Natural Wine

WHAT IS NATURAL WINE?

Natural wine is a type of wine that is produced using minimal intervention, a term we use A LOT here at Goblin.

Minimal intervention winemakers use a number of techniques in the winery, with the aim of allowing the terroir of the vineyard to express itself as fully as possible.

The winemaking process is as 'natural' as possible, with as little processing of the grapes as they can manage. This means no additions of things like yeast, acids, tannins, nutrients, etc. 

 

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NATURAL AND ORGANIC?

In an ideal world there is none. However in the pre-apocalyptic terror world we currently reside in there is.

Organics refers to what happens in the vineyard, while natural refers to what happens in the winery. 

Are all natural wines organic? No. The reality is many natural winemakers are young or at the beginning of their careers and are not yet at the point where they can acquire their own vineyard. Or are perhaps still in the learning process, trying new places and grape varieties. Organic fruit may not be available (most vineyards in Oz are still conventionally farmed) and they are working with what is available.

This is not a bad thing though. The many new natural winemakers out there have helped push viticulture in a more sustainable direction. Either through taking over vineyards or helping established growers to convert to organics.

 

WHY NATURAL WINE

Natural winemakers believe that this approach results in wines that are more expressive of their unique terroir and have a greater sense of place.

Wine is pretty amazing. Few products in the world can represent and transport you to a specific place as well as wine. Grapes will ferment just from the unique yeasts that grow on their skins. 

Vines respond to even small changes to their environment, meaning you can get unique flavours between vines even a few hundred meters from each other. 

There is also a cultural aspect, with regions having winemaking traditions dating back centuries, if not millennia. 

So with all that, why would you want to obscure a vineyards character with too much winemaking. Particularly the additions of things like yeast and acid that change the flavour and structure of a wine.

 

SO IS ALL NATURAL WINE GOOD AND ALL SCIENCE BAD

Nope. Science has been super good for wine. Refrigeration, analytical tools, more gentle grape presses, etc. These are all great. In many ways modern winemaking has helped make better wine.

A great example is yeast like Brettanomyces, which in small amounts and in the right context add some complexity but can also overwhelm a wine and produce off notes like dead mice or band-aids. This yeast is often introduced through things like machinery or barrels and only relatively recently has wine science helped us to understand what it is and how to avoid it.

 

IS ALL NATURAL WINE SULFUR FREE

To start it is important to note all wine contains sulfur, which is produced naturally in fermentation. What we are talking about is extra additions of sulfur during winemaking.

So does a wine have to be sulfur free to be called natural? The answer depends on who you ask. 

For us no. We are happy to call something natural if it has minimal sulfite additions at bottling only.

Sulfur is added as a stabilizing agent, for example killing any yeasts that may still be active in the wine before it is bottled. We are OK with this as many of the wines we love travel a long way to get here and are often sold young when any "rogue elements" may be more noticeable. 

When we talk about minimal sulfite additions we are talking about tiny amounts. Perhaps 15ppm or less. 

What we are not ok with is sulfite additions during other stages of winemaking. For example a conventional winemaker may sulfite the grapes after picking in order to kill the millions of different vineyard yeasts on the grapes, in order to be able to use a single yeast strain to ferment the grapes. Giving them control over how long the wine ferments, flavours etc.

 

DOES NATURAL WINE TASTE DIFFERENT?

Yes. No. Maybe. Depends.

Natural wines are often described as being lighter and fresher. There is often more fruit flavour and lower alcohol.

However that is a style choice. You can still make a rich, full flavoured wine and have it be natural. 

Natural wine is a spectrum. Ranging from mad whatthefuckery to serious and suave. 

 

NATURAL WINES ALL TASTE THE SAME

I mean I just answered this question but OK.

Some people say to us that they think all natural wine tastes the same. It is all funky, dirty grape juice.

Well some natural wine does indeed taste like funky, dirty grape juice. However equally some natural wine is fresh, pure, clean and minerally. Natural wine offers a full spectrum of flavours.

While natural wine makers strive to do as little to the grapes as possible, they are still making choices and doing things to the grapes. Time on skins, when to press, what vessel to use, these all have an affect on the final wine. Many winemakers have spent decades perfecting their techniques to produce a wine that represents their vineyard as best they can.

However equally some people throw some grapes in a bucket, wait for it to ferment, pick the flies out and stick the finished wine in a bottle. 

 

A FINAL WORD ON LABELLING

It is worth noting that there is no official definition of natural wine, and different winemakers and organizations may have different criteria for what qualifies as natural wine.

As a result, there is often some debate and controversy within the wine industry over what constitutes a natural wine.

There is also nothing stopping a conventional winemaker from labelling their wine natural. 

 

GOBLIN WINE SHOP AND NATURAL WINE

Here at Goblin we almost exclusively stock wines that are organic and made with minimal intervention. The only addition we accept is that of sulfur at bottling.

There is the odd exception that comes through, particularly from newer winemakers that do not have access to organic fruit.