Natural wine

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As a natural wine (Natural wine, Artisan wine, Naked wine, Vin vivant, Natural Pure Wine) are often wines referred to as possible without additives and without complex oenological procedures were produced. The management in the vineyard is the basis for this. Therefore, organic viticulture is often seen as a prerequisite for natural wine. The earlier wine law definition as waiver of enrichment takes a back seat . The use of the term natural wine is controversial.

history

Historically in Germany, the term is closely related to the life reform movement . In the wine law of 1909, among other things, chaptalization and wet improvement (see Ludwig Gall ) were generously regulated. It was allowed to add dry sugar to increase the alcohol content. In bad vintages, which were characterized by high acid values ​​with not fully ripe grapes, up to a quarter of sugar water could be added to increase alcohol and regulate acidity. This was seen as necessary to secure the economic existence of the wine industry even in bad years. Natural wine stood out from such dependent wines, as it produced a stable product on its own, without any technical intervention in the cellar. These were the top wines from very good vintages.

In 1910, the Association of German Natural Wine Auctioneers from several regional associations merged, today's Association of German Predicate and Quality Wineries (VDP). In the period that followed, other oenological innovations influenced the idea of ​​natural wine. In the wine law of 1930, the term was defined as wine to which no other substances than are necessary for cellar treatment have been added . At the time, sulphurisation of the wine was considered absolutely necessary.

With the amendment of the Wine Act 1969/1971 the term natural wine was replaced by predicate wine . Unsweetened wines could no longer be called natural wine . Instead, the terms quality wine from certain growing areas (QbA) and quality wine were coined with predicate . The indication of quality no longer related to the manufacturing process, as numerous oenological innovations made this difficult. Terms such as "fully fermented" have also been abolished. Instead, the must weight of the grapes was used as an essential quality feature and taste information was defined based on the residual sugar values . Alcohol increase (enrichment) is no longer permitted until the predicate Cabinet .

The term natural wine disappeared and the Association of Natural Wine Auctioneers renamed itself the Association of Prädikatsweingüter . Today the term no longer refers so much to the renouncement of granulated sugar, but also to numerous other oenological processes that are consciously used or deliberately not used.

Towards the end of the 20th century, groups of winegrowers were formed, mainly from the field of biodynamic viticulture, who wanted even more "organic", to the movement of natural wines. The production of these wines is influenced, among other things, by the following thoughts: search for an original taste of natural wines, respect for nature and opposition to industrial methods in viticulture and winemaking, back to the old oenological processes, protest against the increasing anonymization through technology of conventional, integrated as well as organic wines.

In addition, historical methods of winemaking are revived (example: Quevri ) or oenological processes outside of the winemaking tradition (example: mash fermentation in orange wine ) are introduced.

Manufacturing

Even if the production of natural wine is not regulated by law, a consensus is emerging among producers:

The vast majority of producers regard organic farming as a prerequisite for natural wine production. Most of them are certified or in the process of conversion. Healthy grapes require extensive care of the vines and an early harvest . Enrichment is no longer an issue. The renouncement of fining agents and filtration aids in favor of natural clarification is undisputed. The use of sulfur is viewed differently. According to a survey by the Geisenheim University of Applied Sciences , half of the respondents stated that no sulfur should be added to natural wine, the other half advocated moderate sulfurization, with both groups overlapping flexibly in the middle.

Cultivation:

  • organic farming
  • healthy grapes

Expansion:

  • no enrichment
  • no fining agents
  • no filter aids
  • natural clarification
  • Sulfur (controversial)

Denomination discourse

In contrast to orange wine , the designation natural wine is controversial. Even after the prohibition principle of the German Wine Law of 1971 was abolished in favor of the abuse principle, this term remains critical. The use on the label is objected to by the wine inspection and rejected by market participants.

On the one hand, the term natural wine has not simply disappeared in legal history and is therefore unregulated and free for new uses. In 1971, in addition to the prohibition of this term, the production and designation of unenriched wines were newly regulated by the introduction of quality wine with a predicate . In this sense, predicate wines are successor products of the earlier natural wine . In addition, two opposing assumptions are relevant:

Every wine is a natural product : "For anyone who, according to the legislator's deliberation, attests to being a specialty of pressing natural wine, implicitly assumes that their competitors are not producing natural wine."

Opposite: A processed raw product like wine is always a cultural product . “The grapevine had changed from a natural to a cultivated plant. [...] And what applies to the vine also applies to the rest of the vineyard and cellar work. The processes taking place here are also only natural to an infinitesimal extent. These are processes that are controlled with the help of cultural techniques that have been refined for thousands of years [...] "

Therefore, some natural wine producers deliberately refrain from using this term, while dogmatists completely reject conventionally produced wine as unnatural. A possible opinion contrary to the legal interpretation of wine control has not yet been decided by a court. A uniform alternative designation has just not caught on.

literature

  • Nicolas Joly: The wine, the vine and the biodynamic economy. Verlag Gebrüder Kohrmayer, Dreieich 2008, ISBN 978-3-938173-46-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b der deutsche Weinbau, # 8/18, page 32: Wine - of course
  2. a b "Can wine be natural?" of February 20, 2013, accessed April 26, 2018