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Natural Wine: An introduction to organic and biodynamic wines made naturally
Do you know what’s in your wine?
Wine-making has become ever-more unnatural, from the use of blanket crop-spraying in vineyards, to the over-use of sulfites, but finally someone is doing something about it. Isabelle Legeron MW is leading the campaign for natural wine – wine made as nature intended. There is no official description of natural wine, but a rough definition is that it is made from grapes that are farmed organically or biodynamically and harvested manually, and that the wine should ideally be made without adding or removing anything during the vinification process. It is basically good old-fashioned grape juice fermented into wine, just as nature intended. Isabelle is a crusader for the natural wine she has her own show on the Travel Channel, organizes a hugely successful annual natural wine festival (RAW), and acts as adviser to several leading restaurants. Just as the craft beer movement has taken off across the globe, the demand for natural wine is growing and will continue to do so.
Wine-making has become ever-more unnatural, from the use of blanket crop-spraying in vineyards, to the over-use of sulfites, but finally someone is doing something about it. Isabelle Legeron MW is leading the campaign for natural wine – wine made as nature intended. There is no official description of natural wine, but a rough definition is that it is made from grapes that are farmed organically or biodynamically and harvested manually, and that the wine should ideally be made without adding or removing anything during the vinification process. It is basically good old-fashioned grape juice fermented into wine, just as nature intended. Isabelle is a crusader for the natural wine she has her own show on the Travel Channel, organizes a hugely successful annual natural wine festival (RAW), and acts as adviser to several leading restaurants. Just as the craft beer movement has taken off across the globe, the demand for natural wine is growing and will continue to do so.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2014
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291 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 11, 2019
An excellent primer on organic and biodynamic wines, well-written and beautifully photographed. The second edition from 2017 has an extensive (for Paris, NYC, and San Francisco) list of cafes, restaurants, and shops selling these rare wines from tiny wineries.
July 6, 2020
Belle introduction pour les curieux-ruses et beau répertoire: de quoi faire allonger votre lise d’envies et d’IP...
November 5, 2021
One cannot help, when just beginning, to get easily swept up in Legeron’s writing about natural wine. She champions these wines so fervently that it becomes almost a political call to action.
However, when every single natural winemaker is beyond reproach, and the system becomes personified by a villain “out to get them all”, one has to put the book down a little, take a light pinch of salt, and start again.
I loved this book for its explanations - brief but effective (I can get more in depth elsewhere; this is, after all: an introduction), its portraits, its photographs and its wine list at the end. It is difficult to write objectively about something you love.
However, as an introduction which should by definition serve absolute novices, I think this book should have been more level-headed overall.
However, when every single natural winemaker is beyond reproach, and the system becomes personified by a villain “out to get them all”, one has to put the book down a little, take a light pinch of salt, and start again.
I loved this book for its explanations - brief but effective (I can get more in depth elsewhere; this is, after all: an introduction), its portraits, its photographs and its wine list at the end. It is difficult to write objectively about something you love.
However, as an introduction which should by definition serve absolute novices, I think this book should have been more level-headed overall.
January 11, 2021
This book has RUINED my interest in natural wines. I did like few natural wines before and got this book to guide my further exploration, but now I feel like I'd better stay away.
First, the author leaves without explanation a lot of things she writes about. She doesn't even care to properly explain what "biodynamic" actually means (or is it because it's some spiritual-astrological nonsense?).
Second, right from the first pages you feel how biased the author is, how she considers everything "natural" to be much better then human-made just because it's natural. The book is filled with statements supported only by the author's emotions — some of those statements are just ignorant.
To be fair, I did get a few insights about the process of making wine and why some aspects of producing natural wines make sense, but overall I've got an impression that the whole community is a freak show that manages to produce something drinkable only by accident.
First, the author leaves without explanation a lot of things she writes about. She doesn't even care to properly explain what "biodynamic" actually means (or is it because it's some spiritual-astrological nonsense?).
Second, right from the first pages you feel how biased the author is, how she considers everything "natural" to be much better then human-made just because it's natural. The book is filled with statements supported only by the author's emotions — some of those statements are just ignorant.
To be fair, I did get a few insights about the process of making wine and why some aspects of producing natural wines make sense, but overall I've got an impression that the whole community is a freak show that manages to produce something drinkable only by accident.
July 14, 2020
Interesting and another building block of a natural wine journey,but I didn’t like how it was put together- it dived about all over the place and didn’t sustain thought. I also would have appreciated seeing labels at the back with recommended wines to have a more visual idea of what she was recommending.
February 10, 2019
Very inspiring 🍷
February 12, 2019
A great introduction to natural wine, with plenty of useful knowledge and interesting interviews with growers and producers.
October 27, 2019
Nice photos, but on the rudimentary side. I was hoping for more depth.
August 2, 2020
An excellent introduction to natural wine.
November 17, 2021
A fascinating read on wine!
January 31, 2022
Came for grape farming, stayed for wine recommendations
September 18, 2022
Lots of pretty photos of natural vineyards in the sunset, but I didn't find the information all that enlightening. Maybe it would have been better years ago before natural wine bars had sprouted up everywhere, but I came in already knowing the basics, and this didn't elaborate on them much. I'm trying to think of what I learned from reading this, and all I can come up with is that commercial whites are so sterile because they to stop the malo on purpose to keep a crisp flavor. Now I know why I suddenly like whites now that I'm drinking natural wines.
August 30, 2014
An ok introduction to the natural wine movement.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews