Manifesto

Natural wine is wine made from organically farmed grapes that adheres to a series of core principles, such as: exclusive use of organically and biodynamically grown grapes; use of spontaneous/wild yeasts (rejecting commercial, lab-grown yeasts); refusal to use any flavor enhancers; restricting filtration and fining as much as possible (ideally avoiding these processes entirely); minimal use of sulfites during both production and bottling, reserved strictly for cases where avoiding them is manifestly impossible.

In short, natural wine follows the principle of “non-intervention”—namely, adding or removing little to nothing from the final product. This stands in stark contrast to commercial wine production, which manipulates the wine to adjust acidity, alcohol, and other flavors according to the commercial motives of those who craft them.

Consequently, the result of this nature-respecting agriculture are wines that, when compared to commercial and mass-produced wines, have a very different taste profile. They can be cloudy, with flavors and aromas that may seem unusual at first, and they are certainly much more intense and profound in their connection to the grape and the land. These are wines seeking a lost nature—which is to say, the tradition of the grape for the grape’s sake.

Natural wine is, therefore, a living wine. It is the microbiological life of the vineyard, tended by a farmer who wants their land to be a healthy, thriving habitat, allowing the grapes to undergo the transformation from juice to wine without technological gimmicks. As such, a living wine comes from a living soil.
For those who produce wine this way, as well as for those who enjoy drinking it, what is at stake here is a wine that is more than just wine—it is a philosophy and a way of life. This love for the land is a special way of declaring a love for life itself.

Natural wine = wine not nailed to the cross of numerical ratings.