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Postmodern Winemaking CL ARK SMITH Natural Wine Nonsense quaff, you will find it more consistently and cheaply than ever before. But there is growing discontent with fruit- forward styles that die young and global monster wines that are hard to tell apart. The Internet now resounds with voices de- manding "somewhere-ness." Many critics, newly aware of the recent technological revolution in winemaking, have sought to demonize new winemaking techniques as sources of shallowness and sameness. The rapidly expanding availability of T new winemaking tools coupled with a decreased willingness to share knowledge has led to a substantial information gap between winemakers and their customers. A sudden sense of betrayal has emerged, leaving wine lovers with a desire to get back to basics. Certification programs that have laid down strict rules for organic and Biody- namic wine have left many consumers un- satisfied, either by sins of commission or omission. This malaise has coalesced into a group advocating for natural wine. But what is it? My attempts during the past three years to encourage natural wine proponents such as wine writer Alice Feiring to state what they are after have led me to a clear conclusion: These leaders, at least, want to rouse discontent and sell books. Why then, after a decade of harangue, has this movement failed to develop stan- dards? My belief is that it isn't a movement at all. Natural wine proponents are instead 72 Wines & Vines MAY 201 1 he consumer has never had it so good. We have 20 times the choices we had two decades ago, and incidence of poor wines has nearly vanished. If what you are after is drinkable Highlights • The natural wine movement has proven itself incapable of articulating its beliefs. • The luddite agenda of traditionalists and collectors is not compatible with the need for radical change stressed by the health conscious and environmentalists. • While market forces have created an appearance of sameness among mainstream New World offerings, more diversity exists today than ever before. But don't look for it at Dean & Deluca. an uneasy coalition of strange bedfellows whose agendas can't all be satisfied by a single set of winemaking rules. The Players Blogger Joe Dressner writes, "The prob- lem is that there was never an official faith and never a doctrine. The blogosphere and media created a construct, milked it for publicity and then deconstructed an 'ideology' that they had helped to define and promote."2 Joe advocated well for the natural wine movement within the context that the movement was, by his own admis- sion, mostly a movement against things, not an advocacy for anything in particular. It's a good article, a remarkable defense in which he claims it doesn't matter. (He seems lately to have changed his mind.) Below are the eight constituencies of the would-be Natural Wine Move- ment, each with a few words describing its motivations. See which you identify with personally. Non-interventionist: Wine should not be casually fooled around with. Traditional winemaking is fine, but techniques that cheat or hide flaws are to be avoided if possible. The best wine makes itself. Environmentalist: Winemaking should not damage the environment. Concerns include erosion, petrochemicals, deforesta- tion caused by barrel production, carbon footprint and recycling. Conventionalist: I don't want to drink anything I can't pronounce. Give me standard winemaking without all the weird stuff. Traditionalist: Prefers time-tested meth- ods, the older the better. Suspicious of all recent technological innovations including use of electricity, chemistry, microbiology, genetic manipulation and petrochemi- cal agriculture. Older manipulations like isinglass fining or chaptalization are in- visible because they have withstood the test of time. Health-conscious: Wants to control food sources and protect the health of winery personnel as well. In addition to restricting the use of chemicals in vine- yards and in wine, prefers moderate al- cohol wines and needs full disclosure of potential allergens. Collector: Serious investment in age- worthy wine requires dependable micro- bial stability. Passion is great wine that improves with time. Don't take chances on my nickel. Nervous about experimental techniques and changes in processing, es- pecially among established houses. Authenticity purist: Wine should be made from grapes alone, with as little addition and manipulation as possible in order to present a distinctive expression. More extreme than the non-intervention- ist: If nature gave us a difficult vintage, let's taste it! Terroirist: Passionate about the unique flavors of a place. Please don't obscure the wine's distinctive expression with exces- sive alcohol or wood, or employ practices that make wines all taste the same.