Natural wine does not exist

I would like to make an appeal to all 'natural wine' producers: Either ask for precise regulations that can legally define what a “natural wine” isor stop using that ambiguous term.

There is an affirmation that cannot be denied and it is that Nature does not make wine. Nor is it the ‘stepmother’ Leopardi wrote about or what is being touted today almost everywhere as a cure-all for humanity. If it were up to Nature, the grapes on a crawling vine (which is their natural state) would just fall to the ground and the seeds would be spread out to allow for the continuation of the species. It is man who forces vines to grow in rows, which he creates and do not exist in nature, and who picks the grapes when they are best for making wine, which is then made by and consumed by man.

This is all a procedure of intended training and transformation and thus has nothing to do with a natural process. It all has to do with human activity and this becomes even more evident when you consider that in nature wine serves no other purpose than to satisfy human desires. No other animal drinks it and if they do they risk becoming very sick indeed. I do not think anyone could dispute or disagree with what I have just said. And this in no way means that those winemakers who claim to produce “natural wines” do not have the best intentions in the world and do not demonstrate a great sensitivity towards environmental sustainability in what they do and authentic concern for the health of those who drink their wine. The problem is they have defined their wine in a wrong, ambiguous and misleading way.

Today, I think it is almost obligatory for any human activity to seek to be in balance with the environment. But this must be done according to clear protocols, like ISO 1400, with regulations governed by the laws of the state and not just the best intentions of individuals. Nor should they be dictated by advertising slogans that reflect a neo-pagan ideologies which are, more often than not, sectarian and antiscientific. For all these reasons and more, I would like to make an appeal to all those who naïvely think that their wines are “natural”.

Either ask for precise regulations that can legally define what a “natural wine” is, in order to protect the consumer who does not understand what it is supposed to be, or stop using a term that, I repeat, is ambiguous and risks being only a marketing ploy, which I’m sure no self-respecting “natural” producer would want to use in such a flagrant way.