I like natural wine. Please, do not call me a hipster or shame me for liking the “fad” wine of 2019. Natural wine is not a new thing, it is how wine was made before World War II and the introduction of industrialized production and mechanical manipulation. In France during the 1980s, a small group of winemakers started experimenting with traditional wine production like their grandparents enjoyed. It took decades, but natural wine has finally gained popularity.

What is natural wine? “Natural wine” has no legal definition and has no official certification like the ones found for organic and biodynamic wines. Natural wine is the New Hampshire of vino, whose state motto is “live free or die.” The unofficial classification of natural wine is wine made without adding or subtracting anything – no additives, no chemicals, no sulfur, no oak aging, no filtering, no yeast, you get the idea. They are alive and hardly manipulated. These wines go against status quo. They are the rebel children who are redefining wine classifications and making us question “good wine.”

Natural wines are fun and weird, and slightly nerdy. The microbiological life of the grapes follow it to the cellar, and those microbes are fundamental to making the wine and giving it its unique taste. You taste the soil and the environment of the grape more clearly; your palate is introduced to new tones unfamiliar with wine. Some natural wines taste like sour beer or kombucha. I find natural wines that I have enjoyed to taste cleaner and clear, they’re great for afternoon drinking or summer nights on the lake. Most natural wines are delicious, while some are weird. But the unpredictability and the adventure of trying these wines is hard to pass up or ignore.

If you’re nerdy like me, unpretentious about wine, and looking for wine that is drinkable, then I’d encourage you to try natural wine. Don’t be afraid to look like a hipster when you order it, your wine shop or server will probably geek-out with you as you try your natural wine selection. —Justin Burke-Samson

Here are a few places I frequent for natural wine, currently. But don’t hesitate to ask any place you go if they have natural wine on the menu or in stock:

• Kindred, Davidson – their wine list is full of natural wines currently
• Resident Culture Brewing Company, Plaza Midwood – every Thursday is half off bottles of wine
• Siggy’s Good Food, Belmont – every Wednesday is half off bottles of wine
• Crepe Cellar, NoDa – they come and go, just ask if they have any

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