It may seem like these are two completely unrelated topics, but in this instance there is a relationship. French winemakers and wine lovers are up in arms after a Japanese couple who earned rave reviews for their very first vintage was threatened with deportation. The reasoning given does not hold up logically, but that has never stopped regulators and bureaucrats before. Over 42,000 have already signed a petition citing the “crazy, foolish and shameful decision”, with wine and restaurant critics joining the outcry. Boy you just gotta love a tempest in a teapot and this one has boiled over.
The Japanese couple, Rie and Hirofumi Shoji employed natural techniques in the making of their wine. If you scroll down you will see that I have included a full description of this technique later in the article. Their natural red wine, Pedres Blanques (White Rocks), is made from Grenache grapes near Banyuls-sur-Mer in the French Catalan region of Roussillon, in southern France.
Banyuls is a popular fortified dessert wine made with old vine Grenache that comes from this small coastal town at the Spanish border. This is a region that was once part of Spain and the Grenache grape originated in Spain where it was called, Garnacha.
The Shoji’s first release became an instant hit after their harvest last year. It has already made it into the cellars of Can Roca, which some would say is the world’s best restaurant. That is just across the Spanish border in Girona. Top Paris restaurants have also been vying to stock up on the natural wine.
The Shojis harvest their grapes by hand, growing them organically with no additives. Their first year of production completely sold out, with 10,000 bottles quickly snapped up and the price surging from 12 euros ($14) to 26 euros.
But immigration officials said the couple could not stay in France because they were not earning enough and their business was “not viable”. Not earning enough? Just give them another year and see what happens. They are also making more money than typical small winegrowers in France. What, has someone just raised the bar?
Recently, several Japanese winemakers have made a name for themselves in France, almost all making organic and natural wines, pioneered by Hirotake Ooka, whose Domaine de Grande Colline wines have a cult following in his homeland. And these wines are developing quite a following in France as well. That brings me to part two, what is natural wine?
A Natural Wine:
Well, isn’t every wine natural, except for 2-buck Chuck? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist that.) Not according to natural wine producers. So what is a natural wine? While similar in some ways to organic and biodynamic wines, these producers bring that expertise into the winery using minimal processing. This is a growing trend in the wine world, begun in the 1980s. Concerns over the commercialization of wines in post-war Europe had many new winemakers going back to rustic wines like their ancestors made.
In a way this is quite astounding after the great strides in wine technology over the past 50 years, but some winemakers are never satisfied, so back to the drawing board they went.
These wines are fermented spontaneously with native yeast. This was how wine was first made, although back then no one knew why the grapes changed into alcohol. Or why they didn’t for that matter. Most modern winemakers choose the yeast that will start fermentation based on the style of wine they want to make and they guard against those pesky native yeasts from interfering. Often by using closed stainless steel, temperature-controlled vats.
However, for a natural wine, none of the winemaking additives allowed by U.S. law are used in the process, except for a small amount of sulfur before bottling, if needed for additional stabilization. Yes sulfur, well actually sulfur dioxide (SO2), is used extensively from vineyard to bottle and quality controls must be in place to avoid its overuse. And then there’s that sulfite warning on all wines sold in the US, which can be a problem for a small proportion of wine drinkers. However there are more sulfites in raisins and other dried fruit so if those pose no problem then the sulfites in wine should not be a problem. Many organic wines do avoid most sulfur additives, but at the expense of spoilage microorganisms and bacteria, not to mention aging of the wine since sulfur is a key ingredient in aging a red wine.
Natural wines are also bottled unfiltered and unfined. The fining process removes dissolved solids. Eggshells have been used for fining for many years although other fining methods are employed. There are various types of filters available to a winemaker, who then chooses a filter based on how much to take out and how much to leave in. Too much filtering is never a good idea. It’s nice to have a clean, bright and clear wine to gaze at, but if it was robbed of much of its life it will be the flavors that go opaque.
Many years ago I fell in love with Mastantuano Zinfandel wines which were unfined and unfiltered. Pasquale Mastantuano was nicknamed the Zinman for his award-winning wines and he was a prime mover in the creation of the Paso Robles Wine Festival. Pasquale was also delightful to talk to about wine; his passion for his style of wine was obvious. His Zinfandel wines were big with lush fruit and chewy. They were cloudy, which is a big turnoff for many wine drinkers, but I loved them and was greatly saddened when he sold the winery in 2007.
Natural wines also avoid using new oak because of the flavors oak imparts on the wine. Neutral oak which occurs after the barrel is five years old still provides the oxidative coupling that allows a wine to age gracefully, without imparting vanilla, cinnamon, cloves and other flavors to the wine. Some master sommeliers can probably even tell you the type and age of the oak by its influence on the wine. So is oak a bad thing? Maybe if you hate vanilla.
Natural wines avoid other techniques that significantly alter the wine’s makeup, such as micro-oxygenation. However there are serious downsides to making natural wine. Because of the high-risk nature of crafting wines without intervention, they are often made in small batches. That adds to the cost as do labor-intensive techniques of hand-picking, foot crushing – which sounds like a lot of squishy fun – and basket pressing, which also limit yields adding to cost. And there currently is no certification process or official label.
So with any luck the Shojis will be allowed to stay and develop their style of wine and soon we may see defined labels that clearly identify the wine as natural. There are many natural wine producers in France and Italy, but few so far in the US and locating natural wines is not easy. Also some of these wines are defined as funky and not to everyone’s taste, but for those that love a challenge, give them a try.
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