Wine FAQ: What is natural wine?

Natural wine is a controversial topic. One of extremes, I've noticed. Some people think it's fantastic, others can't stand it. The fact that there's no official definition or quality mark for natural wine doesn't help matters. I'll stick with "fermented grape juice with at most a tiny bit of sulfite added."

Surely such a definition should appeal to every wine lover? It's wine in its purest form. It only becomes annoying when it's made a big deal about, like the whole sulfite debacle. 'Without added sulfites' isn't automatically a USP for me. Just look at the gluten discussion. Sure, gluten-free bread is a relief if you're intolerant and can finally have a "normal" breakfast, but why else would you choose gluten-free bread? Gluten makes bread light (and therefore tasty), sulfites make wine last longer (and therefore tasty). Are sulfites bad for your health? No, just as they aren't.

What appeals to me about natural wines is the innovative perspective. When someone breaks away from the crowd and starts making their own wine, with the goal of keeping the wine as pure as possible.

Take for example this peculiar blend of Chardonnay, Gros Manseng and a few drops of Chenin Blanc and Clairette – made by Thomas Pico , who already has a fine list of successes to his name. His Chablis are doing well ( with the grape's own yeasts, no filtering and minimal sulphites) , are praised worldwide and no less a person than Robert Parker calls him a Superstar . Well, you're in for a treat.

Still, it is not easy to make wine in Burgundy, especially in recent years with all the hail and frost. “I have to do something” – he must have thought when he encountered yet another empty cellar. He enlisted the help of winemakers friends from the south of the country and sourced a crate of grapes, which he then fermented and aged in his own cellar into a true Vin de France. Beautiful, isn't it? The result is impressive: smoky, toasty, apricot, light apple cider, stone fruit, and creamy. Whether it qualifies as a natural wine according to the strict definition above is difficult; the wine is lightly filtered, and sulfite levels are low, but not below 30-40 mg per liter. Who cares? He's a winemaker who thinks outside the box and works much more minimalistically than most winemakers.

As much fun as discovering new wines is, for WSET4 I have to go back to basics. We're not ready for natural wine or fancy blends like this just yet – the question is whether that will ever be included in the curriculum. It's impossible to make sense of it. Let's just stick to the neat, categorizable wines. And then we'll drink a wine like this on the weekend.

Thomas Pico, Vin de France, is available at Emerald Wines .