Wregg: The majority of natural wines can’t age

Flag bearer for the natural wine movement Doug Wregg has admitted he doesn’t think the majority of natural wines can age. “60-80% of natural wine should be drunk within the first year, after that they fall apart,” the director of sales and marketing for Les Caves de Pyrène told the drinks business. “Most of the wines are light, pale, fizzy and fun. They’re meant for wine bars rather than cellars. It’s a miracle when something lovely happens in the bottle a few years down the line, but I wouldn’t bet my house on it,” he added.

Wregg disagrees with French and Italian natural wine importer Giuseppe Mascoli’s opinion that natural wine is “not for the masses,” as reported on Wine and the City. “Natural wine is for the masses. It’s not in any way intellectual or hard to understand – the wines are incredibly simple and easy to understand,” he said. He also revealed that he’s in no hurry for natural wine to get an official definition.

“I’m really against the idea of an official definition – I don’t think it would have any traction, so I can’t see the point of it. Having to adhere to a certain set of criteria would suffocate the freedom of the winemakers. I wouldn’t like the whole movement to be codified. Plus, the debate surrounding the natural wine movement has generated a lot of interest because of this lack of an official definition,” he admitted.

With regards to organic and biodynamic wine, he blasted the term organic as “meaningless,” due to the multitude of different definitions around the world. “I’m relaxed about the language surrounding natural wine – I use the terms organic and biodynamic interchangeably,” he quipped. He also spoke of his constant need to defend criticism of natural wine from the trade: “It’s turned into a playground fight – the wine bloggers are ripping their hair out."

Wregg is to host a natural, organic and biodynamic fair – The Real Wine Fair – at Victoria House in Holborn on 20-22 May, which will go head-to-head with Isabelle Legeron’s RAW wine fair on 20-21 May at the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane.

Legeron: RAW vs Real wine fair rivalry blown out of proportion

Isabelle Legeron MW, organiser of London’s forthcoming RAW wine fair, has spoken out about rumours of rivalry between her and Real Wine Fair organiser Doug Wregg of Les Caves de Pyrène, saying: “Our split wasn’t acrimonious – everything has been blown out of proportion.” As reported on the drinks business, having both helped start up The Natural Wine Fair in London Bridge last year, both Legeron and Wregg are hosting their own natural wine fairs this year, at the same time.

Legeron’s RAW is being held at the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane on May 20-21, while Wregg’s Real Wine Fair takes place at Victoria House in Holborn on May 20-22. “We decided the best way to move forward was to call it quits and organise two separate events. It’s a shame they’re both at the same time, hopefully that won’t happen next year,” Legeron said.

“It’s not an ideal situation, it would have been great to do a second Natural Wine Fair like last year. The fact that there are two fairs has got people talking and generated a lot of interest in both, but the rivalry has been exaggerated. I’m looking forward to the speculation on blogs and Twitter calming down so we can both get on with our jobs of organising our respective fairs,” she added.

Wregg agrees that the reaction to the news on blogs and Twitter has been counterproductive: “There has been some nasty blogging going on, trying to drive a wedge into something that should be really positive. Growers are confused by who is issuing the propaganda,” he said, adding, “I’m desperate that both events are successful because it will show there’s great traction with natural wines.”

Both agree that there is space for two natural wine fairs in London: “A natural split has occurred, with Les Caves de Pyrène growers going with the Real Wine Fair. A few producers want to be at both, but it has mainly been an easy decision where to go.

“300 producers would have been too many for one show anyway,” said Legeron, who admitted that she doesn’t know when an official definition for natural wine will be decided, despite it being desperately needed. Progress will be made this year but there won’t be a concrete definition for a while, if ever,” she said.

As to whether she and Wregg will ever join forces again, Legeron is unsure: “Let’s get this first fair out of the way and then we’ll have to see. There will probably be two fairs again next year, just hopefully not at the same time.” Both events, planned to coincide with the London Interntional Wine Fair on 22-24 May, will feature around 150 growers, with each devoting a day to consumers.

RAW artisan wine fair comes to London

An artisan wine fair for fine, organic and biodynamic wines dubbed “RAW”, will launch in London this May. As reported on thedrinksbusiness.com, the event will take place at the Old Truman Brewery in East London on 20-21 May, and will feature over 150 growers. Classic regions such as Burgundy, Bordeaux and Piedmont will be represented, as well as newcomers like Georgia and Serbia.

Organised by Isabelle Legeron MW (above), co-founder of last year’s Natural Wine Fair at Borough Market in London Bridge, RAW aims to build on the success of the Natural Wine Fair by acting as an independent event open to all producers, importers and official bodies. International grower associations La Renaissance des Appellations and VinNatur will be taking part, bringing with them growers from across the globe.

“My aim is to promote transparency in the wine world in order to support the art of authentic wine production. I want to help people think about what they drink’,” said Legeron. RAW is enforcing a charter of quality that all exhibitors must adhere to – in order for a wine to be on show at the fair, all grapes must have been farmed organically or biodynamically, only indigenous yeasts used and the sulphur levels must be clearly labelled on the bottle.

The fair will include talks from a number of wine expects, including biodynamic ambassador Nicolas Joly of La Coulée de Serrant in Savennières, and José Vouillamoz, co-author of Jancis Robinson MW's forthcoming book The Grape. There will also be a pop-up wine shop.