Natural wine — a beginner's guide
Natural wine is everywhere on restaurant wine lists now. It means different things to different people and there is no legal definition — which makes it confusing. Here is what you actually need to know.
What natural wine means
In practice, natural wine refers to wine made with minimal intervention — organically or biodynamically farmed grapes, fermented with wild yeast rather than commercial strains, with little or no added sulphur, and without the range of additives that conventional wine production allows. The result is wine that is more expressive of its place and vintage but can also be more unpredictable.
Organic and biodynamic wine
Organic wine is made from organically farmed grapes — no synthetic pesticides or herbicides. Biodynamic farming takes this further, treating the vineyard as a self-sustaining ecosystem and following a planting calendar based on lunar cycles. Both can still use commercial yeasts and additives in the winery — which is why they are distinct from natural wine, though there is significant overlap.
What natural wine tastes like
Good natural wine tastes like an unusually vivid, alive version of conventional wine. Bad natural wine can taste like cider, vinegar, or farmyard. The range is wider than conventional wine — the best examples are genuinely extraordinary, the worst are undrinkable. If you are new to natural wine, start with producers who have a track record of consistency.
Orange wine
Orange wine is white wine made with extended skin contact — the skins are left in contact with the juice during fermentation, adding tannin, colour, and texture. The result looks orange or amber and has a tannic structure more like a red wine. It is often, though not always, made in a natural style.
Unsure about the natural wines on the list? Pour will tell you what to order and what to avoid.
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