自然酒喝的一頭霧水、像極了愛情/Natural Wine. Pét-nat. Orange Wine. Oh Mine!

謝伯伯時間

Despite being a certified wine geek, Uncle Sa'an of TUX is befuddled by the recent popularity of natural wine (自然酒). To this end, TUX uncles invite our Bordeaux (波爾多) correspondent, Tzuchien (子倩), to school the uncles.
Natural (自然酒), organic (有機農法), and biodynamics (生物動力農法) are three terms that are often commingled in a wine conversation. For the purpose of this discussion, we are focusing on the winemaking methods which are primarily in the realm of natural wine; organic and biodynamic are mostly concerned with the wine grape growing methods.
As a starting point, conventional winemaking (現代釀酒) as practiced today is focused on making stable wine with pre-determined profiles (特定風味) at a large scale. There are many techniques involved from commercially selected yeast (商業選育酵母) to the fermentation equipment (發酵溫控設備). The final product is highly crafted and predictable.
In contrast, natural wine makers are interested in working intimately with the land, the grape vine, and the natural fermentation process with the purpose of expressing the characters of all these dimensions. Drinking (a good) natural wine is like a conversation with nature.
(喝這種無添加、低干預哲學釀出來的好酒，彷彿一場與大自然的對話。)
That is the ideal. The reality of making natural wine comes with plenty of perils. Tzuchien discusses her meeting with Sancerre (法國松賽爾產區) natural wine maker Sébastien Riffault （力弗酒莊） who made many mistakes transitioning from conventional wine making to natural wine making. Even today, Sébastien is a controversial figure amongst Sancerre grandees.
Tzuchien also shared her delight in the soft bubbles of pét-nat (pétillant naturel/自然微氣泡酒) and gravitas of orange wine (橘酒). Both are experiencing a revival as the traditional winemaking methods (古法) before the international commercial methods took over.
All in all, this conversation makes TUX uncles very thirsty.
Cheers!

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