Twenty-fifth anniversary of natural wines, raise your glasses (Vigésimo quinto aniversário dos vinhos naturais, levantem as ta?as)

A natural wine or wine according to nature or true wine or artisanal wine is a wine that is made from organic grapes, through spontaneous fermentation of the must, without the addition of other substances, with the possible exception of small quantities of sulfur dioxide, also prohibiting the use of invasive procedures.

At the moment there is no legislation (at least in the EU) or a unanimous international consensus on the exact definition of natural wine.

This qualification is therefore not certified by any accredited and third-party body, lacking a common regulatory text or, at least, a reference.

However, there is a vast movement for the creation of a European production regulation.

There are several associations that promote natural wine.

These associations of small winemakers produce according to their own specifications.

The first ever were the French ones, then they spread throughout the world.

Some of these require, in addition to organic production (and, often, also the obligation of certification according to the relevant legislation), also biodynamic production, others instead reject it as an anthroposophical vision that presupposes esoteric beliefs perceived as unnatural.

HistoryIn France, it dates back to the great strikes of the winemakers in 1903 and 1904, who were already asking for a natural wine, produced exclusively from grape juice without resorting to artificial manufacturing methods.

In Montpellier, on June 9, 1907, 600,000 winemakers met for a large demonstration.

One of their slogans was Long live natural wine!.

Among other things, these riots led to the adoption of the law of June 29, 1907 which prohibited the dilution of wine by adding water and the abuse of sugar.

This ancient claim of the world of wine was then combined with the consumer demand for healthy eating in the 80s (Slow Food) and the movements of the society to nature to give life to the current concept of natural wine.

The most important associations of producers existing today and having natural wine as their object were born in the early 2000s.

Methods

Detailing the definition in the incipit a little, we can say that a natural wine is a wine obtained from organic farming, without the use of adjuvants and additives in the cellar (except for small doses of sulphites), and using only spontaneous fermentation.

Traditional vines of the territory and ownership of the vineyard or, in any case, direct management, by the producer, of third-party vineyards, are two requirements almost always provided for by the statutes of the natural wine associations.

The methods presented below are those that bring together the various associations of natural wine producers and do not constitute a list of obligations.

In fact, as mentioned above, the term natural wine is not regulated and therefore is not subject to shared recognition with respect to a defined and common specification.

Let's get to the heart of what is the most vinous week of the year, namely the eagerly awaited week of Vinitaly and its surroundings.

But this is truly a special year, in fact we are celebrating the tenth anniversary of that Vini Veri 2004 at Villa Favorita which brought together in the name of natural wine a large group of wine producers who had left Vinitaly.

Today there are 288 Italian producers of natural wines who will present their wines together with European colleagues who follow the same production idea in the three events in Verona: 87 in Cerea, 92 in Villa Favorita, 109 in Vivit.

But more than the numbers, what counts are the wines, the people, the human relationships, the ideas and that history that unites them wherever they are.

Some remember with joy, some with regret, others are too young to remember (there are so many very young companies!) but they all share an identical idea of wine and agriculture, with differences and nuances in the production methods that reflect more than a brand, personal sensibilities, the territories of origin and the traditions developed there, but which together have built that culture of wine that today has become the common heritage of many producers, enthusiasts and operators.

Between 2003 and 2004 everything happened very quickly: in 2003 Luigi Veronelli organized the first Critical Wine at Chimica di Verona right outside Vinitaly, a huge success and an important breaking point, in his closing press release Veronelli wrote: This event will mark a new awareness among consumers and farmers in general and among the Veronese in particular.

That's how it was and still is. Also in 2003 in the pavilions of Vinitaly Luca Gargano was presenting Triple A, meanwhile in France Nicholas Joly created Renaissance des Appellations.

The following year Luca Gargano proposed to some producers – including Maule, Radikon, Princic, Bea – to organize a show outside of Vinitaly, so Vini Veri was born in Villa Favorita in conjunction with Vinitaly 2004.

Once again a huge success – many remember the hours spent washing glasses that were not enough for the next day – a confirmation that the time was truly ripe, that the world of wine was tired of drinking wines without a soul, without a connection to the territory.

After two editions Maule left the Vini Veri association, the roads then began to run parallel, intersecting every now and then, the events became first two, then three, then two, then three again, but beyond names and places we can talk about a real natural wine movement, strong in its own differences.

Not all the problems raised then have been solved, indeed, many have grown, but the awareness of what is being done has been refined in producers as in drinkers, just like a good wine that improves with time.

We would therefore like to invite everyone, absolutely everyone, on the occasion of this tenth birthday to toast natural wines and all the people who have made it possible to continue drinking them.

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