Helllloooooo to my first day of class on a topic that I know very little about but am very excited for! Our topic today is natural wine. Yes, NATURAL wine. You might think, aren’t grapes from nature… Well yes, indeed you are correct. And would you be surprised to know that many of your favorite commercial wines have yummy things like pesticides and chemicals and gelatin in them. Gross, right?

My journey to natural wines began mostly by accident. I live in a beer town. Breweries around every corner with every sort of beer imaginable. And I am friends with beer aficionados, so I know what beers I love and can confidently order them almost anywhere. I love fruity, puckery, sour, and funky beers. If it’s weird and wild, I am into it. And then I started keto (womp womp) and cut the gluten and carbs and said farewell to my beloved beers for a year. When I came out on the other side and started reintroducing a little bit of bread or beer here and there, I very frustratingly learned that I have a little intolerance to wheat. A lovely little rash visits me when I indulge and I am still learning to make adjustments through continuous trial and error.

When I had to slow down on the beers, I decided to get serious about my wines. All I knew was that a dry red or a crisp, dry white was tasty to me. A merlot? Sure! A rioja? Hell yea. Frose? All day, baby. And then I went to Poole’side Pies in Raleigh and ordered an “orange wine” and my world forever changed. A funky, cloudy wine that had everything I loved in a sour beer but no pesky gluten?? Say no more. I ordered books on natural wine, downloaded podcasts, searched for stores specializing in the stuff, and threw myself into the research.

So this is a natural wine 101 post. If your interest is piqued, then I’ve got all sorts of material for ya. If not, then I hope you will take away one thing. Only drink glou-glou wine. Glou-glou is french slang for chuggable wines and ones you just keep going back to. Ignore that shit about nursing your one glass of barrel aged red that you can only bear to sip. CHUG YO WINE PEOPLE. Drink the stuff you love to have at dinner with friends, alone on the couch, or hidden in your beach bag. Live a little.

So here is our class breakdown, an agenda, if you will:

A few definitions and a primer into why this is important
Some of my favorite wines (Maryland folks, you are in LUCK here)
Where to buy natural wine/how to look for it
Natural wine resources

A Primer on Natural Wines

As the queen of natural wines, Marissa Ross, taught me, you should never be ashamed if someone calls you a wine snob. I truly wear that label with pride and I think caring about where your wine comes from is just as important as caring where the rest of your food comes from. Natural wines are all about embracing the environment, or terroir, of where grapes are grown. Winemakers are letting their vines grow with nature and embracing the insects that pollinate and cohabit there. Low intervention is the name of the game here. No pesticides to keep those grapes free from insects, no big machines plowing through fields to collect as many grapes as possible and mashing the rotten ones in with the goodies, and definitely no chemicals to make you say “oh yes, this tastes like wine”.

There are a lot of different terms out there and it can be confusing if you are in the store and trying to find a natural wine. Here are some that you might run into:

Organic Wines: These are wines that fit the government regulation of having no pesticides or chemicals applied to the grapes as they are grown. In the US, this also means no added sulfites.
Biodynamic Wines: These wines are the hippies of the wine world. In addition to being chemical-free, winemakers really focus on the ecosystem around the grapes. It is almost spiritual in how they respect the land that grapes are grown on. There are no government regulations here, but many farmers are strongly against chemicals in the biodynamic movement.
Natural Wines: These are the stars of my show. While there is no government regulation around this label either, there is a lot of care and attention put into these by winemakers. As Marissa Ross writes (book reference is at the bottom), “Generally, it means that the grapes are grown without chemicals or pesticides, are dry-farmed and handpicked, and use only native yeast. They have no additives and no fining agents, and use little to no filtering or sulfites. Nothing is added, and nothing is taken away”. Doesn’t that sound poetic? This is why many natural wines may appear cloudy or have sediment at the bottom and it is all part of the appeal.
Sustainable Wines: Similar to organic wines, but there is also a focus on environmentalism and things like water conservation.

The priority here is low intervention. Most natural wines are all of the above, but may not have the funds to be government-certified organic. Buying natural wines is all about trusting the winemaker and having faith in their love of the process. Yea yea, hippie stuff. But I can almost guarantee once you’ve tried these labors of love - you won’t go back to that grocery store shit. Oh, and your hangovers? Poof. Without all of those gross added chemicals, your body is able to digest that yummy goodness and hangovers may be a thing of the past! Or at least much more manageable if you partake in a little too much glou-glou’ing.

Before we dive into some specific wines, I want to acknowledge that while most of my favorite natural wines are on the funkier side and a little bubbly, this does not mean they are all like this. You can find a brilliant, dry red table wine that is natural and reminiscent of your favorite commercial wine, but far earthier or cleaner than you ever imagined it could be! All types of wine can be natural and when in doubt, you should talk to your local wine shop. Yes, you actually have to TALK to someone. But I promise it will be worth it. Plus, many are made in Europe and you won’t be able to read the label anyways!

My Current Favorites

My natural wine journey has been filled with trial and error. Aimlessly wandering the aisles of wine shops sometimes produces gold and sometimes resulting in pawning off too-sweet bottles to unsuspecting others…

Folks in Maryland are ever so lucky because my favorite producer of these fruited, funky, dry beauties is Old Westminster Winery. They are relatively new to the game, but my Lord are they DELICIOUS. I raid the shelves of my hometown liquor store whenever I am home to bring back all of the new goodies. They even offer canned wines, perfect for backyard lounging! They also just lobbied for changes in the legislature that allows them to now HOME DELIVER wines to your front door if you live in surrounding counties. For the rest of us, plain old shipping through the mail does the trick.

Currently Drinking

Old Westminster Winery Skin Contact Piquette. This canned beauty is fizzy, citrusy, and a great example of an “orange wine”. Orange wine is not made from oranges. It gets this name when white wine grapes are fermented alongside their skins to get a beautiful orange/amber color and the range in flavor can be quite impressive. If you are looking to try one, ask for “skin contact” and that will help your wine shop friends find you a great surprise.
Old Westminster Winery Farm Fizz. Another canned dame! This wine is green, grassy, citrusy, and obvi fizzy. A perfect tart white for a hot day outside or served alongside some grilled veggies.
Old Westminster Winery 2018 Franc Fizz. Let the bottled list commence! This is a fruit forward red, best served chilled, with a fizzy finish (see a pattern?). If you are looking for an unfiltered gem, please try some of dis.
Staffelter Hof PortuGeezer. A prime example of a wine from Germany that I NEVER would have found on my own, but was recommended at Wine Authorities in Raleigh. This fizzy white is juicy and funky and a bit tropical. I also should note that none of these faves are particularly sweet. You can have all of these lovely, fruity flavors and still be drinking a sharp, dry wine. This does that for me.

If you are curious about what else I am drinking, and if I like it, follow me on Delectable where I rate and leave ridiculous descriptions! (see above for examples…)

Where to Buy Natural Wines

This can be tricky, I’ll be honest with you. It may take a bit of extra effort and research to get started on this journey. But I have faith in you! The extra work will deliver such tasty prizes!

Obviously, if you are in Maryland, go straight to the source and get some Old Westminster wines delivered to your porch and then don’t tell me or I will be insanely jealous.

Otherwise, check out this resource from Bon Appetit. Many wineries will ship bottles to your door, so if you try something at a restaurant or in your local shop and like it - then see what else that winery produces! I am about two clicks away from ordering some Morphos bottles out of Oyster River in Maine.

And when in doubt, march on up (or call ahead during our current crisis) and ask for recommendations from your local wine shop. If you are in Raleigh, you can call Wine Authorities, The Raleigh Wine Shop, or Short Walk Wines and they will pull together some bottles using your flavor preferences for curbside pickup! None of these places “specialize” in natural wines, but if you describe wanting something low-intervention, they will know exactly what to look for.

Other Resources

Like what you read today? Want more reading material? I have you covered!

My natural wine queen is Marissa Ross, the official wine columnist for Bon Appetit. She runs a natural wine podcast called “Natural Disasters” and her instagram is actual gold. Her book, “Wine. All The Time” really taught me everything I know so far and made getting into natural wines easy. You can, and should, also read “Natural Wine for the People” by Alice Feiring, a long-time advocate for natural wine.

Welp, I guess that is it for today. I just finished a bottle of Take It Easy by Old Westminster and am mourning the loss already. When this goes live tomorrow (today to you), please take it easy (heh) on me and hit me up with your natural wine questions and suggestions!

Love the earth, people. And therefore love your winessssss. Happy glou-glou to you.

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