Joly: Natural wine is "meaningless"

Biodynamic pioneer Nicolas Joly has blasted natural wines as “meaningless”. Speaking at the RAW wine fair in London last month organised by Isabelle Legeron MW, Joly told the drinks business: “The term natural wine is nothing more than a drawer in which to put all the winemakers who didn’t make enough effort to convert to organics and biodynamics. Those naming themselves as ‘natural’ wines are going to have a huge problem in five years and are going to find it extremely difficult to sell their wines.” 

Joly feels that now organic and biodynamic wines have become trendy, everyone istrying to jump on the band wagon. “Natural wine is an empty concept devised for capturing a market. What is ‘natural’? All wines are natural. If you do nothing in the cellar you will have a natural wine but it won’t necessarily be a good wine to drink.”

Joly believes the subject of sulphur use – crucial to the natural wine movement – has been over discussed and incorrectly communicated. “It all depends which sulphur you use. A small amount of volcanic sulphur is actually a good thing for a wine. Wines destined to be shipped abroad that want any kind of life span need sulphur to protect against oxidation – they can’t survive without it. It’s pointless trying to fight the sulphur issue,” he said.

Explaining how biodynamics works, Joly, who runs biodynamic property La Coulee de Serrant in the Loire where he makes three wines from 100% Chenin Blanc, said: “At a physical level, biodynamics can’t work. It works in tiny quantities as a receiver on an energetic level like using a phone to connect to a friend. Being biodynamic connects a vine to that which it needs to express its full potential."

Joly revealed that he believes sound frequencies have a positive effect on stimulating yeast during fermentation. “I play a specific note to my wines in a specific spot of the cellar during fermentation. Sounds dominate matter and stimulate life but very little is understood about it,” he explained. He also believes shape is more important than material when it comes to fermenting and ageing wines, citing amphorae, which are still used in Georgia, as the best shape for maturing wine.

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.