If you drink conventional whites, then this is the category that is most likely to surprise you, as natural whites tend to be fuller in style and more individualistic (or unusual) than their conventional counterparts. They offer a greater variety of flavor profiles, but also much less of the zippy tartness associated with some types of conventional white wine.
MAKING WHITE WINES
White wine is generally made using a technique known as “pressurage direct” (that is, by pressing grapes and fermenting the run-off juice without skins or pips, or allowing a few hours of contact at most). This means that white wines don’t benefit from the naturally occurring tannins and antioxidants (such as stilbenes) that are extracted from grape bits (the skins, pips, and stems) during extended macerations and which help to protect the juice. As a result, white wines tend to be a lot more fragile during the winemaking process than reds or oranges, and need more care.
Since natural growers do not resort to the usual artillery of sulfites and lysosymes et al that conventional producers use throughout the winemaking process, they can’t succumb to fears of exposing their must and wine to oxygen. In some ways, I think it’s at this initial stage of the fermentation process that growers have to show the most faith in what nature can achieve. They have to trust that, as long as they have harvested healthy, microflora-rich grapes, they have nothing to fear and that what looks, for example, like a browning of the juice will over time revert to the paleness of a white, or that the yeasts and bacteria will do their job to the end and that the wine will clarify naturally over time.
WHY DO NATURAL WHITES SOMETIMES TASTE SO DIFFERENT?
Openness to oxygen does, however, inform the wine’s taste and texture, and it is this difference that causes the greatest commotion among conventional wine drinkers. Indeed, most of the criticism generally leveled at natural wine, and the way it tastes, comes from white wine. You might, for example, hear people say that it tastes like cider or that the wine is oxidized, as people sometimes (mistakenly) describe oxidative notes in this way. Some natural white wines are indeed oxidized and do taste of cider, but you would be surprised how often tasters use this as a blanket term to describe a panoply of flavors.
It is true that when you drink a natural white, particularly a wine made without any sulfites at all, the combination of texture, ripeness, and amplitude in the palate sharply contrasts with conventional counterparts made in a temperature-controlled environment, with added yeasts, sterile-filtration, etc. Take sauvignon blanc, for example. Truly international and very fashionable, it is widely enjoyed for its vibrant, overt citrus and gooseberry notes, and zippy acidity. These are what most people consider to be the defining characteristics of wines from this variety of grape. Now, imagine that, actually, there is another side to sauvignon blanc: a darker, more serious side to this seemingly fluffy, shallow grape. A sauvignon blanc that, if left to mature fully and made from balanced yields and organic vines, would show luscious acacia honey notes and a round and creamy mouthfeel. The unexpected nature of this full broadness would come as a shock and all you’d likely taste would be the fact that, in comparison with the zesty, tart, watery white sauvignon you normally drink, this seems oxidized. To better understand what I mean, consider the difference between an unripe, hydroponically grown winter tomato versus one you bought at the local market on a summer vacation in Sicily. Now, imagine you’d spent your life eating hydroponic tomatoes and, suddenly, you bite into a properly grown and ripened one. You wouldn’t know what had hit you. The intensity of flavors would be overwhelming and, in comparison to the bland, tarter version from the greenhouses of Rotterdam, it could also taste more “oxidized” or a bit more sun-dried-tomato-esque. It is simply that the range of flavors sits in a completely different part of the flavor spectrum. This is not to say that there are no oxidized natural wines, far from it, but there are a lot fewer than people make out.
Another layer of complexity is introduced by the impact of malolactic fermentation (also known as “mlf” or “malo”—see The Cellar: Fermentation, pages 57–61). When you don’t work with sulfites during fermentation, wines (of all colors) usually go through malo. This secondary fermentation usually takes place after the alcoholic fermentation and sees bacteria (good bugs, not bad) convert malic acid, which is naturally contained in the juice, into lactic acid. This transformation of acids fundamentally changes the texture and flavor of the wine, since lactic acid is a softer, broader type of acidity than malic. What’s more, since the bacteria responsible for malo are naturally contained in the environment, their presence in a particular year is wholly dependent on the conditions of the vintage. As a result, as Jean-Pierre Amoreau from Château Le Puy explained to me in September 2013, “You cannot talk about terroir if you block malo.”
Julien Peyras from the Languedoc in France is a very promising young producer. His rosé is featured on page 175.
More often than not, the conventional camp sees malo in whites as an undesirable trait that must be curtailed, actively blocking it to create wine of a particular style, such as one with a zippy mouthfeel. This is done by destroying the bacteria responsible for malo by chilling the wine, by filtering them out, or by adding substantial quantities of sulfites. Those people who are against malo argue that drinkers want fresh, zesty wines, whatever it takes. In Germany and Austria, for example, blocked malo is very common.
As far as I’m concerned, blocking malo hampers a wine’s development, robbing the drinker of the full flavor and texture profile a wine is capable of. Wines that undergo malo are a lot more expressive than wines that have been purposefully held back and restrained. Allowing malo the freedom to happen is, I think, fundamental to producing natural wine. If the year calls for malo, then so be it. If not, then never mind.
An aside: All the white wines listed here are dry.
La Ferme des Sept Lunes’ vineyard, in the Rhône, is all about polyculture: the grapes rub shoulders with apricot trees, animals, and grains. They make a range of great wines, including a spicy, white Saint-Joseph, which is worth looking out for.
You can find more information on Hardesty’s Riesling on page 157.
FRENCH LIGHT-BODIED WHITES
Recrue des Sens, Love and Pif
Hautes Côtes de Nuit, Burgundy
Aligoté
Oyster shell | White pepper | Pear juice
Yann Durieux is one of the most exciting young producers to come out of Burgundy recently. After a 10-year stint working at Prieuré-Roch (which, like Domaine de la Romanée Conti, is another über-traditional, natural Burgundian estate), Yann broke out on his own. He is definitely a grower to watch and his Love and Pif, made from the vastly under-rated aligoté grape, will get you wondering why the so-called noble grape varieties have trumped all others as they have done… A wine with surprising depth and detail.
*No added sulfites
Domaine Julien Meyer, Nature
Alsace
Sylvaner, pinot blanc
Jasmine | Kiwi | Anis
Although it has many organic and biodynamic farms, Alsace is still reliant on a heavy-handed use of sulfites, which means that growers like Patrick Meyer are few and far between. On taking over the estate, Patrick started eliminating enzymes, yeasts, et al, because, as he explained, it just didn’t make sense. Today, he is an inspirational grower, with soils so alive they are said to remain warm even in winter. Nature is one of the most accessibly priced natural whites: light and fragrant, its texture is almost honeyed, though bone-dry.
*No added sulfites. Filtered
Pierre Boyat, St-Véran
Burgundy
Chardonnay
Apple | Sweet hay | Saffron
Pierre is a shy man whose St-Véran is exquisite, reflecting the exacting nature of fine natural-wine production. Having run his family estate for decades, Pierre joined a growing cohort of conventional producers who choose to grow and make wine differently. Inspired by Philippe Jambon (a famous low-intervention producer of northern Beaujolais, with whom Pierre now works closely), he sold the domaine and bought up small plots of gamay and chardonnay, which he farms organically. He processes his grapes with minimal intervention, to express the fullness of the terroir, and the result is a highly accomplished wine.
*No added sulfites
Andrea Calek, Le Blanc
Ardèche, Rhône
Viognier, chardonnay
Fragrant blossom | Stony | Beeswax
This beautiful, quiet, somewhat-forgotten part of the Rhône has over recent years become a hotbed of outstanding natural wine grower-makers (Gilles and Antonin Azzoni, Gerald Oustric, Laurent Fell, Grégory Guillaume, and the Ozil brothers, to name but a few). Maverick Andrea Calek, originally from the Czech Republic, ended up in the wine trade by accident, and thank goodness he did. His wines are profound and uncompromising, showing restraint and complexity. He makes a tiny amount of white wine.
*No added sulfites
Julien Courtois, Originel
Sologne, Loire
Menu pineau, romorantin
Smoky | Fresh walnut | Minty
Julien Courtois, one of the sons of the famed Claude Courtois, and his Maori wife, Heidi Kuka—who creates all their beautiful bottle labels—cultivate seven different grape varieties on 11 acres (4.5 hectares) in an area about two hours’ drive south of Paris. Julien’s wines always show incredible purity, control, and minerality, and the Originel is no exception.
*Low levels of sulfites added
Domaine Houillon, Savagnin Ouillé
Pupillin, Jura
Savagnin
Fresh walnut | Mustard seed | Acacia flower
Owned and run by the natural wine stalwart Pierre Overnoy for more than three decades, today the domaine is in the very capable hands of Emmanuel Houillon, Pierre’s surrogate son. Bottled in June 2012, after eight years in barrel, this savagnin is profound, multilayered, and extremely long on the finish.
*No added sulfites
Matassa, Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes Blanc
Roussillon
Grenache gris, macabeu
Sage | Toasted almond | Menthol
Prior to setting up shop in Calce, Tom Lubbe’s first project—The Observatory—was in the now very trendy South African Swartland. It was a project far ahead of its time, in terms of both its farming and its cellar practices. Matassa follows in these footsteps and, luckily for Tom, it even has a gloriously immense, African-esque view from the top of his Romanissa vineyard. This elegant, light-bodied white, grown on schist, is a medley of dried herbs, with a pinch of salt and a thirst-quenching menthol quality.
*Low levels of sulfites added
Catherine and Gilles Vergé, L’Ecart
Burgundy
Chardonnay
Smoky | Honeysuckle | Mineral
The Vergés are possibly the most surprisingly under-the-radar growers I have come across in the last year. Catherine and Gilles’ work is a genuine wonder and their results will bowl over even the most ardent of sulfite-free critics. L’Ecart comes from an 89-year-old plot, and the five-year élevage is more the rule than the exception. The result is wine that is so stable it can hold its own once open, even for weeks on end. While writing this book, I decided to put a bottle to the test and see how long it could last. I opened it in October 2013 and drank a glass every so often, unceremoniously squeezing the cork back in between sips (oxygen and all) and putting the open bottle back in my humid Victorian coal-chute of a cellar, until mid-January 2014, when I had my last glass. Three months later. It stood up impeccably, even with only a smidgen of wine at the bottom of the bottle. I was aghast.
Wine is best stored lying on its side so that the cork is kept moist.
This uncompromising chardonnay has all the hallmarks of a grand cru. Tense, structured, and extraordinarily fresh, with a steely mouthfeel and bitey minerality, it has great concentration and multilayered aromas, including sweet, fresh butter, and a touch of saltiness and smokiness, alongside heady floral notes. An absolute revelation and a must to drink.
*No added sulfites
FRENCH FULL-BODIED WHITES
Marie & Vincent Tricot, Escargot
Auvergne
Chardonnay
Honeydew melon | Mineral | Waxy
Vines arrived in the Auvergne with Caesar in around 50BC and thrived until the beginning of the 20th century when phylloxera struck and decimated the vineyard area. In recent years, however, the Auvergne wine scene has been making a comeback and is now home to a tremendous array of natural wines. I would even go so far as to say that it could well boast one of the highest concentration of natural wine producers anywhere. Blessed with great terroir (essentially volcanic soil), natural wines from the region are pure, with a great mineral bite. Escargot would not be out of place alongside many Burgundian crus, but at a fraction of the price. Other growers worth keeping an eye out for are: Patrick Bouju, Maupertuis, Le Picatier, François Dhumes, and Vincent Marie.
*No added sulfites
Le Petit Domaine de Gimios, Muscat Sec des Roumanis
St-Jean de Minervois, Languedoc
Muscat
Dried rose petals | Lychee | Thyme
Anne-Marie Lavaysse and her son Pierre make some of the purest dry muscats around, from vines grown on limestone outcrops amid wild garrigue. Local growers go for sweet, fortified wines, but Anne-Marie favors dry, and the results, which are produced in minuscule quantities, are beautiful. Compelling and intense, Le Petit Domaine de Gimios’ Muscat Sec des Roumanis is rich, scented, aromatic, and phenolic. (See Medicinal Vineyard Plants, pages 52–53, for more on the Lavaysses’ story.)
*No added sulfites
Domaine Etienne & Sébastien Riffault, Auksinis
Sancerre, Loire
Sauvignon blanc
Rosemary | Verbena | Smoky asparagus
Unlike any Sancerre you will have tasted before, but by far the best. Sébastien’s wines redefine what we think sauvignon blanc should taste like. One of the standard-bearers for the grape, Sébastien makes some of the most profound expressions of sauvignon blanc that exist—a far cry from the zippy, standardized clones that are so much Sancerre today. A meditative, opulent wine, it also has an underlying mineral nerve that roots it firmly in the chalky hills of Sancerre.
*No added sulfites
Domaine Léon Barral, Vin de Pays de l’Hérault
Languedoc
Terret with a little viognier and roussanne
White peach | Peppery | Lemon peel
Named after his grandfather, Didier’s domaine in the Faugères appellation is no small feat and a role model in polyculture. With 74 acres (30 hectares) of vines, Didier also has another 30 hectares of fields, pastureland, fallow land, and woods, as well as cows, pigs, and horses. Oily in texture and weighty in body, this vintage is particularly perfumed and lifted. His reds, especially the Jadis and Valinière, have great ageability. (See Observation, pages 112–13, for more on Didier’s story.)
*No added sulfites
Domaine Alexandre Bain, Mademoiselle M
Pouilly-Fumé, Loire
Sauvignon blanc
Acacia honey | Hint of smoke | Salt
Although not technically a “Pouilly-Fumé,” as Alexandre recently lost the right to the appellation because of his so-called “atypical” wines (an absurd suggestion, given that he is perhaps the only grower to have a real link between his terroir and his final bottle—see page 110 for more details), I have nonetheless chosen to include this wine, as it is, for me, one of the best Pouilly-Fumés around. What is certain is that Alexandre is an oddball in this famous appellation: not only does he farm organically and plow by horse, but also, by refusing to add yeasts and by keeping sulfites at bay, his wines are definitely the finest, most exciting in Pouilly-Fumé today. Luscious and inviting, his Mademoiselle M is only one of a raft of sauvignon blanc cuvées, all of which are worth tracking down.
*No added sulfites
Le Casot des Mailloles, Le Blanc
Banyuls, Roussillon
Grenache blanc, grenache gris
Almond blossom | Brine | Honey
Founded by iconic natural wine producers Alain Castex and Ghislaine Magnier, Le Casot is today in the hands of Alain’s young apprentice, Jordi Perez, who now flies solo. Le Casot crafts a family of sulfite-free wines in a garage (in Banyuls on the Spanish border), using grapes harvested from the schistous terraces lining the walls of the valleys that slice their way from the Mediterranean into the Pyrenees. A storm in a glass, Le Blanc is a beautiful wine that is not only stunningly complex, but becomes more linear and restrained with age.
*No added sulfites
ITALIAN LIGHT-BODIED WHITES
Cascina degli Ulivi,
Semplicemente Bellotti Bianco
Piedmont
Cortese
Greengage | Aniseed | Citrus
The exuberant Piedmontese Stefano Bellotti (a guy who got into trouble with the Italian authorities for planting peach trees in his vineyards—see Who: The Outsiders, page 110) focuses on drinkability with this simple, delicious cortese. Light, fragrant, and easy-drinking, all of Stefano’s vintages are produced free of sulfites.
*No added sulfites. Filtered
Valli Unite, Ciapè
Piedmont
Cortese
Almond | Fennel | Melon
Valli Unite is an inspiring hilltop community in Piedmont. Set up in 1981 by three enterprising young farmers, this organic cooperative aimed to buck the trend of rural desertion. This enabled them, and others, to remain on the land, following an alternative lifestyle where money isn’t the main focus. They were joined by others who shared a similar outlook on life and who brought a wealth of skills with them. The result is a community of 35 people who today call Valli Unite home. Between them, they care for 247 acres (100 hectares) of land and forests, where they farm vines, cereals, chickens, pigs, bees, and vegetables, and run a restaurant and B&B for visitors. Wine is the community’s main source of income and they make a great range, including this Ciapè and some exciting cuvées of timorasso, an indigenous grape.
*No added sulfites
ITALIAN MEDIUM-BODIED WHITES
Daniele Piccinin, Bianco dei Muni
Veneto
Chardonnay, durella
Golden apple | Flint | Honeysuckle
Daniele, Camilla, and their brand-new daughter, Lavinia, live in the Alpone Valley, northeast of Verona, where Daniele focuses much of his energy on the growing of the indigenous durella grape. Daniele distills his own herbs, cocktails of which he uses to boost the defenses of his vines (see Oils & Tinctures, pages 76–77). This newly released vintage is perhaps the most gentle and inviting of his Bianco dei Muni to date.
*Low levels of sulfites added
Marsala
Grillo
Seaweed | Kumquat | Iodic
Unusually, Nino makes still, unfortified wines in the Marsala region (Marsala is known primarily for its fortified wines). This Vignammare is literally planted on a sand dune and was intended to capture “sea in a glass.” Although no sulfites are added to the Vignammare, the totals of Nino’s other wines are typically around 20–35 mg/L. Another of his cuvées worth looking out for is his special Alto Grado 2009—an “old-fashioned” Marsala made by late-picking old grillo, which then spends six years under flor in a large chestnut barrel.
*No added sulfites
Il Cavallino, Bianco Granselva
Veneto
Garganega, sauvignon blanc
Lemongrass | Bitter almond | Capsicum
Il Cavallino (by Sauro Maule) started life as a beef-cattle farm in the Berici hills, near Vicenza, getting its name from Sauro’s dad’s love of horses. Lemon-grassy on the nose with smoky undertones and notes of capsicum and bitter almonds. (Note: this wine took one day to open up.)
*Low levels of sulfites added
La Biancara, Pico
Gambellara, Veneto
Garganega
Hint of toffee | Bitter almonds | Briney green olives
The Italian natural wine giant Angiolino Maule (see Bread, pages 62–63) and his family make wines that are among the most modest and understated price-wise, while delivering astounding quality across the range. They are what you might consider real value for money. Grown on volcanic soil, the Maules’ pale gold Pico is long and savory, with smoky, green-olive notes and a slight haze.
*No added sulfites
Le Coste, Bianco
Lazio
Mostly procanico, with malvasia di candia, malvasia puntinata, vermentino, greco antico, ansonica, verdello, and roscetto
Quince | Nutty | Mineral (volcanic soil)
In 2004, Gian-Marco Antonuzi bought 7 acres (3 hectares) of abandoned hillside in the province of Viterbo, 93 miles (150km) from Rome, on the border with Tuscany, known locally as Le Coste. The name stuck, but the domaine expanded, and today includes olive groves, fruit trees, 40-plus-year-old (rented) vines, and ancient terraces that Gian-Marco and his wife, Clementine Bouveron, plan to use to rear animals. A procanico-dominated blend (85%), Le Coste’s Bianco ferments for about one year in a foudre, in which it stays for another year before bottling.
*No added sulfites
Lammidia, Anfora Bianco
Abruzzo
Trebbiano
Salty | White pepper | Almond
Davide and Marco’s wines are precisely what they say on the tin: “100% uve e basta.” Friends since the age of three, these adventurous, young Abruzzese launched themselves into wine production with gusto, naming themselves after the Abruzzese for “evil eye” (la ’mmidia). As they explained, “The wise old women of our region cast off envy and the evil eye using an ancient practice made up of water, oil, and magic. After our first harvest, our fermentation suddenly stopped, so we enlisted the help of nonna Antonia who performed the ritual. The fermentation miraculously returned and now nonna takes away la ’mmidia before each harvest.” Their Anfora Bianco spends 24 hours macerating on its skins and then a year in amphora.
*No added sulfites
REST OF EUROPE LIGHT-BODIED WHITES
Francuska Vinarija, Istina
Timok, Serbia
Riesling
Bay leaf | White pear | Dash of lime
“All the best terroirs in France have been discovered,” says soil specialist Cyrille Bongiraud (who, in a former life, consulted for some 200 different viticultural domaines all over France, including the likes of Comtes Lafon and Zind-Humbrecht, as well as in Italy, Spain, and the United States). This is why he and his vigneronne wife, Estelle (whose great-aunt was Mother Superior at Burgundy’s Hospices de Beaune!), spent years looking for the perfect site elsewhere in Europe. The Burgundian couple found it in the chalk valleys of the Danube, in Serbia. Restrained and mineral, the refined Istina, with its distinctive petrol notes, is typically riesling, but with the full roundedness you’d expect from a natural wine.
(Note: this wine expressed itself best a couple of days after opening.)
*Low levels of sulfites added
Stefan Vetter, Sylvaner, CK
Franken, Germany
Sylvaner
Celery stick | Kaffir lime | Creamy
In 2010, a 60-year-old vineyard in northern Bavaria caught Stefan’s eye and, as he puts it: “It was love at first sight.” Keen to work with sylvaner, the traditional Franconian grape variety, Stefan now works 4 acres (1.5 hectares) of vines (including a little riesling) and produces wines like this Sylvaner, CK, which, while very closed initially, opened over time to reveal a gorgeously delicate, subtle fragrance.
*Low levels of sulfites added
REST OF EUROPE MEDIUM-BODIED WHITES
The Collective presents... Oszkár Maurer, Szerémi Mézes Fehér
Szerémi, Serbia
Mézes fehér
Almond | Linden (lime) | Comice pear
Born out of a crazy idea to inspire growers and help them go natural, a few Hungarian friends and I started The Collective to make limited-edition, low-intervention cuvées with growers who farm inspiringly and ferment with natural yeasts, but have elevated sulfite levels. After traveling a fair bit through Central and Eastern Europe, I realized that most growers wouldn’t touch no-sulfite winemaking, not because they didn’t like the results, but because they feared drinkers wouldn’t understand. So, we decided to help. Our Collective buys lot(s) from partner growers who vinify the batches for us, knowing they have already sold the barrel—come what may. This means they don’t have to walk the no/low-added-sulfite route alone. We’re proud to have two fine producers now: Oszkár, from Serbia, and Judit and József Bodó, from Tokaj, with whom we produced the first natural, dry Tokaji ever! We’re doubly proud of this delicate, linear Mézes Fehér (or “honey white”), which we made with Oszkár, as it is made from a near-extinct Hungarian grape variety. Oszkár’s vineyard is one of the last remaining and he’s committed to keeping it going (and we’re delighted to help). Also look out for our Kadarka 1880, also by Oszkár, which is the oldest planting of this variety in the world.
*Low levels of sulfites added
Gut Oggau, Theodora
Burgenland, Austria
Grüner veltliner, welschriesling
Custard apple | White pepper | Cardamom
In 2007, Stephanie and Eduard Tscheppe-Eselböck took over an old property in Oggau with a long tradition of making wine—in fact, some of the walls of this former “Vineyard Wimmer” date back to the 17th century. Apart from making wines with delicious structure, Stephanie and Eduard’s genius was to create a multi-generational family of wines, with each cuvée being given its own face and background story to match its personality. Theodora started out as one of the youngest in the family, but this easy-going wine becomes more mature with each vintage.
*No added sulfites
Terra Alta, Spain
Macabeo
Mirabelle | Star anise | Mustard seed
Laureano Serres, the owner of Mendall, a vineyard in the province of Tarragona, is a rarity in Spain, as growers making wines without any added sulfites are few and far between. After working in IT, he did a career U-turn and headed for the outdoors, first as the head of a local cooperative winery (from which he got the sack for trying to help them go at it more naturally) and then on his own. And thank goodness. Laureano makes some of the most stunning sulfite-free Spanish wines—as he says, wine should be “vegetal water or else it is soup.”
*No added sulfites
2Naturkinder, Fledermaus
Franken, Germany
Müller-thurgau, sylvaner
Sweet pea flower | Earthy | Crushed rice
After discovering natural wine in London, Melanie and Michael quit their jobs and joined Michael’s parents at their vineyard in Germany. There they farm traditional Franconian grape varieties (sylvaner, bacchus, müller-thurgau, and schwarzriesling). The vineyards that produce Fledermaus (which means “bat”) contain a cottage that M & M donated to bat conservation. So was born a symbiotic relationship: they dot bat boxes around the vineyards for their fuzzy friends to hang out in and, in return, the colonies give them guano—a wonderful fertilizer! A share of the profits also goes back to the bats (via the Landesbund für Vogelschutz) and, as M & M explain, their label features “the gray, long-eared bat, which has become very rare in our area. It’s also incredibly cute and we want to help it stay around.”
*No added sulfites
December in Austria, at Weingut Werlitsch’s vineyard in Südsteiermark (south Styria).
REST OF EUROPE FULL-BODIED WHITES
Weingut Sepp Muster, Sgaminegg
Südsteiermark, Austria
Sauvignon blanc, chardonnay
Greengage | Saffron spice | Fresh chestnut
This estate, dating back to 1727, was farmed by Sepp’s parents and eventually handed on to Sepp and his wife, Maria, when they returned home after years spent traveling abroad. Being open-minded and avant-garde, the couple have been very progressive with their work in the vineyard and in the cellar. Maria has two brothers, Ewald and Andreas Tscheppe (see page 156), who also grow natural wine and who both live nearby, making for a formidable sibling wine trio in southern Austria. The Muster wines are classified by plot, and Sgaminegg (an all-rock terroir) is the stoniest, rockiest of their collection, giving the wine elegance and poise.
*No added sulfites
Südsteiermark, Austria
Sauvignon blanc
Guava | Passionfruit | Fresh cilantro (coriander)
Roland’s natural philosophy embraces all aspects of his life, including the B&B he runs with his wife, Alice, with its breakfasts of his own freshly pressed grape juice and organic honey from their neighbor. Roland is getting rid of everything in his cellar that is not natural—including cement, stainless steel, and the like. As Roland explained to me in December 2013, trees take years to grow and have an amazing energy that is imbibed by the wine when barrels are used, whereas he believes that stainless-steel vessels and other cold materials draw energy and strength out of the wine. This barrel sample had not yet had any sulfites added when I tasted it in December 2013 (and Roland does not plan to bottle with any either). The wine was still on its lees, and very aromatic, almost gewürztraminer-like, showing exotic fruit aromas. A beautifully pure wine that almost sang.
*No added sulfites
Weingut Werlitsch, Ex-Vero II
Südsteiermark, Austria
Sauvignon blanc, chardonnay (or morillon as it is known locally)
Sharon fruit | Flint | Young walnut
Ewald Tscheppe, one of Maria Muster’s brothers (see previous page), is particularly interested in soil compaction and soil life. We wandered through his vineyards, as he tried to teach me to read soils by touching the earth and looking at the root structures of various plants on the plots. By digging up some earth you can clearly see where soil is thriving and where it isn’t, even in adjacent fields. You notice clear differences in temperature (which soil life helps regulate, so that it is cooler in summer and warmer in winter), in color (a rich soil life means darker soil), and texture (healthy soil is fluffier than its dead, compacted counterpart, which feels more like cement). (For more on healthy soils, see The Vineyard: Living Soils, pages 25–28.) Born in the beautiful South Styria region of Austria, this wine has a flinty nose, balanced oak spice, and notes of freshly peeled, young walnuts. Bright acidity, great concentration and tension on the palate, suggesting a good few years more of potential development. Although not yet bottled, Ewald assured me this would be bottled without added sulfites.
*No added sulfites
Rudolf & Rita Trossen, Schiefergold Riesling Pur’us
Mosel, Germany
Riesling
Ginger | Smoky minerality | Chestnut honey
Organic since 1978, the Trossens definitely go against the (German) grain in what is a pretty conservative home market. In consequence, most of their wines sell abroad. Primarily growers of riesling, which they cultivate on gray and blue slate, the Trossens bottled their first natural wine (nothing added, nothing removed) in 2010, which they then discovered developed completely differently to their other sulfited wines, revealing hidden depths and finesse. They have not looked back since, and so was born their Pur’us range. All the wines in the series are really very good, but the Schiefergold Riesling (from 100-year-old, ungrafted vines on massively steep slopes) is particularly notable—its concentration, complexity, and length are genuinely extraordinary.
*No added sulfites
Terroir al Limit, Terra de Cuques
Priorat, Spain
Pedro ximénez, muscat
Ripe quince | Iris | Acacia blossom
Dominik Huber makes some of the finest wines in Spain. Having started out without a word of Spanish and no winemaking know-how, it is remarkable to see what he has achieved in a decade. He tills the soil by donkey, harvests earlier than most in Priorat, keeps cuvées vineyard-specific, and whole-bunch ferments (“We don’t want to extract—we want to infuse”) in large oak barrels. The result is great delicacy and a steeliness that is unusual for modern Priorat. The muscat in the Terra de Cuques, having seen 12 days of skin contact, adds great amplitude and honeyed richness to the wine.
*Low levels of sulfites added
NEW WORLD LIGHT-BODIED WHITES
Dirty and Rowdy, Skin and Concrete Egg
Fermented Semillon
Napa Valley, California, USA
Sémillon
Linden (lime) blossom | Green passionfruit | Peaty
The Dirty (Hardy and Kate) and Rowdy (Matt and Amy) families got together to, in their own words, “Make honest wines that we want to drink... wines with knees, elbows, and open hearts.” Like many of the new-wave American natural producers, they are not themselves growers, but primarily winemakers working with fruit that they buy in. This Skin and Concrete Egg Fermented Semillon cuvée is born of two different fermentations—one in a concrete egg, the other foot-trodden and fermented on skins in an open-top, plastic fermenter—that were then combined just before bottling.
*Low levels of sulfites added
Hardesty, Riesling
Willow Creek, California, USA
Riesling
Green lime | Grapefruit | Dry sage
Born in southern California, Chad Hardesty’s love of the land saw him head north to work on, and then start up his own, organic fruit and vegetable farm, where he produced for local restaurants and farmers’ markets. Then, under the tutelage and guidance of the pioneering Californian wine grower Tony Coturri, Chad moved into wine, his first commercial vintage appearing in 2008. This is a young grower-winemaker, whose precision crafts mineral-driven wines with restraint and tightness, as much in terms of reds as of whites. His 2010 riesling is moreishly fresh and steely. I am also a big fan of his Blanc du Nord. A guy to watch.
*No added sulfites
NEW WORLD MEDIUM-BODIED WHITES
Bloomer Creek, Barrow Vineyard
Finger Lakes, USA
Riesling
Wild peach | Citrus | Dried apricot
For Kim Engle and his wife, Debra Bermingham, wine is a form of artistic expression capable of concentrating experience and memory. Their Bloomer Creek vineyard has taken 30 years to create. It is farmed with care, by hand, and features very slow fermentations in the cellar—often the wines’ malo only completes the summer after harvest. Given the cool climate of the surrounding area, I was expecting something a lot more austere when I first tasted this riesling. Instead, I discovered a suppleness and generosity that surprised me (thanks to the Lakes’ temperate microclimate). I particularly loved the contrast of its gentle, almost creamy, texture with its biting minerality and great complexity.
*No added sulfites
Sato Wines, Riesling
Central Otago, New Zealand
Riesling
Honeysuckle | Nectarine | Allspice
At 45 years old, investment banker Yoshiaki Sato and his wife, Kyoko, ditched their city jobs and plunged themselves headfirst into the world of making wine, eventually setting up shop in Central Otago, in New Zealand. To hone their skills, they worked vintages in both the southern and northern hemispheres, including, among others, chez the revered Pierre Frick in Alsace. The Satos’ wines are beautifully crafted, so keep your eyes peeled for their pinot noirs too.
*Low levels of sulfites added
A line-up of multiple vintages of late-harvest and overnight pressings of riesling and gewurtztraminer, prior to blending, at Bloomer Creek Vineyard, in the Finger Lakes, USA.
Si Vintners, White SI
Margaret River, Australia
Sémillon, chardonnay
Green mango | Baked apple | Gingery
Sarah Morris and Iwo Jakimowicz (SI) spent a few years working in a cooperative in the province of Zaragoza, in Spain, before deciding in 2010 to head home and settle in Margaret River where they bought a 30-acre (12-hectare) estate (20 acres of which are under vine). Loathe to relinquish Spain completely, however, they started up a Spanish label with friends, and so divide their time between Spain and Australia. Fermented in a mixture of concrete eggs, oak foudres, and stainless steel, 120-dozen bottles of this wine were made. (Keep your eyes peeled for Paco & Co, their Calatayud project based on 80-plus-year-old grenache vines.)
*Low levels of sulfites added
Sierra Foothills, California, USA
Viognier, marsanne, albariño, petit manseng
Apricot | Ripe melon | Hay
Inspired by the writings of Masanobu Fukuoka (see The Vineyard: Natural Farming, page 36), Hank Beckmeyer began to question the foundations of farming, wondering what would happen if he gave up trying to control outcomes (even organically), by taking on the role of caretaker, rather than active participant. “Dropping what is comfortable and ‘known’ and deciding to... trust in natural processes may seem very daring... But,” as Hank explains on his website, what it really requires is “commitment… [and] an acceptance of chance [that] also allows for the possibility of failure.”
Today, his 10-acre (4-hectare) farm grows grapes, raises goats, and is shared with countless dogs, cats, bees, chickens, birds, gophers, flowers, and herbs. This generous, mouth-filling, and yet refreshing tipple is very Rhône-esque in style (as are many of his wines, in fact). Hank also makes delicious reds that are worth tracking down, particularly the Sumu Kaw syrah from a vineyard at 3,000ft (900m) of altitude.
*Low levels of sulfites added
Populis, Populis White
Northern California, USA
Chardonnay, colombard
Greengage | Citrus | Pear
Many young, low-intervention winemakers in the US buy in grapes. This can sometimes be confusing, as they end up with one organic cuvée and another that uses grapes farmed conventionally. This isn’t the case with Populis. They do buy in grapes, granted, but only old-vine, organic ones from northern California. Diego Roig, Sam Baron, and Shaunt Oungoulian created Populis as a label for their family, friends, and allies—a wine for the people—that was clean, delicious, and affordable, as they realized there simply wasn’t enough reasonably priced wine with soul locally to go round. No additions or interventions are used in the cellar and the result is great fermented grape juice.
*Low levels of sulfites added
NEW WORLD FULL-BODIED WHITES
AmByth, Priscus
Paso Robles, California, USA
Grenache blanc, roussanne, marsanne, viognier
White peach | Licorice stick | Sweet pea
Welshman Phillip Hart and his Californian wife, Mary Morwood Hart, dry-farm their entire estate in Paso Robles (see Dry-Farming, pages 38–39)—no mean feat (and very admirable), given California’s water wars and when you know that in 2013 they got a grand total of half an inch of rainfall! They also work without any added sulfites (again a rare feat in California). Their Priscus, meaning “venerable and ancient” in Latin, is a wholesome, herbal wine that is utterly delicious, as is all their range.
*No added sulfites
Dominio Vicari, Malvasia da Cândia e Petit Manseng
Santa Catarina, Brazil
Malvasia di candia, petit manseng
Lime peel | Passionfruit | Asparagus
Created in 2008 by Lizete Vicari (a ceramist) and her son, José Augusto Fasolo (an oenologist), in their garage, Dominio Vicari is today one of Brazil’s cult artisan producers and part of a small, but burgeoning, scene of natural grower-makers in the country. Using grapes grown by their family in Monte Belo do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Lizete—who fell in love with the art of low-intervention winemaking—made a name for herself producing orange wines from Riesling Italico grapes, a variety that apparently abounds in Brazil. Today, she and her son make wines from all sorts of varieties, including merlot, cabernet, sauvignon blanc, grechetto, ribolla, and others. All are made naturally, without temperature control, fining, or filtering.
*No added sulfites
California, USA
Chardonnay
Green mango | Salty | Sweet oak
Named after the Greek word for “comment” or “interpret” (from which we also derive the words “school” and “scholarship”), Abe Schoener created Scholium as a “modest project... for the sake of learning and understanding.” The result is a wild bunch of soulful wines created from vines he leases. The Sylphs is a dense, textured, oaky wine, but with well-balanced fruit. Another favorite, from my limited tasting of his wines, was a skin-macerated sauvignon blanc: Prince in his Caves.
*No added sulfites
Caleb Leisure Wines, Chiasmus
Sierra Foothills, California, USA
Marsanne, roussanne, viognier
Barley | Apricots | Lily-of-the-valley
Caleb, a lovely, young Californian native (now also slightly English by marriage), is at the very beginning of his winemaking adventures. This is his very first vintage and what a lovely 35 cases (of viognier/marsanne/ roussanne pet nat) and one barrel (of this white) he has created! They are both generous and juicy.
I am particularly thrilled to include Caleb in this second edition of Natural Wine, as it really is a question of life coming full circle, since it was thanks to the first edition of this book that Caleb turned up on Tony Coturri’s doorstep (book in hand) and declared: “I have come to see you because you were featured in this book.” Never having worked in wine before, he struck up a friendship with Tony, started working for him, and now makes his own tiny production in Tony’s cellar. Hopefully, this heartwarming story will inspire other lovely encounters in the world of wine too.
*No added sulfites
Coturri, Chardonnay
Grebennikoff Vineyards, Sonoma Valley, USA
Chardonnay
Linden (lime) | Grilled hazelnuts | Honey drops
Californian Tony Coturri (see Apples & Grapes, pages 128–129) is the natural wine veteran of the USA and it’s high time he received the recognition he deserves. An ex-hippy, Tony started his Sonoma farm in the 1960s and has produced dozens of vintages of delicious, organic, no-added-sulfite wines. Isolated, in a world of not-very-like-minded souls, Tony, a farmer at heart, was treated like a bit of a crazy. “Growers round here don’t call themselves ‘farmers.’ They call themselves ‘ranchers.’ There’s a big difference. A farmer, in their minds, is a negative—some guy wearing overalls, trying to eke out a living from chickens and stuff. ‘We’re ranchers,’ they say. The whole thing is so skewed. They don’t even see viticulture or grape-growing as an agricultural pursuit,” explains Tony. The result is that wines chez Tony are extraordinary. Terroir-driven and authentic, his full-bodied cuvées have a depth and quality that are remarkable. As creamy as nectar, 80 cases were made of his chardonnay.
*No added sulfites
