Mark - you refer to a movement amongst French winemakers; how does this
differ (if at all) with the very popular 'biodynamique' movement in
French winemaking?
Personally, as a grape grower and winemaker, I kinda feel the whole
biodynamique thing is more attitude than science. but as one of the Wine
Spectator writers accurately pointed out - if a winemaker is taking that
much trouble with their grapes, then it is likely the wine is well made!
But I'm a little skeptical of the 'natural' labeling.

In my own vineyard, I try to be as 'natural' as possible; no pesticides,
only simple sulfur products (such as Kumulus) for fungicide;
fertilizers are all organic with a heavy reliance of cover cropping (clover) and
composting. All pruning, trimming, and harvesting is done by hand (duh!).
And in the winery, I try to minimize KMS - but does that make my wine
more 'natural' than another? Seems to me that is a marketing term more
than a well defined protocol of vineyard management and/or winemaking.
For instance; what really is more 'natural' about old oak versus new?
And 'indigenous yeasts'? Some French vineyards are well contaminated with
the more appropriate yeast strains - but many New World vineyards are
not, and are home to less desirable yeast strains. So we use isolated
yeast strains - but they are isolated from those same yeast strains that are
pre-existent in some old world vineyards. Does that make the wine less
'natural'?
I agree with others who feel that a more defined terminology is called
for. It is more meaningful to me to know that a vineyard is
pesticide-free; uses sustainable agricultural practices; or that a certain wine uses
no sorbates and has SO2 levels below certain thresholds.


>
>"Natural Wine" is an actual movement among French winemakers. It refers
>to an ethic that minimizes/avoids the use of SO2 to stabilize wine,
>favors a non-interventionist approach to winemaking (indigenous yeasts,
>little or no use of new oak, etc.) and viticulture (hand harvesting,
>selection massale). Organic winemaking is far less restrictive since it
>just concerns the use of pesticides and fertilizers in the vineyard.
>For a good discussion of it, see Joe Dressner's recent article on his
>blog: http://www.joedressner.com
>
>Mark Lipton
>--
>alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com



--