By Alexandre Abellan, Vitisphère
Defining and framing natural wines: the process is not without difficulties, but she hopes to quickly remove any ambiguity. " The desire that motivates us is that when the consumer uncorks a bottle of natural wine, he or she will actually find a natural wine in it," says Jacques Carroget, the president of the Nature'l* wine defence union, who met at a general meeting on 3 February 2020 during the Loire wine fair (Angers).
Launched in September 2019, this project to regulate the nature wine label has flourished. The newly formed union has been able to refine its project with the services of the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Institute of Origin and Quality(INAO) and the Fraud Control. The latter having breathed a name compatible with the European regulations in force: "vin méthode nature" (the term vin nature being illegal). A term that comes under two " natural method wine" logos: the first subtitled " without added sulphites " (for sulphite concentrations of less than 10 mg/l) and the second "less than 30 mg/l of added sulphites".
To display these distinctive signs on its label, a cuvée hired by a winemaker or wine merchant must respect the charter of the syndicate**. Taken up in full below (see box), this text asks each cuvée engaged in the method for a natural wine to come from a property engaged in organic farming (organic certification, or second year of organic conversion, or private charter Nature et Progrès), from plots harvested by hand (to involve the hand of man), from musts without inputs nor filtration or yeasting (use of indigenous yeasts), from non-sulphite tanks during fermentation (but with a possibility of adding SO2 less than 30 mg/l before bottling)...
These requirements are based on an official commitment on honour at the time of the declaration of the vintage harvest (before 10 December), an analysis of sulphites in the bottle (Cofrac Frantz Paul protocol) and annual random checks by a certifying body (1% of members, based on traceability and vintage analyses). " Our approach is to define a natural wine without limiting the freedom of the winegrowers," underlines Gilles Azzoni, the deputy secretary of the Nature'l syndicate. Even if the Ariège-based winemaker acknowledges that"in practice, it will be impossible for us to check that no sulphites have been added to the vatting or that there has been no yeasting. But the commitment to honour is an immense responsibility, which makes sense. To each his own conscience"
Unveiled, the charter did not fail to make the participants react, massed in a small room at the Angers exhibition centre. Whether it was the use of the private reference Nature et Progrès or the indication of adding sulphites if the SO2 comes from yeast activity, or even the possibility of adding sulphites? However, the most common refrain concerns the risk of this definition being recovered on a vintage scale by large operators, such as wine merchants and cooperative cellars.
An outdated debate for the blogger-militant Antonin Iommi-Amunategui, a founding member of the union, who denounces the already massive misappropriation of the terminology and the universe of natural wines. "It is necessary to reach the general public, which has been in the dark for years. There is currently a real scam on the shelves of supermarkets," says Antonin Iommi-Amunategui, who gets carried away by the evocation of the flash-pasteurized vintages of Gerard Bertrand.
"Our union has the will to be neutral. We are not committed to one model of viticulture or another," adds Jacques Carroget. Currently counting 65 cuvées committed for 168 members (including 44 French, Italian and Spanish winegrowers), the president of the union is aiming for 1,000 members in three years time (including 500 winegrowers). Jacques Carroget is mainly looking forward to the presentation of these specifications on 21 February at the Fraudes. His ambition is to eventually integrate this approach into the regulations: "today the charter is private, the objective is to make it a regulation in five years time".
An ambition of regulation that is not without a certain ideal. "Other associations have been choked by fear and paranoia of being hijacked. Now we're opening up. It's a risk of draught, as there is a lot of demand and little supply," concludes Gilles Azzoni. Hoping to open up a new space for young winegrowers, he is preparing for lively debates to maintain the balance between the accessibility of the charter (the possibility of sulphiting being rhetorical for some) and the selectivity of the approach (debates on harvesting machines, filtering...).
* : The first general assembly of the union was held in September 2019, with six members (the winemakers Jacques Carroget, Gilles Azzoni and Sébastien David, as well as the anthropologist Christelle Pineau, the journalist Antonin Iommi-Amunategui, the lawyer Eric Morain).
** : Please note that a cuvée committed to the vin nature method can only produce wines in compliance with the specifications, so as not to risk misleading the consumer.
1. 100% of the grapes (from all origins: PDO, Vin de France, etc.) intended for a wine that claims to be "vin méthode nature" must be from a committed and certified organic farming (Nature et Progrès, AB, or second year conversion AB at least).
2. The harvest is manual.
3. The wines are vinified only with indigenous yeasts.
4. No inputs are added.
5. No action of voluntary modification of the constitution of the grape shall be permitted.
6. No recourse to brutal and traumatic physical techniques (reverse osmosis, filtration, tangential filtration, flash pasteurisation, thermovinification, etc.) is permitted.
7. Aucun sulfite n’est ajouté avant et lors des fermentations. Possibilité d’ajustement, de l’ordre de - SO2 < 30 mg/l H2SO4 total, quels que soient le type et la couleur du vin - avant la mise ; obligation d’information d’adjonction de sulfites mentionnée sur l’étiquette via un logo dédié.
8. During a "salon des vins méthode nature", both the winegrowers and the organisers undertake to present the charter next to the bottles; independent wine merchants are encouraged to do the same, as long as du possible, within their establishment.
9. Use of an identifying logo.
10. The commitment will be made at the time of "marketing" (obligation of result) by a "declaration on honour", following the opinion of the association's office; it will be requested each year for each vintage (batch clearly identified).
11. Vintages that are not "vin méthode vin nature" must be clearly identifiable (differentiated labelling) by the signatories.
12. The signatories will commit themselves in their own name and all the information requested will be put online.
