For the last few years I have been putting all of my theories into hypothesis.
After making a barrel of Cabernet from Paso without adding anything to it I proved my theory of making natural wine.
Wine is made in the vineyard. Anything added or taken away strips away terroir.
Grapes which are farmed with love and picked at the proper time will always produce a soulful wine. A wine with substance, a wine with depth and a wine with personality.
Grapes which are allowed to hang too long and manipulated along the way will produce a wine which is lacking. A wine which lacks substance, depth and personality.
The situation is still dire.
Wine is being altered and harmful ingredients are being added without our consent or knowledge.
It is time to care and it is time to learn.
It is time to ask questions.
There are wines which are made with absolutly no intervention. These are known as natural wines. They are usually attatched with Biodynamic and Organic viticulture.
There are wine which are made with minimal intervention. These winemakers add only what is necessary to stabilize the wine. The majority of these practices are hundreds of years old and only utilize what is already found in nature. Many of these wineries use grapes which are farmed Biodynamic, Organic or Sustainable.
There are wines which are made with much intervention. These "winemakers" practice altering the wine by methods such as adding water, adding cultured yeasts, adding tannin powder or wood chips, adding concentrates, adding acid, adding sugar, reverse osmosis. There are also numerous chemicals and dyes often added to wines. We really have no idea what these wines contain.
When I first really got into wine I was on the extreme natural wine camp side. A geek to the core. Black and white was all I could see.
As I have grown and tasted I have begun to see that there are shades of grey in all of these theroies. Should winemakers strive to be as natural as possible in their methods and approach to crafting wine?
Yes. A hundred times yes.
Is this goal always attainable?
No.
Where does this leave us?
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