Did you ever walk into a wine shop to buy a few bottles of natural wine only to realize you had no idea what to pick? We’ve all been there. The best way to figure out what you like is to try different natural wines, and it’s good to see what you want.
Interested in natural wine but unsure how to begin? Choosing a bottle can be overwhelming if you are new to natural wine lingo and feel confused by all the terms. You don’t have to do that. Here’s what you need to know.
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What Is Natural Wine?
One wine producer’s definition of natural wine may differ from another’s. Erik Miller, owner and winemaker at Breaking Bread Wines, says natural wine is an ode to the way wine was made hundreds of years ago. It is often made under the principle of “nothing added, nothing taken away” with minimal intervention.
Natural winemaking involves adding no additives or even a little sulfur dioxide at bottling to avoid bottle variation. Natural wine producers avoid chemicals and additives. There’s some disagreement over sulfites. Winemaker Patric Matysiewski, the cofounder of Sauvage Spectrum, tells us that some authorities allow few sulfites at bottling while others forbid them entirely.
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Natural Wines Include:
Piquette:
Although not technically wine, Piquette is a low-alcohol beverage often grouped in the natural wine category. Wine is made by fermenting grape pomace – the residue left after pressing grapes to remove the pulp, skins, seeds, and stems – with water. It’s fresh, fruity, and effervescent.
Orange Wine
Pressed white grapes (not oranges) are fermented in contact with the skins to create orange wine, also called skin contact wine. There are many orange wines with bold flavors.