believes that the natural wine movement is ultimately a positive. Consumers now better understand the abundant manipulations happening in mass production wineries. “Concerning the natural wine movement, we are huge proponents and wholeheartedly embrace it. I dare to say we are only skeptical of the complete lack of flexibility, as well as the incomplete knowledge, both on the producer and consumer side of this very interesting movement. But you have extremes in everything on this planet, even this great natural wine initiative. Personally, I am really happy natural wine is thriving, as it helps increase the expectations and the general awareness of consumers.”
Filiberti, Nutter, and Lyrarakis’s personal prescripts result in compelling wines. Their labels showcase the regions and varietals transparently. Turn to the 2016 Anthill Farms Campbell Ranch Pinot Noir ($42) for a hedonic and sensual experience. At Château St Jacques d’Albas, the Minervois Domaine d’Albas ($15) showed best on day two, suggesting a life ahead of it if you cellar wine, a feat at such a reasonable price. The Lyrarakis Vóila Assyrtiko ($18), a white Grecian varietal, starts with lemon, sea air, and ginger along with a floral nuance, and also adds extra complexity on day two. These wines demonstrate the tip of the iceberg of excellent and honest producers around the globe, a list that includes steadfast wineries like L’Ecole No. 41 in Washington, Brooks in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Leo Steen in the North Coast of California, and Matteo Correggia in Piedmont, Italy.
Despite the fact that most of the bottles sold are produced by a handful of behemoths, small-scale wineries account for a large majority of the producers in our country, and around the globe. Though harder to find, most reputable, independent shops and restaurants carry these authentic wines. Bart Lyrarakis ended our conversation by adding, “Our most important goal is to have the very bottle you hold in your hands express itself sincerely. The identity of the place, the grape, the farmer – they are all part of it, as we are too. We will strive for such wines.” While not the mantra of all small producers, this rings true for many. There’s no need to cast these winemakers out of the natural wine clubhouse.
Originally published for Growler Magazine
