It’s real wine month!!
the fact that there are so many different names for ‘natural’ wines suggests right away that they are pretty difficult to pin down.
Come across the term ‘orange wine’ and my first thought was something sweet made from oranges and probably a Christmas tipple.
‘Organic’ probably gets closer but they tend to be about so much more, and there are plenty of organic wines that aren’t ‘natural.’
Some prefer ‘real’ - but that kind of suggests that other wine isn’t ‘real’ and the wine business is possibly stuffy enough already not to further step on its toes!
´Low intervention’ is very misleading - while well intentioned and a reference to the lack of chemicals used, the grapes and process of making natural wine requires at least as much intervention as the other stuff.
‘No sulphites’ - yes and no. Mostly avoided in natural wine but not always. (Some say that low/no sulphites help avoid wine hangovers but I think that can be taken with a pinch of salt.)
so that hasn’t really got us anywhere but perhaps we’re starting to get a feel of the thing.
In France natural wine is very much tied to the ‘bistronomy’ movement - small bistro type restaurants serving small plates featuring local produce and strong on seasonality. There also seems to be a movement towards quality of life or work/life balance for chefs and servers - no longer prepared to do epic 14 hour split shifts six and a half days a week the work has become a little gentler, a little less ‘macho’ and the relationship between restaurant and customer is a little stronger. In some of the best places it’s common to eat what you’re given and drink whatever they’re pouring that day.
I think at heart natural wines are about trying to restore the link between the grapes, the land, the grower and the consumer. Rather than producing expected and generic styles you’re going to get something a little more remarkable. If the vineyard is full of herbs and lavender you might get a touch of that in the glass, or if the grapes are from close to the sea you can expect a bit more of a salty zing? You get the idea.
for real wine month - May - we have 4 natural wines for you to try at very advantageous prices, by glass, carafe and bottle. 2 whites, a red and an orange wine.
they’re all from the ‘easier’ end of the natural wine spectrum. Some can get a little challenging but we’ve avoided those!