Natural Wine – Pleasure or Wild
Lots of people nowadays talk about natural wine as the latest wine trend or an upcoming thing. So, my first point today is to clarify that it is the purest form of winemaking and actually the convenient wines are the new wines.
Plenty of the wine drinkers, which are used to those light and open wines will get confused or even disappointed while trying their first natural wines. But let me tell you that if you are open-minded and ready to try something new you could find a totally different experience with wine. You will find new and exciting flavours.
What is natural wine?
So, there is no definite explanation for natural wine. For me, it is more like a philosophy or a concept for the winemakers than a distinct category of wines. However, for most wineries, it is essential to focus on the grapes and the winemaking during the year and not only in the finishing moves in the cellars. Especially important for me is that they don’t use any pesticides or herbicides and no additives (like fake tannins, extra sugar, acid, or egg white, …). Another point is that they don’t use cultivated yeast during fermentation and lay the focus on the terrain and the yeasts of the area. The coolest thing is that you drink chemical-free wine, that’s awesome.
Most of the winemakers even reduce the amount of sulfur. For some people, the amount of sulfur is limited to 70 mg per Liter to become natural wine, but plenty of them do it entirely without. Another important thing for most of the oenologists is to harvest without machines to protect and destress the plants.
There is no particular rule to make natural wine, so lots of wineries will certify themselves to biodynamical or biological because there are stricter rules.
Tasting natural wine is a different kind of tasting. The wines are alive and are changing fast even after opening a bottle, you can keep it open longer, and it will show you its diversity and will surprise you again and again. Every vintage will be different, but this makes it even more exciting because you will find the history of every year in the bottle. Soon you will register if it was a hot year or a rainy harvest, or maybe you will just recognize that the winemaker kept the grapes couple more days in the sun to give the extra kick and gain a bit more alcohol.
The best way to enjoy is to open the mind and go with the flow of the wine. And don’t be afraid, there will be so many different styles, and some of them shine with finesse and magnificence. Just don’t cringe if the wine is a bit more expensive, just appreciate the work behind and try to challenge yourselves while finding new aromas.
My wine pairing for this article was an Austrian Natural Wine. Something between an orange and a rosé. The 2016 Graue Freyheit pf Gernot Heinrich a winemaker from Burgenland. It’s far away from boring or old-school with wild notes of smoke and flint and herby aromas like thyme with rhubarb and orange. But also, the present acidity combined with a light tannin due to the prolonged contact with the grapes give the wine something special. Make sure to take big glasses or even put it in a decanter.
Winery: Gernot Heinrich
Region: Burgenland, Austria
Vintage: 2016
Price per bottle: EUR 30.00
Overall Rating: 18,5 / 20
