A blog dedicated to the places and faces of natural wine. Join us in our journey through terroir.
PHOTO BY TRIPLE A One of the founders of the natural wine movement in France is widely regarded the French winemaker Marcel Lapierre. A new generation of winemakers has been inspired to embrace natural techniques and minimal intervention in their work by Lapierre's approach to winemaking, which emphasized minimal intervention and the use of natural methods.Lapierre was born in 1950,...
French winemaker and chemist Jules Chauvet was instrumental in the growth of the natural wine movement in the 20th century. In order to let the wine express its terroir and the character of the grapes, he argued for a minimal approach to winemaking that used native yeasts and few additives. Although the traditional wine industry at the time opposed him,...
Let’s start a bit philosophically with “what is natural wine for you?” This is going to sound a bit provocative but to me, natural wine doesn’t exist. The term “natural” is used to identify those wines made with a certain specific philosophy in the vineyard and in the cellar. What we call natural wine should ideally indicate all wine. We...
Nature vs nurture: which can be seen as predominant in natural wine and what could be said to be the main differences with conventional wine? Natural wine for me was born as a very noble idea, indicating all those wines made without excessive intervention both in the vineyard and in the cellar. Of course once that, after the hard work...
Angiolino, a quick and dirty definition of natural wine? Natural wine is simply a wine that is produced without any additives both in the vineyard and in the cellar. It’s a product and child of the land, transformed by culture, experience and wisdom. The human element is here considered a vital element and part of nature, as well as of...
The wine business – like many other fields – is one in which women have been underrepresented for too long. In recent years, however, women have taken a more prominent presence in the wine world: as producers, sommeliers, and wine writers. In this blog series, we will introduce you to some of the most interesting female natural winemakers. Winemaker: Nicoletta...
What would you have thought if, about 20 years ago, someone told you that, in just about a decade, a previously unknown Belgian wine broker would become a veritable superstar in the global natural wine scene? Fast forward a few years and no one would argue that today, from Tokyo to Paris, from Stockholm to New York City, Cornelissen’s high-altitude...
(photo credit: vinidivignaioli.fr) Podere Magia, which means “Estate of Magic”, is located in one of Italy’s true heartlands of authentic culinary and viticulture-winemaking traditions, Emilia-Romagna – to be precise the Western part of the region, called “Emilia”. Emilia-Romagna is not only the birthplace of tortellini, cappelletti, Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, Culatello di Zibello, balsamic vinegar (phew, what a list...
Distina is located in the “Colli Piacentini” hills of Western Emilia-Romagna near the picturesque burg of Castell’Arquato and is nestled between two verdant and rather Hobbit-esque valleys. The very same hills are also home to several other natural wine pioneers: La Stoppa, Andrea Cervini, Denavolo, Croci, and Montesissa. A small, family-led passion project, Distina was born in 2017 when young...
Stefano Legnani wasn’t born into winemaking; he began his journey as a gourmet, natural wine lover, and avid drinker. Fast forward a few years, he has now more than deservedly become a cult name in the natural wine world – and every bit the rock star in a sophisticated natural wine market like Japan. In his previous life, Stefano was...
Giovanni Mesina likes to call himself “the shepherd who makes wine”. That’s because that’s what he is, aside from being a natural vigneron who is as unassuming and gentle as he is tremendously skilled and inspired. Giovanni’s family hails originally from the rugged mountains and plateaus of Sardinia, and have been raising sheep there for 3 generations. He emigrated to...
Marco Buratti, who might seem rather gruff and surly at first impact, is just quiet and slightly shy...initially at least. He then pleasantly explodes in a frenzy of joyous activity, imbued with the sacred fire of he, who wants to make the wines he loves to drink, and who loves to speak of his land. Before returning to his native...
The late Stanko Radikon, a true icon of the renaissance of natural wines and orange wines, once said: “I sent my son Sasa to get a degree in winemaking so that he’d do exactly what not to do”. As hyperbolic and paradoxical as this sentence might sound, it points straight to the amber-hued core of Radikon’s heartfelt and visionary philosophy...
Elisabetta Foradori – also known as “The Lady of Teroldego” in natural wine circles and well beyond – is one of the most historical and respected natural wineries in Italy, and one of the very few in Northern Italy’s mountainous Trentino-Alto Adige, a region rich in native varieties and diverse terroir but rife with conventional operations. Elisabetta Foradori's winery was...
Perhaps the phrase that best summarises Alessandro Dettori’s approach to winemaking and Tenute Dettori's wines is found on the back labels: “I don’t follow the market, I make the wines that I like to drink, wines of my terroir, wines of Sennori. They are what they are and not what you would like them to be.” The Dettori biodynamic estate,...
Le Coste di Gradoli, which has long since become one of the darlings of natural wine lovers the world over and has attained something of a cult status, much deservedly, is located in Northern Lazio’s enchanting village of Gradoli, just a stone’s throw from the border with Umbria. Le Coste was born in 2004 from the romantic vinnaturist dream and...
Dario Princic has now for many years been a paradigmatic example and guiding light when it comes to masterful orange wines from Friuli-Venezia Giulia's Collio subregion, as well as being one of the most revered producers of this hallowed style in the whole world. Dario likes to call himself an “artisan of wine” and we agree but his shimmering, character-filled,...
COS winery, located on the extreme south-eastern tip of Sicily, not too far from African shores, was founded in 1980 by three lifelong friends: Gianbattista Cilia, Cirino Strano, and Giusto Occhipinti. The name of the winery is simply the acronym of their last names' initials. Their idea of wine is best expressed in their own words: “Wine is body, substance,...
Born within the impenetrable compounds where obscure vinnaturist secret societies have their quasi-mystical rendezvous, the mantra “vinocinghialo” - which can be translated as “wild boar wine” - has slowly but surely trickled down into the general vinnaturist consciousness. Well, at least in some parts of Italy. But what is vinocinghialo? Is it a state of mind? A bizarre weltanschaung? All...
Folicello holds a special place at Primal Wine. Folicello wines were amongst the first natural wines we bought for this project. Everybody loves Folicello wines and for very good reasons. In this piece, we'd like to show you what makes Folicello natural wines so special. They are not only delicious and affordable but, as cheesy as it sounds, they are...
It is sadly quite rare to find true natural wineries, real ambassadors of tradition and terroir, in Veneto’s famed Valpolicella area. Although blessed with a vibrant land and an ancient history of viticulture, Valpolicella, world-famous for Amarone, has become a symbol of Parker-style oak-laden fruit-bombs. Fortunately, some lone heroes do exist and of late the trend seems to be gradually...
Carolina Gatti is more than just one of the pioneer natural vignerons in Veneto’s prosecco area, sadly a land rich with ancient farming and vinification traditions and now sacrificed at the altar of chemical farming and production of serialized, industrialized so-called wines. She’s more of a jolly natural wine elemental spirit, her hair color changing from flamingo-pink to Incredible Hulk-green...
Sete in Italian means “thirst.” Sete boys’ sacred mission is precisely to quench our unending and ever-growing thirst for living, vibrant, fearless wines that speak to the heart and soul of terroir, uniqueness, and passion. Sete Project, strangely enough, is born out of the passion for beer and many evenings at the local pub of two childhood friends, Arcangelo and...
Agnanum, located on the volcanic hills of the Campi Flegrei area of the Mediterranean paradise of the Campania region, is one of the symbols and pioneers of heroic viticulture in Italy. The Moccia family has been devoted to distilling the spirit and soul of their unique and often harsh terroir into living, luminous wines for more than 40 years. The...
Today we are talking about wild wines. A natural wine primal mantra welcomes you as soon as you land on Cantina Indigeno’s homepage: “In the vats the must shakes off the sugars and procreates the alcohol. Grape skins thicken by the sides, raiding polyphenols, the tannic infantry surges from the stems as if from a wartime trench. Amphoras transpire: they...
It is in the ruggedly beautiful hills near Teramo, in the Abruzzo region of central Italy about 8km from the crystalline Adriatic sea...
The Sega brothers, Matteo and Luca, along with their father Angelo, are the heart and soul of Barbacan. They are among the pioneers of natural winemaking in the steep slopes of the Valtellina area in northern Lombardy and true symbols of heroic winemaking. The territorial nature of this beautiful family-run winery is evident from the name itself since Barbacan in...
