Le Vin Naturel

France’s wine culture and history is deep and storied and one of things most identified with France. One part of world wine culture that we especially love in our store is the Natural Wine Movement, and that movement originated … in France! Merci, nos amis.

Ever since the movement started in France (in the 1980s, for the most part) there’s been no hard and fast definition of what a “natural wine” is. They tend to be wines grown either organically or biodynamically from grapes fermented with native yeasts and vinified with no additives save for a little sulphur at bottling. For our shop definition, we usually look for wines to be bottled unfiltered if not unfined as well.

(Interestingly enough, the independent group the Syndicat de Defense des Vins Naturels lobbied for a decade to have an official natural wine certification. Just recently, in 2023, the INAO (Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité) — the French government’s regulatory body for agricultural products (especially wine) — recognized the Syndicat’s definition. So maybe we’ll start seeing some consistency in what people call natural wines.)

Having started in France, natural winemaking is now a worldwide phenomenon. (There are even vintners in Virginia attempting to make natural wines even though our humid climate makes it near impossible to sucessfully farm grapes organically.) However, this Friday, we head back to the source to look at some French natural wines!

Please join guest pourer Julie from distributor Plant Wines for another of our great, free walk-up wine tastings. Stop by any time between 5:00 and 6:30 PM to try some French natural wines!