Mauricio González Carreño Pipeño País, Bío Bío, Chile 2018 (£14.99, Les Caves) Natural wine, real wine, authentic wine… Call it what you will, but the movement of wine producers whose aim is to use as few chemical interventions as possible is in touching distance of the mainstream. Where once it was a corrective to a standardising, international style of winemaking, it’s become quite the global concern itself. Witness the remarkable 22 countries represented at the recent Real Wine Fair in London, a gathering of natural, organic and biodynamic producers convened by UK scene-shaper Les Caves de Pyrene. It featured 160 growers from the Czech Republic to Utah and South America, with the latter represented by a renaissance of the traditional Chilean pipeño style with Mauricio Gonzalez Carreño’s sappy-fresh, rosehippy-tangy red from local variety país.
Davenport Diamond Fields Pinot Noir, UK 2017 (£19.50, Davenport Vineyards) The natural wave has even reached the UK, despite winemaking conditions that, in many vintages, make viticulture difficult. Davenport in East Sussex, a rare certified-organic English wine producer, has been proving that the approach is possible for some years now, and its latest vintages, including a succulent, summer pudding berry-filled pinot noir, are among the best wines in England. Also in Sussex, winemaker Ben Walgate likes to use the Georgian winemaking terracotta pots known as qvevri for his wonderfully complex wines, while his Col 2017 is a satisfyingly fresh but richly textured and savoury fizz inspired by the traditional bottle-fermented style of prosecco, Col Fondo (£28, the Solent Cellar).
Les Vignes de Paradis Savagnin, Savoie, France 2017 (£30.49, Les Caves) Though the movement has spread to far-flung corners, much of the finest natural wine is produced in established wine-producing countries. Highlights at the fair included a poised and racy set of wines from Les Vignes de Paradis; Burgundy producer Dominique Lucas’s collection of vines in Savoie, including his crystalline savagnin; the bright and earthy red Vina di Anna Etna Rosso Jeudi 15 2017 (£25.49, Les Caves) from the slopes of Mount Etna; the Loire-by-way-of-Santa Barbara Californian line-up of Lo-Fi Wines, including a pear scented Lo-Fi Chenin Blanc 2017 (£28.99, Les Caves), and the never-less-than-interesting portfolio of Jurgen Gouws’s Intellego in Swartland, South Africa, which included an exuberant, food-friendly rosé, the Pink Moustache 2018 (£16.99, Les Caves).
Follow David on Twitter @Daveydaibach
