Methods, from vineyard to cellar

Making wine is mostly about knowing when to do nothing.

Between the grape and the glass there are a thousand possible gestures. Some winegrowers intervene a lot, others as little as possible. Natural wine is not defined by a recipe but by a philosophy: respecting living things at every stage, in the vineyard as in the cellar.

Here is an overview of the practices you will come across on Vinivers, explained simply and without dogma.

In the vineyard

Organic farming

This is the foundation for most natural winegrowers. It bans synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers. To fight diseases such as downy and powdery mildew, it mainly allows copper and sulphur, in regulated amounts. In Europe, copper is limited to 28 kg per hectare over seven years. Certification is shown by the EU organic logo and the French label AB.

Some winegrowers farm organically without being certified, by choice or for lack of means. The label is a guarantee, but its absence proves nothing: talking with the winegrower is how you learn the most.

Biodynamics

It draws on the lectures Rudolf Steiner gave in 1924. It sees the estate as a living organism and uses preparations in tiny doses: horn manure (“500”) for the soil, horn silica (“501”) for light and the plant, as well as herbal teas and plant decoctions. Many winegrowers also follow a lunar and planetary calendar. The main labels are Demeter and Biodyvin.

Biodynamics has its enthusiasts and its sceptics, and its foundations are debated. But everyone agrees on one point: the winegrowers who practise it watch their vines with rare attention.

Agroecology and peasant viticulture

More and more winegrowers are going beyond the labels:

grass cover and cover crops, to protect and feed the soil;
hedges, trees and ponds among the vines (known as agroforestry), for biodiversity and shade;
animal traction, with a horse or a donkey, which compacts the ground far less than a tractor;
sheep grazing between the rows in winter;
the return of massal selection, which means replanting with cuttings taken from your own best old vines rather than with commercial clones.

Picking by hand

Picking by hand makes it possible to sort the bunches, set aside damaged ones and keep the berries intact all the way to the cellar. It is essential for some methods, such as carbonic maceration, and it is one of the founding gestures of natural wine.

In the cellar

Native yeasts

Grapes naturally carry wild yeasts on their skins, and in the cellar air, that can start fermentation. Most conventional wines are inoculated with commercial selected yeasts, which are more predictable. The natural winemaker lets the native yeasts work. It is riskier, but it is also a way of letting the place speak.

Few or no additives

A conventional wine can legally receive several dozen additives and processing aids: acidifiers, sugar (chaptalisation), tannins, enzymes, fining agents… Natural wine does without them. It also rejects so-called “harsh” techniques that alter the wine heavily, such as reverse osmosis, flash pasteurisation or very tight filtration. Many natural wines are therefore neither fined nor filtered, and may be slightly cloudy or have a deposit. That is not a fault; it is proof that the wine has stayed whole.

The question of sulphites

Sulphur dioxide (SO₂) protects wine from oxidation and bacteria. It has been used for centuries. But in large amounts it freezes the wine in place and can bother some people.

Some winegrowers add none at all.
Others add a very small dose at bottling, so that the wine travels better.

Since 2020, France has recognised the term “Vin méthode nature”. It is governed by a charter that requires organic, hand-picked grapes, native yeasts, no additives or harsh techniques, and at most 30 mg/L of sulphites added before bottling. It has two logos: no added sulphites, or with less than 30 mg/L. Many winegrowers do not apply for it, but it is a useful reference point.

Carbonic maceration

This is the signature method of Beaujolais, popularised by Jules Chauvet, a researcher and négociant regarded as the father of natural wine. Whole bunches, uncrushed, are placed in a tank filled with carbon dioxide. Fermentation first begins inside the berries, then carries on in the usual way. The result is very fruity, supple, moreish wines, to drink with pleasure and without fuss.

Maceration wines, or “orange wines”

You make a white the way you make a red: by letting the juice ferment with the skins, for a few days or several months. The wine takes on an amber colour, tannins and aromas of peel, tea and dried fruit. It is one of the oldest ways of making wine. In Georgia, it has been practised for thousands of years in buried clay jars, the qvevri, a tradition on UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage.

Bubbles: pét-nat and méthode ancestrale

Pétillant naturel (or “pét-nat”) is bottled before fermentation has finished. The bubbles then form on their own, with no added sugar or yeast. It is the oldest way of making bubbles, still practised in Gaillac, Limoux and the Bugey. The result is often a little cloudy, cheerful, sometimes unpredictable. The traditional method used for champagne, on the other hand, triggers a second fermentation in the bottle by adding sugar and yeast.

Ageing: time and the vessel

After fermentation, the wine rests and refines. The vessel matters:

stainless steel, neutral, preserves the fruit;
wood (barrel, demi-muid, foudre) lets the wine breathe gently. Natural winemakers often prefer old wood, which does not leave its own taste on the wine;
amphorae, clay jars and concrete eggs are porous and neutral in taste. They are making a real comeback.

In the Jura, the experiment goes further: for vin jaune, a veil of yeast is allowed to form on the surface of the wine, protecting and transforming it for at least six years and three months.

An honest word about “faults”

Working without a safety net has its risks. A natural wine can sometimes show marked volatile acidity, animal notes, or the so-called “mousy” taint that appears on the finish. Some accept these as the price of freedom, others find them a deal-breaker. The debate is legitimate, and the best natural winemakers are often the first to admit it.

At Vinivers, we don’t score wines. We tell their stories, with their brilliance and their rough edges.

Short glossary

Débourbage: letting white grape juice settle so that particles fall to the bottom before fermentation.
Ouillage (topping up): regularly filling up a barrel so the wine is not in contact with air.
Remontage / pigeage: pumping over or punching down the “cap” of skins floating on top of a red wine tank, to extract colour and tannins.
Whole bunch: fermenting the grapes with their stems rather than destemmed.
Own-rooted (franc de pied): an ungrafted vine.

Curious about a method? Ask us, and we will go and ask the people who practise it.