So where can you find the best natural wines and why should you care?
In 2019, the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant went to an unlikely recipient, Frenchette. At first glance, it checked all the boxes: trendy atmosphere, French bistro food, Tribeca. But there was something novel about Frenchette—and it wasn’t on the food menu. For the first time, the award went to a restaurant whose wine menu was exclusively made up of natural wines.
Today, Frenchette’s wine list ranges from about $65-400 a bottle. Any fancy restaurant in Tribeca that serves only natural wines is either crazy or brilliant. Frenchette proved to be the latter, tapping into a wine revolution that has the world buzzing.
Natural wine is the holy grail for every wine-loving, health-conscious, eco-aware 25-40 year old in America. While it makes up a relatively small portion of the wine market, natural wines have garnered die-hard fandom from a niche group of consumers.
But what is a natural wine, where can you buy the best natural wine – and how is it different from organic wine?
So What Is Natural Wine Really?
First of all, natural wine is an unregulated term in the United States. Winemakers are permitted to use this term as they please, and there is no policing of its usage beyond the court of public opinion. However, natural wine is generally accepted to mean a wine made from organically farmed grapes to which nothing has been added or removed in the cellar. Some call this philosophy “zero-zero".
In practice, this means natural wines do not contain:
- Commercial yeasts
- Fining agents
- Color enhancing syrups
- Added alcohol / water / sugar / acid
Instead, the wines ferment spontaneously from indigenous (wild) yeasts. This is an indisputable standard operating practice for natural wines. But because there is no regulating body for the term “natural wine” in the U.S, there is an ongoing debate about whether sulfur additions are acceptable. Some natural wine producers will add sulfur just before bottling the wine to prevent spoilage. Others call it cheating.
Natural Wine vs. Organic Wine
An important distinction should be made between natural wine and organic wine. In the U.S., organic wine is certified through the USDA to be free of pesticides and herbicides just like in organic agriculture. Any additives in the cellar must be organic, such as organic yeasts or fining agents.
Sulfur, which is commonly used in winemaking as an antimicrobial and antioxidant agent, is strictly prohibited. If sulfur or non-organic yeasts are added in the cellar but the vineyard practices remain organic, the wine can be labeled as “made with organically grown grapes.” In Europe, organic wine regulations are less strict; some sulfur is permitted in the wine. Plus, in Europe, copper and sulfur can be used in the vineyard as fungicide treatments.
In short, natural wine is organic, but organic wine is not necessarily natural.
Old World, New Problems
U.S. producers of natural wine are looking to the Old World for how they tackle the issue of regulation. In 2019, a label called Vin Méthode Nature first started to be voluntarily placed on wine bottles across France. It was established by a group of natural wine producers who felt their craft deserved protection from pesticide-spraying fakes who claim to be natural as a marketing ruse. Under the general Vin Méthode Nature label, small amounts of sulfur dioxide are permitted, though there is also a separate label for sulfur-free wines. Some of the best natural wines you can buy are labeled this way.
The push to define natural wine in the U.S. is met with some resistance. Many producers and critics feel this would dampen the free spirit and anti-establishment ethos that is so emblematic of the natural wine movement. New York Times wine writer Eric Asimov reflects, “I always saw this refusal to be pinned down as a strength. Allowing natural wine to be strictly defined would set it up to be co-opted, the way many organic food companies are now largely profit-making subdivisions of Big Ag.”
In fact, the rise of the natural wine movement came on the heels of the organic food movement. About 20 years ago, consumers started to push back against the technology-driven, pesticide-happy industrial agriculture that became a standard in post-war America. These same people who paid attention to what they ate began to pay attention to what they drank. Thus, the natural wine movement started as societal awareness grew around sustainability, soil biodiversity, and health.
Fans and Foes Of Natural Wine
The natural wine movement seems to reflect our country’s polarizing tendencies; you either love it or you hate it. The lovers latch on to its ideals of anarchist individualism and against-the-grain culture. They say the wine is alive and evolving. Natural wine guru and critic, Alice Feiring calls it an “enduring, magical symbol of humanity".
But these wines aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, so to speak. The haters call it nonpotable, Brettanomyces-infused plonk. The slight fizz and je ne sais quoi funk of natural wines can be off-putting to anyone raised on squeaky clean wines. We believe the best natural wines you can buy should include a bit of funkiness.
Top Natural Wine Stores
Here are a few of the best natural wine retailers in the US:
- Helen’s Wines (Los Angeles)
- Domestique (Washington, DC)
- Stranger Wines (Brooklyn, NYC)
- Dedalus (Burlington, VT)
- Primal Wine (online only)
- Drizly (online only)
The Best Natural Wines To Buy
If you are new to the natural wine scene and want to see what all the fuss is about, here is a list of five of the hottest natural wine producers right now. You can try to find these producers and others at your local natural wine shop, or order online from the natural wine retailers we listed above:
Meinklang
This family vineyard is located in eastern Austria near the border of Hungary, nestled inside a World Heritage Site called Neusiedlersee. The farm “functions much like an organism,” using cow manure to fertilize the vineyard soils and planting wildflowers, fruits, vegetables, and herbs. The bull on the Meinklang label gives a nod to this closed-loop farm ecosystem. Meinklang wines are also certified biodynamic by Demeter. This label indicates the grapes have been cultivated in synch with the lunar calendar and have been treated with preparations made from plants, quartz, and cow manure.
Give it a try! Mulatschak Pinot Gris/Welschriesling, 2020 ($23, Helen’s Wines)
Kindeli
Kindeli is a natural wine from New Zealand made by Alex Craighead. This line turns heads with its unmistakable label drawing of bold-colored, human-like foxes. Craighead practices regenerative farming, using sheep to graze the inter-rows rather than using machines that can cause soil compaction and erosion. Former wine writer for Bon Appetit, Marissa Ross, mused that the 2018 Kindeli Otoño “looks like a sepia-toned late Sunday afternoon through your favorite cheap sunglasses and smells of ripe mangoes and tea roses in peak bloom, soft in the heat.”
Give it a try! Kindeli is popular - almost too popular. If your local natural wine store doesn’t carry it, try ordering directly from Alex Craighead’s website when the next vintage comes out.
La Garagista Farm + Winery
La Garagista is a winery located in a surprising place - Vermont. Yes, good wine can be made where winter temperatures routinely fall below zero. The winery is run by Deidre Heekin, the matriarch of natural wine in the United States. She and her husband, Caleb Barber, owned and operated an Italian bistro, Osteria Pane e Salute, in Woodstock, Vermont for 20 years before turning to winemaking. Their wines are made with hybrid European and American grape varieties, such as La Crescent, Frontenac, and Marquette. These varieties tend to do better in cooler climates. In 2020, La Garagista was a semifinalist in the James Beard Awards for the category Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Producer.
Give it a try! Damejeanne 2019 (La Garagista Farm + Winery online shop)
Château de Béru
Located in the heart of Chablis (Burgundy), Château de Béru has been in the de Béru family for 400 years. While the wine estate has been run by men for generations, it is now owned and operated by two de Béru women, Athénaïs and her mother Laurence. Athénaïs made her way back to the family farm after a successful finance career in Paris. “It still surprises and astonishes me that...you can be in the vines pruning, almost in a meditative state, and yet at the same time be globally connected to wine-lovers. It is something perhaps that you only get in wine,” she reflects. The de Béru women produce organic, hand-picked, single-varietal Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines that receive very low sulfur additions.
Give it a try! Côtes d'Auxerre, Pinot Noir, 2018 ($76, Helen’s Wines)
Cantina Marilina
These wines hail from the Sicilian province of Siracusa on a 148-acre family farm. The father, Angelo, was a longtime winemaker who decided to go his own way after 25 years of working for various Sicilian wineries. Today, operations are run by the winery’s namesake, Marilina, and Frederica, Angelo’s two daughters. Their wines are made with minimal intervention in the winery, but plenty of care in the vineyard. About half of their land is dedicated to polyculture, a farming practice in which many species are planted in the same area to increase biodiversity and mimic the natural ecosystem. Perhaps their most popular line of wines is the Sikelè label. The Sikelè Bianco is made from the grape Grecanico in an orange wine style, meaning that the juice macerates on the grape skins before being pressed. The result is a beautifully colored wine that smells like honey, cedarwood, and citrus - perfect for a summer barbecue.
Give it a try! Sikelè, Terre Siciliane, Grecanico, 2019 ($18, Helen’s Wines)
More Natural Wines Worth Buying
Monastero Suore Cistercensi, “Coenobium” Bianco, Vitorchiano, Italy:
One of my absolute favorite natural wines, this wine is a blend of native Italian white varieties Trebbiano, Verdicchio, and Malvasia from the Vitorchiano region of Lazio. The winery is run by Trappist nuns, and the rustic-looking label includes a drawing of the monastery. The grapes are co-fermented with native yeast and no temperature stabilization. The resulting wine is savory with aromas of chamomile, fennel, and roasted nuts.
Azienda Agricola Cirelli Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo (Anfora), Italy:
This is a type of rosé wine from the Abruzzo region of Italy. Cerasuolo roughly translates to “cherry-colored” and refers to the dark, rich pink hue of these wines. This certified organic vineyard produces the Montepulciano grapes for this wine and then ages them in anfora: essentially clay pots. This ancient aging method imparts a dusty, rustic quality to the wine, which pairs perfectly with game meats.
Meinklang “Graupert” Pinot Gris, Burgenland, Austria:
Graupert translates to “wild” and refers to the growth of the vines in this vineyard: they are not pruned but rather left to grow wild. This results in smaller berries which, combined with extended maceration on the skins, creates a rich coppery color and a weighty, structured texture. The wine is bottled un-fined and un-filtered.
Domaine Jousset “Rose a Lies” Pet-Nat, Loire Valley, France:
Pet-Nat is short for Pétillant Naturel, a style of sparkling wine made according to the ancestral method. Here, wine is bottled mid-ferment so that any remaining carbon dioxide produced during fermentation will be locked inside the bottle and create a softly-sparkling wine. As pet-nat wines are not disgorged as in the Champagne Method, many will be bottled under crown cap and have a cloudy appearance. This example is crafted from organic Gamay and Grolleau grapes and bottled without the addition of sulfur.
Our Wine, Rkatsiteli, Kakheto, Georgia:
A wine aged using an ancient Georgian method, where the grape skins, pips, and stems are left to ferment in qvevri, or large clay pots which are buried underground, for 6 months. This pulls out all the tannin and spice from the biodynamically-farmed Rkatsiteli grapes, creating a bold, smoky white wine. The wine is bottled un-fined, un-filtered, without the addition of sulfur.
Occhipinti Il Frappato, Sicilia:
Farmed organically, these Frappato grapes create a light red, fruity, almost spritzy style wine. Wine is aged only in large old Slavonian oak, and bottled un-fined and un-filtered.
Silver Wing “Nada Reserve” Chardonnay, Waipara, NZ:
Unlike many natural wines, this wine is made using some intervention such as battonage and 15% new Hungarian oak. It is, however, farmed organically and bottled un-fined and un-filtered, without the addition of preservatives. The result is a creamy, lightly funky wine that is yet still recognizable as Chardonnay.
Bodegas Bernabe Navarro “Tragolargo” Monastrell, Alicante, Spain:
A small-production, organic winery creating terroir-driven wines in Alicante, Spain. Tragolaro means “long drink”, and is a concentrated yet easy-drinking wine made using young-vine Monastrell grapes. The ruby-colored wine is full of plums and violets.
Ruth Lewandowski “Feints”, Fox Hill Vineyard, Mendocino County, CA:
A blend of Italian varietals grown in California, this wine is somewhere between a light red and a rosé. Fermented using 100% native yeasts and carbonic maceration, the wine is bottled un-filtered with zero additives.
COS Pithos Bianco, IGT, Italy:
A true “orange wine”, a category which often intersects with natural wine, this wine is made from white grapes but with extended maceration on the skins—seven months in amphorae to be exact. The result is a copper-hued wine bursting with wildflowers and fresh dirt.
Conclusion
If you’ve been paying attention to the wine scene for the last few years you’ve probably heard a lot of talk about “natural wine”. This is especially true in trendy bars and restaurants. Some restaurants have even gone so far as to include only natural wines on their wine list.
If you’re not familiar, natural wine refers to wine that has been made with minimal intervention—both in the vineyard and in the cellar. The wines are often organic or biodynamic, fermented with native yeast, made with no additives, usually un-fined/un-filtered, and aged in a way that showcases the grape (i.e. probably no new oak barrels). The result is a wine that is often more savory than fruity, certainly earthy, sometimes with a sour beer-like tang and a distinctive hazy appearance.
The “natural wine” category, however, has been somewhat divisive; the often funky, often cloudy wines are not suited to everyone’s palate. How do you know if natural wine is for you?
Natural wines are here to stay. This is a growing category that is gaining a lot of popularity amongst sommeliers and other wine lovers in the know. We suggest you investigate this category to see if it matches your palate. If you are looking for wines that have fewer additives, preservatives, and human intervention. these might be for you. We love the Cellars Wine Club as a starting point to investigate natural wines.
Or you can go it on your own. If you prefer to track down your own natural wine, here are ten great natural wines to get you started. Give a few of these a try and decide for yourself if you are a natural wine fan. If you are wondering where to buy great natural wines online? Check out our list of the best places to buy wine online:
