Natural wines, love or hate? The debate is served.

Natural wines, love or hate? The debate is served.

In recent years, one of the innovations that has broken out with the greatest force in the world of wines has been the phenomenon of natural wines, of which there is a lot of talk... Although perhaps less is consumed than is talked about.

The name, natural wines, has not been well received by the rest of the winemaking sector, given that the mere existence of this denomination suggests that the rest of the wines that do not fall under it are "artificial".

In fact, we should start by saying that there is no such thing as "natural" wine, since the existence of wine requires human intervention, which - at the very least - must cultivate the vine, harvest the grapes and let them ferment in suitable conditions.

Now, for "natural wines" it's fine to understand the wines in the production of which, including the cultivation of the vine, human intervention is minimized, and above all, the addition of any additive, natural or not, other than simple grape juice.

And the main additive is sulfur dioxide, SO2, which since 2005 has appeared on the labels of most commercial wines with the mention "contains sulfites". We must not think, however, that this is an industrial additive, "modern" or exclusive to wine. In fact, the Romans already used it, and it is the traditional "luquet" or sulfur wheat that has been burned in containers, barrels and mouthpieces in the cellars for centuries. And it also appears in numerous foods, in addition to wine.

And why sulfites?

The reason for the addition of SO2 to wine is that it is a powerful antiseptic, that inhibits the action of yeasts and bacteria which can spoil the wine completely or partially, by favoring unwanted partial fermentations caused for example by lactic bacteria that could "bite the wine". In addition, it is a powerful antioxidant and helps to fix aromas of high importance during fermentation. That is, guarantees the preservation and stability of the wine.

But it is not only about avoiding or in any case, minimizing the addition of SO2, but in natural wines, neither selected nor commercial yeasts are added to the alcoholic fermentation. And malolactic fermentation, if any, is carried out without adding bacteria. Sugar levels, acidity, color, and alcohol levels are not corrected either, and wines are not usually filtered either.
The resulting wines therefore generate debate. There are those who defend them in a radical way, without admitting any criticism and there are those who attack them in the same way.

The truth is that, as with conventional wines, there are good ones and bad ones, with all the intermediate gradations, but with the aggravating fact that these wines are, and this is not questionable, more unstable and delicate, and are therefore very sensitive to the passage of time, to the point that in many cases they can change from one week to the next.

And it is also true that among this type of wine there is a higher percentage with olfactory defects—well, there are more that smell bad—than among conventional wines.

Its defenders say, however, that this instability is because they are alive and that this cannot be criticized, just as it is not objectionable that fresh foods are more unstable or less durable than processed ones. Regarding the alleged aromatic "defects", they also argue that these are more expressive wines.

Be that as it may, they have generated an important market with fairs, premises where only this type of wine is served and they have an increasingly obvious presence in distribution and catering.

How do I identify a natural wine?

One of the main drawbacks is the lack of certification, since there is currently no body that regulates this type of wine, a fact that makes it impossible to know, beyond what the developer claims, the degree of "naturalness" of each wine, not even their degree of food security.

In fact, from various groups of winemakers, it is stated that although the non-addition of SO2 largely eliminates the sulphite content (not entirely, given that the fermentation itself produces it, so all wines, even if at a very low level, contain it), it is also true that the not adding sulphurous can lead in some cases – when there is a transformation of malic acid – to the presence of biogenic amines that also have negative consequences for humans when they are present in excess.

In any case, what there is no doubt about is that the irruption of this type of wine, or we could even say, of this philosophy when making wine, has also led traditional producers to be sensitive to this issue and to minimize the addition of sulphites to their wines, with all that is good.

Perhaps the worst thing they have is the name, which although it has stuck with the public, by comparison has a pejorative content for those who do not share it. In fact there are already those who try to name them "wild wines".