The category of natural wines has taken off in recent years. And yet, the definition remains elusive. For some, it is all about foregoing additives like sulfites. According to Stevie Stacionis, owner of Bay Grape, a wine shop in Oakland, “People think of nature wines as ‘no sulfur,’... but no, it’s really about what is happening in the vineyard and the environmental practices behind it.”
Many natural wine enthusiasts echo Stacionis’ view of natural wines as those that are sustainably grown, organic or biodynamic and are low intervention in the vineyard as well as the cellar.
As natural wines resists a singular definition, the category has come to represent Millennial tastes, specifically a growing consciousness of what people are putting into their bodies and into the environment. People are shunning added sulfites, emulsifiers, dyes, added sugars, and chemicals from processing and how the grapes are grown. Or at a minimum they are seeking more transparent labels that make it clear what is being added.
As the movement grows, the questions remain whether natural wines will go mainstream--or if they even want to. A Decanter article described natural wines as aiming to be “mainstream enough to sell but edgy enough to be…’a thing your parents could never understand.’” This sense of a special community pervades the natural wines world.
While the natural wine world may be an insular community, its influence has been far reaching. On the producer side, both conventional and up and coming winemakers and experimenting with natural winemaking techniques. Meanwhile, producers in Europe and around the globe who have been making so-called “natural” wines for years are seeking to capitalize on the growing trend. On the consumer side, people are becoming more discerning and seeking to better understand where their wine comes from, how it is made and what is in a bottle.
As we’ve seen the ripple effects of food trends such as clean eating, farm to table and locally sourced become mainstays, I’m excited to see how the wine industry and the burgeoning natural wine category evolves.
*The quote from Stevie Stacionis is from an event on natural wines hosted by the Pineapple Collaborative in 2019. Check her out here: Stevie Stacionis, owner @baygrape & founder @batonnageforum
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