Natural wine. What it is and what it means, which rules apply, how it is distinguished on the label compared to other wines? Consumers ask for transparency and encounter various proposals. Independent winemakers and VinNatur, to begin.
‘In wine there is truth’, sometimes
A bottle of wine embodies the experience, work and passion of those who produce it. Italy is leader worldwide in wine production and also excels in those with certified geographical indication. Productions organic are continuously growing, also in DOP and sparkling wines. In the South but also in the North (e.g. Franciacorta).
Enology sometimes must also follow fashions imposed by consumer demand. The most exemplary case is perhaps that of wine in barrique, which broke through in Italy in the '90s following a trend global. And the popularity of the ‘wood flavor’ is such that it led to a legislative reform, allowing even in Europe the use of wood chips in non-DOP wines (from ‘wine in wood’ to ‘wood in wine’, sic!).
Transparency, however, unfortunately is not the rule. The despotic lobby of ‘wines & spirits’ has succeeded in guaranteeing its products an unjustified exemption from the duties to list ingredients and nutritional declaration on the label. And the consumer is still unable to know if a wine is made with ‘alien sugars’ or synthetic tartaric acid, instead of grape derivatives.
FIVI, independent winemakers from vine to label
The Italian Federation of Independent Winemakers, FIVI, ‘represents a very specific category of producers’, explains to GIFT Matilde Poggi, president of the Federation. ‘Those who work on their own vineyards, vinify their grapes, bottle their wine and present it on the market with their labels. The entire supply chain is managed by the operators themselves. About half of our companies are organic, some are also biodynamic.’
About natural wines, the president explains that ‘in FIVI there are some producers of so-called natural wines. I don't like this definition much, as there is no single disciplinary regulation. They are wines with the least possible intervention, both in the vineyard and in the cellar. However, I could not say how many there are.’
And it is difficult to count them by looking at the labels which at most bear the phrase ‘no added sulfites’, according to Matilde Poggi.
Independent winemakers in short seek direct contact with consumers, to personally share the peculiar values of their products. As indeed happens at the Wine Market, the annual two-day event at the Piacenza Fair. The label has its limits and that is why Matilde Poggi urges members to always use the FIVI logo on the bottles. To convey information about the integrity of a supply chain which is rooted in the territory and pursues sustainability objectives.
VinNatur, natural wine made with expertise
VinNatur, The Association of natural winegrowers brings together over 170 producers in 9 different countries. Each with its own story and a shared broad objective, which recalls and in some respects exceeds the paradigm of organic production.
‘Producing naturally good wine, with people and with the environment’. From words to deeds, the members of VinNatur share and apply a disciplinary very strict.
‘Natural wine‘ according to VinNatur ‘derives from working methods that provide for the least possible number of interventions in the vineyard and in the cellar, the absence of chemical additives and manipulations by man. Such methods lead winemakers to face many risks, because the path is complex and not always clear, to follow it requires wide awareness and knowledge both in the vineyard and in the cellar'.
In the vineyard, as in organic farming, attention must be paid to soil fertility, the protection of biodiversity and the balance of the vineyard-ecosystem. Mineral and chemical fertilizers, systemic and citotropic synthetic pesticides, phosphites and chemical insecticides, herbicides or chemical desiccants are not allowed. The harvest must be manual and the use of GMOs, NBTs (new GMOs) and derivatives is strictly prohibited.
Theabsence of pesticides is one of the imperatives of the members, who in turn vinify their own grapes from their own vineyards. Since 2008 VinNatur regularly analyzes the products of each member, with results ‘very satisfactory since as many as 144 wines, out of a total of 147 samples, were found to be completely free from any type of pesticide’ (2016 data).
In the cellar spontaneous fermentation is the basic rule. ‘The only allowed additive/ingredient is sulfur dioxide (in pure form or potassium metabisulfite). The bottled wine must have a total sulfur dioxide amount not exceeding 50 mg/liter for white, sparkling, spumante and sweet wines, and not exceeding 30 mg/liter for red and rosé wines. The commitment to reduce the use of sulfur dioxide must be constant, until total abandonment’, reads the regulations.
It is not allowed The use of selected commercial yeasts (even if allowed by EU rules on organic wine) nor enzymes, lysozyme and lactic bacteria. And the use of any foreign additive is prohibited, with the sole exception of sulfur dioxide within the predetermined limits and with a commitment to its progressive reduction. Finally, invasive practices that tend to alter the intrinsic characteristics of the wine and/or modify its winemaking processes (such as dealcoholization, heat treatments above 30°C, acidifications ordeacidifications, removal of sulfur dioxide with physical methods, microfiltrations).
The upcoming events at calendar, with the tasting of natural wines from respectively 90 and 170 winegrowers from all over Europe, are planned:
– next weekend (23-24.2.19) in Rome, at the Officine Farneto Event Area (Via dei Monti della Farnesina 77),
– on 6-8.4.19 in Gambellara (VI), where the non-profit association is located, at the Margraf Show-room (Via Torre di Confine 15).
#VinoNaturale, from the vineyard to the bottle, strictly in glass! Progress according to nature is continuous, authentic, independent and as much as possible disintermediated.
Dario Dongo and Sabrina Bergamini
Image by cover taken from https://www.vinnatur.org/
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT – Food Times) and Égalité.
Journalist. Consumption, rights, nutrition, social, environment. Editor in charge of Help Consumatori. She has collaborated with ResetDOC, Il Riformista, La Nuova Ecologia, IMGPress.
