Are you a lover of wine? If so, you should give natural wine a try. If this is your first time hearing about this type of drink, this article will tell you the essential details you need to know about it.
Nowadays, many products have started to come out and position themselves as “natural” or “organic” products. However, these products are often not what they seem.
Some winemakers refer to their products as natural as part of their marketing scheme. Natural should refer to products that are free from artificial ingredients, additives, and other synthetic materials. However, not every manufacturer can guarantee that their products are natural. That is unless they offer government-backed assurance that all their products are grown and processed with no synthetic growth hormones, antibiotics, or toxic chemicals.
If you want to understand it better, the answer lies in how the wine is processed.
The Creation of Natural Wine
To fully understand what a bottle of natural wine is all about, this article breaks down the process of its creation.
- The winemakers start by handpicking high-quality grapes. These grapes are grown organically using biodynamic practices.
- The process does not involve any chemicals, only the man-made chemical, which is natural fermentation. It does not include a fining or filtering process.
- Output from such a process should result in wines in which sulfites (the byproduct of fermentation) should not exceed 30 mg per litre.
Natural Wine vs Commercial Wine
The main difference between natural wine and other wines is how thorough the process is. As a result, natural wine creation often produces small batches because of how high maintenance the procedure is.
On the other hand, the commercial process of wine creation involves a lot of mechanical adjustments. For that reason, it can mass-produce wines at a faster rate. It also uses chemicals and additives to enhance the taste of the wine, including its colour, acidity, and texture. Some of these added ingredients are milk products, gelatin, defoaming agents, and preservatives, which take away the essence of “natural” in the first place.
The discovery of pesticides’ effect on the properties of wines also triggered the natural wine movement, which seeks to avoid these harsh chemicals. Researchers found that the pesticides detected in some wine samples are classified as carcinogens and endocrine or nervous system disruptors.
The natural winemaking process will give you healthier wine products that have fantastic grape tastes because they are made from freshly picked grapes with superior flavours and soil nutrients.
Organic vs Natural Wine: The Difference
Now that the organic vs commercial wine’s differences are much clearer, it is also important to not confuse organic wine with natural wine. The two share the same procedures because of how they use organically grown grapes. Both of them also do not use synthetic pesticides. However, organic wine can be mass-produced. To make this possible, they utilise some substances like organic and fine-tuned yeast.
Conclusion
Natural wine is a drink you should try if you want to taste a not refined yet still fresh drink. It is a wine that contains numerous antioxidants and healthy bacteria that gives it a stable and natural flavour. More than its undeniable taste, there is an ecosystem behind it that promotes sustainable agriculture, local commerce, and biodynamic, which are all worthy of support.
Tree of Life is the UK’s largest wholesale distributor of healthy, natural, and organic products, supplying large and small businesses for nearly 20 years. We have a Quello Semi Sparkling Wine and even canned wine options in the UK. Start exploring our shop today!
