Once You Go Natural Wine, There Is No Going Back

I grew up as a child in the 70's. A confusing culinary juncture for North America. We ate Wonder Bread but hearty whole grain breads were starting to slip in there as well. I was raised in Texas and we were shopping at the early incarnation of Wholefoods when I was a pre-teen. Back then, it was mostly bins of grains, nuts, honey and organic produce. It planted a seed for me.

I don't remember the first time I had a crusty baquette from a bakery. But I do remember back-packing through Europe at 19 and devouring buttery croissants and cafe au laits for breakfast, as well as simple but delicious ham sandwiches on fresh baquette. I was ruined and rarely, if ever, ate store bought pastries or bread again.

Wine has taken me on a similar journey. I started out with the readily available, conventional wines. I went through the pre-requisite early days of loving big, bruising reds and then later retreating to more subtle and refreshing whites or roses.

The past few years I have been delving ever deeper into wines made with native yeasts, neutral oak, and increasingly organically farmed grapes. Some are made with minimal added sulfites and some are sans soufre or have no added sulfites.
These wines are often lumped into the natural wine category. And indeed we do need a term to help identify these wines.
These wines are free of processing from cultured yeasts, toasty new oak flavorings, added acids, purple dyes, and grapes sprayed with toxic chemicals.

Honestly, at the beginning of this journey, I could barely get my head around these wines. It was the equivalent of eating sugary, processed packaged bread for my whole life and then tasting fresh, crusty sourdough bread for the very first time. (like Woah! bread doesn't taste like this? Does it?)

There were flavors, smells and textures that I had never encountered before in wine, so foreign at first, so endlessly exciting now. So freaking fresh! Honest wine indeed.

Of course, my problem now is that it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to truly enjoy conventional wines. Oh, I can taste them for professional purposes and discuss their merits or flaws. But I just can't drink them for pleasure or with dinner anymore. In comparison, they taste manufactured. The amount of time spent in new oak barrels is especially overbearing in many cases.

This was highlighted last night, when I popped my last bottle Andrea Calek Blonde 2008, a vin naturel petillant (lightly, naturally sparkling wine made from organic chardonnay and viognier grapes). This wine is so much delicious fun, so exuberantly appley and refreshing.

Earlier I had been tasting a relatively high end pinot noir for review, it tasted dead in comparison. All oak and rich, thick cherry juice.

As I said, I am ruined.....and very, very happy.




Thanks for Photo 1 to By vince11881 PhotoBucket
Thanks for photo 2 to By X-CLuTIOnER Photobucket

Love and Local Wines meet at Pourtal

Want to support local wines? As well as young married couples making their dreams come true?
Donkey & Goat winemakers, Tracey & Jared, will be pouring tonight at Pourtal Wine Bar in Santa Monica, CA.

Pourtal is a rocking little wine bar I have mentioned in the past because of their innovative wine program. And I don't mean the Enomatic tasting machines, although those are great for experimenting.The wine director, Rachel Bryan , along with owner, Stephen Abronson, runs very cool themes. This month, they featured wines made by couples, hence the Donkey & Goat appearance tonight.

But the real magic is not the idea behind the theme, but Rachel's canny & sophisticated choices to round out their offerings. She seems to know the right balance of giving customers what they want (comfort wines) but also pushing their wine boundaries via unknown varietals and wine regions.

Jared & Tracey Brandt studied winemaking with the famous Eric Texier in France. Now they make wines very naturally and from mostly organic vineyards. They just released their new grenache rose, roussanne, chardonnay (unfiltered and blended with green grape verjus), and several syrahs.

Here is some info on the Donkey & Goat winemaking style:

Native Yeasts, no cultured yeasts used for fermentation
No new oak, only neutral oak barrels
Foot stomped grapes, no machines
Little to no sulfur added at fermentation, minimum added at bottling
No fining or filtration



*I really like these wines and will soon be representing them in the Southern California market.

Do Natural Wines Have More Flaws Than Processed Wines?

I have had several conversations in the past few weeks about flaws in wine.
Specifically the perception that natural wines are more flawed than processed wines.

Dagan from TerroirSF told me yesterday that he has a lower tolerance for flawed wines now than when he opened his natural wine bar.

The problem with wine flaws is that they are sometimes, but not always, in the eye of the beholder. As you will see from the flaws listed below, some wine drinkers like these characteristics, in moderation anyway.

And yes,undoubtedly, wines made naturally do have certain vulnerabilities. The grapes must be pristine and the wine cellars 'clean', at least from bacteria that will harm the wine. These natural winemakers know they can not fix a problem via chemical means, i.e. the additives listed below for manipulated wines.

In this context, I am using the term 'manipulated' interchangeably with 'processed'.
By that, I mean, wines that have started out in a vineyard managed via chemicals. From there the grapes move into a cellar where they are made into a consistent product by any means necessary. This might simply include lots of time in toasty new oak barrels and adding commercial yeast strains to impart specific flavors.

But we all know it can also include additions like oak powder, added acids and tannins to provide balance (since it was not achieved naturally), purple dyes for added color and generous lashings of sulfur, just in case.

I am not a sans soufre wine zealot (no added sulfites) by any means. But I do believe sulfur should be added judiciously and minimally. It should not be dumped into the wine simply because the grape and/or winemaking hygiene was not good enough.
It should not be used to cover winemaking flaws.

Natural wines do "walk the line'. They are full of personality, and can be incredibly exciting and gorgeous. They are the vinous equivalent of the sophisticated, world traveling aunt full of exotic stories at Thanksgiving. Definitely not the ruddy faced cousin who works in finance in Nebraska.

My point is that any wine can be prone to perceived or real faults. I have encountered every one of the below faults many times, in both natural and processed wines.



Common wine flaws, found in both natural and processed wines:

Corked wine or Trichloroanisole 2,4,6 TCA - can come from wine corks, barrels or wine cellar environment. Imparts wet cardboard and musty aromas

Brettanomyces yeast - Can be from wine cellar, barrels,and/or grapes. Imparts 'barnyard', gamy, horsey aromas. Some winelovers love these flavors in wine, in moderation, others hate it even in tiny amounts.

Cooked wine or Madeirization - Yep, wine that has had its temperature raised and therefore turns brown and rancid. Or nutty and delicious, depending on the wine. Madeira is a wonderful example of the latter.

Volatile Acidity - Acetic acid bacteria can be found in wine barrels, wine cellars and grape surfaces themselves. Imparts vinegar and even nail polish remover aromas and flavors.

Reduction - Wines made with as little oxygen contact as possible, imparts a rubber tire smell. These aromas can sometimes lessen with decanting.

Free Flow Wines Champions Local Wines on Tap

Both the 'locapour' and wine on tap concepts have been trending hot lately.
That makes sense ,as they go hand in hand. I have written about both locapours and wines on tap in the past.

So I was pleased to hear about Free Flow Wines, a company focused on high quality local wines on tap. I was told about Free Flow Wines by Kevin Kelley, the multi-tasking winemaker at Salinia Winery, Lioco, NPA and now Spot-On Winery as well.

Before Free Flow, the wines on tap concept was a free for all, with each restaurant and winery fending for themselves in regards to organizing kegs and wine available in bulk.
I was wondering when some enterprising wine entrepreneur would step in and supply a solution. Looks like Jordan Kivelstadt is that guy. Also, looks like he is offering some very cool wines as part of the wine keg program. This is not commercial, grocery store juice but artisanal wines made affordable.

Of course, the kegs are very eco-friendly, as they cut down on glass bottles, packaging, trucking poundage, etc. But it is gratifying that the wines are of a like-mind, some are made with organic grapes as well as native yeasts.

Wine & The Triple Bottom Line

I have heard some of the old school winemakers and suppliers snort dismissively about sustainability and organic agriculture. They used to be rather smug in the belief that their wines were of higher quality than the 'treehuggers'.

Well, buckle up boys, because those days are over. Now there is tremendous quality and diversity to be found among the world's organic, biodynamic & natural wine offerings. And yes, to the unconverted or just plain cynical, it appears as just clever marketing to be seen as 'green'.

Millennial wine lovers in particular expect companies to be responsible (76% of millennials emphasized the importance of brands being ecologically conscious).
Of course, there are many wineries that operate sustainably out of conviction and if it helps sales, all the better.

If one can turn a profit while caring for the planet and the health of your workers at the same time, that seems a laudable goal to me.
A 1999 study sites 539 cases of pesticide poisoning among California vineyard workers. This was reported cases only. The next highest category was for broccoli (399 cases of pesticide poisoning). I would love to hear if any readers have more recent data.
Lets just assume that most people would rather not work around or with toxic chemicals.


Cowhorn Winery in Oregon hasn't missed a beat when it comes to the triple bottom line & wine. The winery is a certified organic grape grower, as well as a Demeter certified biodynamic grower & winery. This means they also use native yeasts.

But beyond the grapegrowing and winemaking, Cowhorn also 'upcycles' wine bottles via The Green Glass Company and recycles their corks.

But here's the thing, the wines were very good. Crisp, clean, fruit forward wines that can battle any conventionally produced wine out there. Personally, I would love to see what these wines tasted like if the new oak was dialed back a bit further(right now the wines are a blend of new & old oak barrel treatment). But that is my personal taste and one that many wine lovers may not care about at all.

Cowhorn Syrah 2007 $32
Deep purple color. Pick up some spicy oak on the nose. Loads of boysenberry & blackberry fruit. Great acids on the finish with a hint of roasted meat. 13.5% alcohol

Cowhorn Spiral 36 White Blend 2008 $18
Light golden color. Lovely pear & apple flavors, firm acids, a pretty wine at 13.4% alcohol
Viognier 35%, Marsanne 30%, Roussanne 35%




*Cowhorn Syrah 2007 and Cowhorn Spiral 36 were sent to me as samples.