A WineSpeed reader recently sent me this article: Shitting Good. That’s What I Like About Natural Wine.
In addition to the crude title (unless maybe the wine had a weird manifestation of Brettanomyces?), the piece had a self-righteous tone that’s becoming all too common among articles dealing with so-called natural wine. But even worse were the implications of fact and/or science where none exist. As far as I’m concerned, people can love any kind of wine they want. But writers have an obligation to try to get to truth through careful research and clear writing.
What then to make of this sentence about an “oxidized and slightly cooked” wine the writer was drinking:
“Even though there’s no agreed-on definition of what natural wine is or isn’t, many would call this a natural wine: it’s organically farmed, it’s spontaneously fermented using wild yeast, and its low-intervention winemaking style makes it a compelling, even if technically flawed, expression of place.”
“A COMPELLING, EVEN IF TECHNICALLY FLAWED, EXPRESSION OF PLACE?????”
What? I’m sorry. That’s a bit too much hocus pocus to stomach.
But maybe I’m concerned with the wrong body part. The author ends the piece by assuring us that if we drink some natural wine:
“You and your colon will thank me.”
Natural wine—the new colonic cleanse. Who knew?
(Well, at least now I understand the title).
