98 GQ.COM.AU SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017
TASTE+TRAVEL
W
hen it comes to the
most common wine
question I’ve been
asked in the past year,
‘What’s the story
with ‘natural’ wine?’
is beaten only by ‘Don’t you think you’ve had
enough?’ for the frequency of its asking.
Of the two it’s certainly the one I find
easier to answer.
‘Natural’ wine – those wines where the
winemaker recedes into the background and
lets nature take its course rather than guide,
cajole and shape what the vineyard has given
them – has been the biggest trend in the
world of wine over the past decade.
Natural wines from here and abroad have
established a strong beachhead on the local
wine scene.
They’re not just some passing fad. They’re
here to stay.
So it’s probably time to acknowledge
a journey through the world of natural wine
can deliver some utterly sublime experiences
but can just as easily veer of the rails and
end up in a putrid stream full of dead
dogs and shit.
I’ve had natural wines that have thrilled me
utterly and I’ve had natural wines that have
made me wonder if I should rip my tongue
from my mouth and wipe my arse with it
rather than subject it to another drop. That’s
part of the pleasure, and part of the problem.
There is a political statement inherent in
the whole ‘natural’ wine movement that
makes me a little uncomfortable, an unfair
juxtaposition that banishes all other wines
that don’t fit the criteria into a bin implied
to be ‘unnatural’.
The rise of natural wine has coincided
with the widespread misuse of the term
‘sommelier’. Perhaps not coincidentally.
While there are a number of dedicated
wine service professionals with the training
and experience to warrant the title, there’s
just as many out there calling themselvesa ‘sommelier’ just because they think it
will get them laid.
Without the skills to objectively assess
quality through tasting, many are clutching
at ideology as the justification for why they
recommend a wine.
Sometimes that will deliver utter pleasure,
other times you’ll end up with tepid piss.
I weep at the story of one winemaker –
a producer of meticulously farmed, sensitively
made wines that sing sweetly of the place from
which they come – who walked out of a sales
call with a Melbourne restaurant with bottles
unopened because the establishment flat out
refused to buy wines that exceeded their
self-imposed, and unrealistic, threshold of
sulfur additions above 30 parts per million.
So rather than offer their customers some
of the finest wines made in this country,
they choose to serve only what adheres to
their misguided ideas about the natural
preservative that has been used in wine
making since the days of the Roman empire.
I’ll accept a more open-minded attitude to
wine-making faults is required to enjoy a lot
of these wines and I’m cool with that.
But there is beauty in the flawed as well
as the perfect.
A natural wine isn’t good just because it’s
been made in line with the philosophies and
methods that define the movement. A natural
wine is good, just as any wine is, when it’s
delicious and you want to put in your mouth.
Make your own decisions about ‘natural’
wine. Don’t just drink the Kool-Aid.Try
these
Good Intentions Wine
Company ‘Gris Diddly
Dee’ 2016, $26
Bronzy pink, tautly
textured, wafts of apple
skin and quince. A slight
aldehyde edge and deftly
handled phenolic grip.
Curious but delicious.Gentle Folk ‘Forest
Range’ Pinot Noir
2016, $45
Gareth Belton is among
the best of the marauding
band of beardies making
wine in South Australia’s
Basket Range. Tiny
production pinot noir,
with the fragrant
complexity of whole-
bunch fermentation and
the ethereal grace that
is Belton’s signature.
Hard to find but well
worth seeking out.Good Intentions Wine
Company ‘Noir dee
doot dee dah’ 2016,
$26
Smells like summer
berries grown in straw
and the odd whiff of
wood nymph farts. Juicy,
crunchy and slippery in
the mouth. A lively, supple
and slinky expression
of pinot noir. WORDS: NICK RYAN; PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES.WINEWhat’s all
the fuss
about?
AS THE OBSESSION WITH
‘NATURAL’ WINE GROWS, WE
ASK WHETHER THE NATURAL
WAY IS THE BEST WAY.