Winemaking
Natural wine
What the term covers, where it has legal force and where it has none, and what it does not mean.
The short answer
Natural wine describes an approach — organically grown fruit, spontaneous fermentation, minimal or no additions, and little or no added sulfur dioxide. In most jurisdictions it has no legal definition, so what it guarantees depends entirely on who is using it.
Overview
The movement has real coherence and real commitments, and it also has no general enforcement mechanism, which is an awkward combination to describe fairly.
WineHQ takes no position on whether these wines are better. It takes a firm position on the terms meaning different things.
How it works
The mechanism, at the scope it has actually been established.
The commitments generally shared are: organically or biodynamically grown fruit; fermentation by resident yeast rather than an added strain; no acidification, enrichment or other must adjustment; no fining or filtration; and either no added sulfur dioxide or a small addition at bottling.
France is the significant exception on definition. The Vin Méthode Nature charter, recognised there since 2020, sets out specific conditions including hand harvesting, certified organic fruit, indigenous yeasts, no additives and a strict cap on added sulfur dioxide, with two labels distinguishing zero addition from a small one. It is a voluntary charter, not a general legal category.
The technical consequences of these choices are predictable. Wines made without added sulfur dioxide are more variable, more sensitive to temperature in transport and storage, and more likely to show microbial character.
Some of that character is sought — a degree of volatile acidity or of Brettanomyces is accepted by many drinkers in this category and rejected in others. That is a genuine difference in what an audience is looking for, not a disagreement about facts.
Every wine contains sulfites, because fermentation produces them. "No sulfites" always means no added sulfites.
What people get wrong
2 widely repeated claims this page corrects.
Not true
“Natural wine has no sulfites in it.”
All wine contains some sulfites, because yeast produce them during fermentation. Natural wine usually means little or no sulfur dioxide was *added* — which is a different statement.
Depends
“Natural wine is legally defined and has nothing added to it.”
In most jurisdictions "natural wine" has no legal definition at all. Certification schemes exist and vary, and the terms natural, organic, biodynamic, unfined and unfiltered are not synonyms.
Because there is no general definition, the same phrase covers producers with quite different practices. A reader who wants to know what a particular bottle involved has to ask the producer.
WineHQ does not present natural wine as healthier, additive-free or superior, and does not present it as inherently faulty either. It describes the practices, the variability those practices produce, and the absence of a general legal definition.
In history
Sources
Sources consulted
- Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité (INAO) — INAO, France
- Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 — Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets — European Union
- The Oxford Companion to Wine — Oxford University Press
More in winemaking
Winemaking
Fermentation
Yeast converting sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide — the step that makes wine wine.
Winemaking
How red wine is made
Fermenting grape juice in contact with the skins, which is where colour and tannin come from.
Winemaking
How white wine is made
Pressing the juice off the skins before fermentation, then fermenting the clear juice.