These wines tend to be favoured among sommelier circles, as well as customers in fine-dining restaurants. And some of the best natural wines aren’t labelled as such – they are simply made with strict hygiene practices and low-intervention principles, but they don’t advertise it. Unless you read the label carefully, sometimes you may not even know you’re drinking natural wine. Some natural wines taste very similar to conventional wines and the average person would not be able to identify the difference by taste alone. Natural wine doesn’t come with any guarantees of quality or flavour. Scenic Tuscany landscape in moonlight at dawn, Val d’Orcia, Italy Is natural wine better than conventional? For example, some biodynamic winemakers rack and bottle wine during the full moon, believing that the pressure of the moon helps the sediments to settle. His biodynamic approach focuses on the energy of the universe, relying on astrology, especially the lunar calendar, to guide agricultural decisions. He advocated for a return to natural practices, eschewing heavy manipulation and synthetic fertilisers. They often require zero, or at least minimal, chemicals used in the grape-growing and wine-making process, whereas biodynamic wine-growing incorporates organic practices but goes a few steps further.Īustrian scientist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner introduced the biodynamic approach to agriculture in the 1920s. Organic certifications focus on the way grapes are grown. Many natural wines are organic, biodynamic – or both. What is the difference between natural, organic and biodynamic wines? Yet even with the growing demand, less than 7 per cent of the world’s vineyards are certified organic. Customers started paying more attention to what they were consuming, while large-scale winemakers reconsidered their practices. More recently, a rise in environmental concerns has propelled momentum around the globe. Many independent, small-volume vineyards – many of which were family-run estates – embraced natural wine-making philosophies and joined the movement, which gave way to natural wine tastings, dedicated stores and bars in the 2000s. In the 1970s, an influential group of French winemakers also advocated for sulphur-free wines and a return to low-intervention processes. But many credit small-scale winemakers in Beaujolais, France, for starting the movement in the 1950s, when they ceased using commercial yeast and pesticides. It’s hard to say for sure when and where people started to advocate for natural wines. When did the natural wine movement start? Others don’t mention it at all, which can make it difficult to identify some of the best natural wine producers if you’re not well-versed in wine. Some winemakers market their natural methods very clearly through labels and descriptions. They often avoid common additives – like sugar, commercial yeast, sulfites, gelatin, colourants or chemicals – and use wild yeast (instead of commercial yeast) during the fermentation process. Since it lacks a legal definition, “natural wine” is generally used to describe a category of wines and their producers who practise minimal intervention – meaning, they try to do as little as possible to the grapes. A leading wine purveyor based in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Jennifer says natural wine is mostly a marketing term. It’s a great question – and one that’s hard to pin down, so I asked Jennifer Docherty, who is a Master of Wine and head of buying and education for Summergate Fine Wines and Spirits, to weigh in. Read on for an introduction to the wine style, as well as some clarity on common misconceptions and overall quality. Given the uptick in interest yet hard-to-decipher industry lingo, I’ve devoted this column to the world of natural wine. But without legal standards regulating natural wines, this part of the industry can feel like the Wild West. In 2021, the global organic wine market, which includes natural wine, was worth US$8.9 billion (MOP 72 billion) and is expected to grow at an average rate of 10.2 per cent from 2022 to 2030. Thanks to Explorevine, the city’s first natural wine concept store, which opened in 2021, natural wine has become more accessible than ever.Īnd it’s not just Macao. Natural wines have become a hot topic in Macao over the last couple of years.
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