The claim that many white macerated or orange wines are also natural is true, as this technique is usually used by winemakers who are committed to sustainable production, and not every orange wine is natural.

In Slovenia and some neighbouring countries, many people equate orange wines, i.e. macerated white wines, with natural wines and vice versa. When natural wines are mentioned, many people say, “Oh, it’s those orange ones…” But are they? First, let’s be clear about the term orange wines, which many of us are not very keen on, but it has somehow caught on all over the world, so there is no point in looking for another one. The term ‘orange wines’ was coined in 2004 during a visit to the
Frank Cornelissen
was first used at Etna by sommelier, wine importer and distributor David A. Harvey to help distinguish classic whites from macerated whites in communication and on wine lists.

Classic white wines are made by crushing the grapes immediately after crushing and separating the must from the skins before fermentation begins. Orange wines, like red wines, are characterised by maceration, i.e. the contact of the must with the skins of the strawberry . We are talking about a period of a few days to several weeks or even months. The difference is therefore in the production technique from the harvest onwards, not in whether the winemaker works according to organic or biodynamic production principles in the vineyard and later in the cellar. While it is true that many white macerated wines are also natural, as this technique is usually used by winemakers who are committed to sustainable production, not every white macerated wine is natural. In previous articles, I have already mentioned the specific processes that ultimately distinguish organic, biodynamic and natural wines from conventional ones. Given that there is still a lot of confusion about all this, let’s take a look at the 8 main processes and approaches used by a vigneron or winemaker to make natural wine.

1. A clean vineyard

By this we mean the absence of pesticides, herbicides, artificial fertilisers in the vineyard. The transition from conventional to organic farming in a contaminated vineyard takes about ten years. Vines that grow without the help of chemicals and watering will grow deep and/or wide roots, making them much more drought tolerant. The plant is also significantly more resistant to diseases and pests, so there is much less need for chemical protectants.

2. Optimum quantity of grapes on the vine

This is of paramount importance for the quality of the wine, and less is not always more. It is a matter of identifying the quantity that gives the highest quality for each variety, area and location, but this is not a prerequisite for producing natural wine. This is usually the practice with natural wines, as winemakers strive for the highest possible quality. Theoretically, we could also choose to produce lower quality natural wine in larger quantities, but this would almost certainly raise the question of price or cost-effectiveness.

3. The right time to harvest

For spontaneous alcoholic and malolactic fermentation and a quality end result, it is of course very important that the harvesting time is optimal. In natural wines, we do not use interventions such as the removal of tannins, acids, alcohol (reverse osmosis) or the addition of enzymes, tannins, aromatic tannins, acids, sugars … The optimum ripeness of the tannins, the phenolic ripeness, the sugar and acid levels of the grapes are therefore of paramount importance, as there are no subsequent corrections.

4. Maximum hygiene

All processes, containers and the cellar must be clean to avoid causing infections from the outset that lead to faulty wines. This does not mean that the cellar itself has to be sterile, as spontaneous fermentation is also triggered by the indigenous yeasts and bacteria present in the cellar.

5. Spontaneous fermentation

For “natural” winemakers, this is the heart of the whole operation. The alcoholic fermentation should therefore be triggered by the indigenous yeasts present on the skin of the grapes. The use of pesticides, herbicides and other chemical sprays would destroy these yeasts, so spontaneous fermentation is not possible and so-called selected or commercial yeasts have to be added to the must, but they significantly alter the wine’s aroma and flavour. It is the naturally occurring yeasts that give the wine its terroir-specific character. That is why Mlečnik’s chardonnay from Bukovica in the Vipava Valley is completely different from Šumenjak’s from Jakobsko Dol in Styria. Using selected yeasts would make a much smaller difference. It is also a spontaneous malolactic fermentation, which can be stopped in winter and reawakened in spring.

6. Uncontrolled temperature during fermentation

When our ancestors built cellars, they did so on the basis of experience, which means that the temperature of the part of the cellar where alcoholic fermentation took place already meant that there was some temperature control. An uncontrolled temperature is therefore not automatically a positive thing, as it can lead to, for example, volatile (volatile) acids that are too high and wine that is more like vinegar than a fine drink. Some winemakers present this as a normal feature or character of natural wine, but it is a cheap excuse for a bad job.

7. No filtering

Fulvio Bressan
who produces his wines in Friuli, showed me the preparation for filtering the wine in the cellar. At my astonished look, he laughed thunderously, as is his wont, and explained that his father insisted that the filtering device was still in the cellar, to remind him every time what a fool he had been when he was still filtering his wines. Bressani and many others have not done so for more than 20 years. Filtering robs the wine of its character, reducing the intensity of its aroma and flavour. We are talking about microfiltration or even sterile filtration with ultra-fine filters. Natural wines are therefore not filtered, except in some cases with very coarse filters that remove only the largest particles. You will find more or less sediment in the bottle, which contains, among other things, natural preservatives, which means that this wine needs very little added sulphur before it goes into the bottles, but it is still stable. Of course, after sedimentation (when the solid particles settle to the bottom of the container), the wine is carefully transferred by gravity from one barrel or container to another. This avoids the excessive presence of solids or sediment in the bottle.  

8. Clarification, colour stabilisation, etc.

These processes are not used for natural wines. Gum arabica, bentonite, enzymes, microfiltration and similar chemical and mechanical interventions normally used in the production of conventional wines are not part of the production of traditional, natural wines. Some use the white of organic eggs for clarification, which organic production allows, but many do not consider such wines to be natural.

So what about the colour of natural wine?

Let’s put it this way: orange wine is often also natural, but the correlation is not necessary. Natural wine can also be orange, but very often red, white, rose, sparkling (in all colours) and even yellow (wines from the Jura region).

In truth, orange wines account for a relatively small share of the world’s natural wine production. A visit to one of the natural wine festivals such as VinNatur, ViniVeri and ViVit in Italy, La Dive and Renaissance des Appellations in France or Label Grand Karakterre in Vienna will open up the whole colourful palette of natural wines.

Read more: What to expect from natural wines?