Natural wine is a simple yet powerful idea.
It’s the belief that an organic and non-interventionist approach to winemaking can create wine that expresses terroir in a truer fashion, is more interesting to the palate, more complimentary with food and, of course, healthier for the individual and the environment.
2011 was about figuring out whether this really rung true to me.
Whether this is a niche of consequence as well as interest. Whether when orchestrated in the hands of a master winemaker, it creates a product of quality as well as uniqueness. And whether we are entering an era where the economics of the artisanal winemaker combined with the reach of the web is a possible disruptor and game changer for the wine world.
Natural wine has been a passion of mine for a while now and this blog is an homage to the winemakers I respect the most.
Friends and neighbors are hard pressed to escape the tastings and stream of stories about the flavors and bouquets of Trousseaus and Poulsards from the magical vineyards of the Jura. The rich and layered Mencias and Garnachas produced from the ancient terraces hanging over the River Sil in Ribiera Sacra. The Frappatos and Nero D’Avolas grown in volcanic ash on the smoky slopes of Mt Etna in Sicily.
These deep natural pockets of organic and biodynamic winemaking, in 2011, became part of a much longer list of true natural winemaking legends in Friuli, Beaujolais, Manchuela, the Canary Islands, Champagne, the Loire Valley…everywhere they make wine.
There is always a short list of the best of the best, but this approach to winemaking has not only been happening quietly for generations in every winemaking region but is part of a global renaissance of a non-interventionist approach to making natural wine.
There are many like Jean Bourdy in the Jura who have been making wine on their family farms for scores of generations. And many more in areas like Ribeira Sacra, who are returning to ancestral terraces, cut by the Romans 2000 years ago, tended for generations then abandoned till just now.
But most important to me this year was getting to know a few of these winemakers as real people. My visits with Friulian iconoclast Fulvio Bressan especially in Trieste and Sandi Skerk in Carso were wildly exhilarating and provoking.
Attending tastings with natural wine rock stars like Philippe Bornard, Jean Bourdy Luis Rodriguez and Eric Texier was to understand the passion and humility of these individuals. They eschewed labels to a person yet spoke their own individual language that in concept, was common across all of them. These are individuals driven by intense emotions and their success is attributable to drive, self-belief and extraordinary skill.
The validity of natural winemaking doesn’t lie with its definition.
Artisanal, organic, biodynamic, sustainable and natural all bump into each other as parts of a new way of looking at an ancient tradition of winemaking. To some it’s tradition carried forth. To some a revolution of change. None of this speaks to quality but it does speak to a promise and an approach.
I wasted too much time this year arguing with wine journalists jockeying for definition and defensive of their own roles as taste makers in the hard-wired reality of the wine world today.
Labels on bottles are important certainly. Certification as assurance of credibility is critical. But these labels and certifications don’t create the reality, they codify it.
Our local shops and specialty importers are doing this job now, and well. Over time, this will move online and the category of natural or artisanal will be a first door on a search or referral funnel to finding what you like under this general contextual umbrella.
The response from the industry to the categories of natural and biodynamic is a bit too shrill to ignore. The percent of grapes grown organically or biodynamically is really small. The same with the overall revenue numbers of what is sold under this broad definition.
So…what’s going on?
Can a farmer like Christian Ducroux making wondrous no sulfer-added, 100% natural Beaujolais on his tiny 4-hectare vineyard on the hillside above the village of Regni-Durette in France really threaten the wine world?
Stangely, I think so.
Although Ducroux makes delicious wine of the highest quality, he does so in the most petite of vineyards, off the economic grid mostly with a lifestyle intent.
While there are huge variations in the definition of what constitutes natural—chaptalization, natural yeasts, filtration, sulfur not to mention vineyard practices–really wonderful wine that truly is an expression of terroir can be the result. When it’s in a goblet swirling rhythmically, it’s superfood for the soul, enthralling with bouquet, smile inducing and head nodding satisfaction when it all comes together.
This is where this gets interesting.
The most low tech (no tech actually), natural approach to making wondrous wine is being made possible as business reality and a consumer connection by a platform of technical sophistication never before available.
The culture of the consumer has shifted on a global basis. It is not the exception to be eco-aware, health conscious, artisan supportive and curiously adventurous in seeking out new places, foods, cultures, people…and wine.
The social web has established the reality of the global local and the power of the niche to stand alone or as part of a marketplace. It has empowered the consumer, democratized information and distribution for industry after industry. It was made real the possibilities of marketplaces and given voice and commercial weight to the niche, the authentic and the unique.
I’ve blogged often about the wave of change that is sweeping our culture on how we find, purchase and consume our passions. Natural wine, defined as you will, artisanal at its very core, is part of this.
As I write this I’m sipping a truly wonderful glass of organic Malvasia from the Skerk Vineyard in Carso, Friuli, Italy. So rich and refreshing. Mineral. Vivacious. From Sandi’s cellar to my goblet. From my blog to your intent to taste I hope.
And I’m thinking of the old adage that says that the future is already here. It’s just a secret that only a few have discovered it.
To me, it’s already here and I’m living it.
Call it natural. Call it artisanal. Call it organic.
The market will decide but the connection between me in NYC and Sandi Skerk in Carso is quite real and tangible. I may have been attracted to Skerk because of his indigenous varietals, his natural approach and the magnificence of his cellar. But at the end of this string of filters, of categories, is the taste that binds.
This is a new culture of consumers demanding that the systems of discovery and distribution fit themselves to their wants. The wines are scattered in interesting pocket across the globe. The market, certainly in the states, is here.
The value chain between winemaker and consumer for natural wines is already present, like breadcrumbs scattered about. There is only that handshake between personal discovery and seamless commerce that is still wanting. And in my view, not for long.
Stephane Tissot is my kind of winemaker.
In his own words, he’s “on a quest for aromatic diversity” through a natural approach to winemaking and a passion for the taste of terroir.
He follows his words with actions and produces 28 different cuvees, terroir by terroir, all naturally in the Jura wine region, on the eastern border of France in the foothills of the Alps.
But put aside his deep family connections to the region. His crazy winemaking creativity, especially the Cremant de Jura. And his uncanny ability as the Jura whisperer to bring out the taste in a variety of local varietals.
Think quaffable and honest and enjoyable wine when you think of Stephane Tissot.
His approach is biodynamic (Demeter certified); his use of sulfur judiciously minimal. But his wines, especially this bottle of Trousseau, are just wonderfully approachable, delicious, and in every instance I’ve poured them, a crowd favorite.
The ’09 Arbois Trousseau Singulier is a labor of love. The grapes are harvested in small baskets, hand selected and destemmed. Then fermented with natural yeasts in old oak foudres and aged 12 months then bottled without filtration. This wine is powered by people, not machines or technology.
With Tissot’s wines, you are not drinking an experiment in ancient methods. Nor an evangelistic natural point of view. Just great taste and a true sense of place as an ingredient of the wine.
This has been ‘the summer of chilled reds from the Jura’ and it’s ending as a huge success. I want to repledge my allegiance to Trousseau as the most refreshing, most satisfying warm weather wine. If I had to choose one grape for hot afternoons and lingering evenings, Trousseau would be it.
The ’09 Arbois Trousseau Singulier is a wine for summer and friends and rooftops and easy relaxation.
Translucent cherry in color, supple tannins, crisply alive in your mouth with a long, elegant finish. It satiates the senses and satisfies your intellectual curiosity about this obscure place called the Jura and their unique wines that taste perfect and familiar wherever you drink them.
This wine is technically just…yummy. It’s about enjoyment and that’s what wine is at its core.
Available from Chambers Street Wines for less than $30 a bottle. Go online and order a few bottles. Serve slightly chilled (30-45 minutes in fridge). I’m very confident that this will become one of your favorites.
You might want to taste a selection of great Trousseau from the Jura. If you can’t find these vintages, do try the vineyard and winemaker.
Check out my post on his old vine Poulsard for more info on his family and vineyards.
Thanks again to my Jura maven Sophie Barrett for making me think about Arbois and Trousseau as I walk down Chambers Street in TriBeCa.
What a story this bottle of natural wine from the Jura tells…
It’s an inspired education in the detailed simplicity of biodynamic winemaking. And a cultural nod to the ancient tradition of field blends emphasizing the dominance of place over the individuality of the grape as the true signature of terroir.
The wonder of this wine is in its drinking pleasure. Round and fresh with a crisp mouth. Spicy red fruits, snappy tannins and a savory effervescence that is clean, alive and memorable. This is a rustic palate with natural crispness and uncannily refined.
Jean-François Ganevat is the iconoclastic Jura winemaker responsible for this natural treat. His family has been vignerons in the area for generations. He’s been making wine at his family domaine since 1998.
I’m a student of the wines of the Jura, located in east central France in the foothills of the Alps. But Ganevat is the first winemaker I’ve focused on from the southern part of the region. His vineyard is in the tiny Hamlet of La Combe above the village of Rotalier.
In the Jura there are over 40 different grape varieties grown, most indigenous to the area and quite obscure, and many cultivated only in the Jura region itself. On Ganevat’s tiny vineyard, 17 of these 40 grape varietals are grown, sometimes vinified separately for his Poulsards and Savagnins, and in the case of J’en Veux, all 17 are harvested and vinified together as a field blend.
I was first introduced to field blends, known as Gemischter Satz in Austria by young and talented winemaker Gottfried Lamprecht from the Styria region. I tasted his crisply delicious Buchertberg White field blend in Vienna last year. Gottfried is a passionate believer that field blends are the truest expression of terroir.
Field blends emphasize the dominance of the place over the grape. Ganevat’s J’en Veux is a prime example of this. With J’en Veux you are literally tasting the Hamlet of La Comb not any of the individual varietals themselves.
Understanding the taste footprint of this bottle is less about the broad stroke of an organic or biodynamic approach– even though the vineyard is Demeter certified–more about the intense care and stewardship of the grape as the vessel of the vineyard itself.
J’en Veux is truly a handmade wine. Each grape is individually destemmed with a scissors, keeping every grape intact and unbruised. This maniacal attention to detail is painfully labor intensive with a 600-kg load of grapes taking 10 people a full day just to separate and remove the stems.
Add to this care, an extended elevage (aging) and a minimum of one year in tronconic (think cone-head shaped) wooden vats. Nothing is rushed. This is a gentle process with an eye towards creating a natural product that has time to discover itself.
J’en Veux has no sulphites added at all. While the wine is certainly ‘alive’ if you keep a bottle for a few days after opened, it is pure and and balanced and technically, quite perfect.
This is a wine of spring and summer. A chilled red with purity, natural crisp taste, refreshing, food friendly and alcohol light. When I shop for vegetables on an early Saturday morning at the Farmer’s Market, the fresh smells of the stalls makes me pine to cook and pair the food with a bottle of J’en Veux.
And this refreshing unique taste produced in a 100% natural way comes at a price of less than $30 a bottle.
Buy this if you can find it. Available at writing at Chambers Street Wines in TriBeCa, NYC.
Thanks to Sophie Barrett, Jura maven for recommending this bottle.
Photo credit to wineterroirs.
With natural wines, taste is the test.
The crisp clarity, earthy freshness and subtle richness of natural wines drive a glint of satisfaction from friends whenever I uncork a bottle from some wonderfully small vineyard tucked away down a country road in Arbois in the Jura or under the clouded, vertical terraces of Etna in southeastern Sicily.
But for all the wonder of natural wines and ties to traditional wine making, this is a hidden category, not easy to find nor marketed nor understood well. In New York, visionaries like Dan Lillie and Jamie Wolff of Chambers Street Wines and handful of others have been tasting and educating and selling these wines for a number of years to a growing but still small population of natural wine aficionados.
This is changing…and in New York, seemingly overnight.
And the change is coming from where wine shines to the broader wine loving population…in restaurants and bars paired with food.
On newly printed restaurant menus and drink lists, designations of ‘O’ for Organic, “B” for Biodynamic and the mysterious (to me) “S” for Sustainable are showing up everywhere. Definitions of what organic means may be squishy and waiters sheepish when pressed for information, but great natural wines are moving full blast into the food and beverage business. This is a tipping point for market appreciation that has long been coming.
I couldn’t be more delighted by this.
My take is there are two motivations for this…both working together.
Natural wine is food friendly by nature. Crisp with flavorful acidity. Unique tastes and soft finishes. And with lower alcohol content to sit ‘with’, not on top of the food. Natural wines are a true expression of place. A reflection of each particular vineyard so there are distinct, unique and seemingly endless pairings between food and individual wines. This is no longer, just have a Trousseau with that Israeli Hummus, there is a unique ability to paint by grape and place and vineyard and winemaker…and chef.
Local chefs in most every downtown neighborhood I visit have found new taste mates with their winemaking counterparts from France and Italy and Spain, with a sprinkling of new-to-me wines everywhere from Lebanon. Israel. From everywhere actually.
More subtle and less overt than the taste pairing of natural wines with fresh food, but key, is the ‘organic’ roots of the fruit–the grapes themselves. There is a dramatic move towards the healthy and natural in what we put on our skin, wash our hair with and certainly what we eat and drink. For myself, restaurants that have natural or local or organic food, prepared with an eye towards seasonal freshness and healthy components, along with scream-out-loud taste is what I want. Organic is not why you eat there. But it is certainly a bonus and the baseline for taste and talent of the chef’s to work with. The same is true for wine.
You pair wine with food for taste. But both wine and food, at their best and at their core are natural and healthy. Wine and food are tied at the hip because at their source, they are from the earth.
Wine of course, is complex…much more is involved than simply growing the grapes in a natural way. And there is some mushiness and much debate about what organic means for wine. Whether this applies to only what happens in the vineyard or the cave as well. Whether sulfites can be added. The importance of using only indigenous yeasts and whether chaptalization (adding sugar) to boost the alcohol content is ‘natural’ or not.
I agree that these categories are not perfect but I’m thrilled and optimistic that placing great natural wines in front of a larger wine and food-loving group is the right direction.
I’m less interested in perfection and more in progress. And seeing terrific natural wines from small artisanal vineyards in our local restaurants is a huge step forward for everyone. And a taste revolution whose time has finally arrived.
I’m a big fan of Evelyne and Pascal Clairet and their tiny vineyard, Domaine de la Tournelle, in the center of Arbois on the eastern border of France.
In the foothills of the Alps, they make quietly wonderful wine from the region’s indigenous grapes–Poulsard, Trousseau and Savagnin—and they’ve created a unique footprint of taste…quite delicious…and freshly their own when compared to the other top winemakers in Arbois.
Here’s what amazes me.
Arbois is a tiny place. High altitude vineyards and a cool foothills climate. Indigenous grapes are grown and mostly natural methods used. One would think that this creates a sameness of taste like one might describe a Napa Cabernet. Not so.
I’ve tasted many of the Trousseau and Poulsard wines from a handful of winemakers in Arbois. And while certainly the varietal and the winemaker drive the category…the place and the vineyards themselves seem to be the fingerprint of taste. It’s like a neighborhood that produces a number of musicians, each with a sense of place but with their own unique rhythm.
Terroir, that sense of place, vineyard to vineyard, is remarkably distinct and palpable here. Maybe it’s the natural approach to letting the wine takes its own form or these indigenous grapes themselves…I think its all of these under the signature of the vineyard and the plot of land itself.
This ’07 Trousseau de Corvees is light and alive in the glass, strongly floral in its bouquet. It is all berries on the nose and layered minerality on the palate. So very different from the Trousseau of Jacques Puffeney or Michel Gahier or Philippe Bornard.
Interestingly, when I tasted the Clairet’s Poulsard a while back, I found the overall character of the wine from the same vineyard reminiscent in some strange way to this Trousseau. The Clairet’s have a light touch, a crisp freshness that comes from an organic and a studied approach to letting the place define itself. For 20 years they have been working to let the vines find their own taste…and to my palate with a great deal of success.
If you are new to Arbois wines, I suggest you try the ’07 Tournelle Trouseau de Corvees as a counterpoint to other Trousseau wines from Arbois. They are all colors from the same rainbow and make the tasting process an interesting and nuanced experience.
I’m very optimistic that you’ll find Trousseau a taste that pleases…and each one of these wines will find a place on your wine rack. All affordable. All crisp and wonderful and natural. All a pleasure to drink.
Give this bottle of Tournelle ‘07 Arbois Trousseau des Corvees a try. It’s fresh and interesting and memorable with a taste that lingers.
From Chambers Street Wines in TriBeCa, NYC for $30 a bottle.
