Natural wines are still a hot subject of debate. Some like them some loath them. In fact, natural wines can be both good or bad, just like any other wine. But it is true that they tend to have a certain style that can take some getting used to. Quite high volatile acidity for instance. And sometimes a touch of oxidation already when young.
Britt recently had the opportunity to taste a series of “natural wines”, or to be more precise, wines made with little or no sulphur, natural yeast instead of cultured yeas, and very little “intervention” in the wine cellar.
In fact, Britt liked them very much (while Per was a little bit more perturbed by the high VA).
Read Britt’s tasting comments on these wines in her latest article on Forbes, Natural Wines At Their Best: Jean-Louis Tribouley From Roussillon.
Here’s the introduction:
Natural wines can be many things. They can be undrinkable, barely drinkable and they can be extremely delicious. Like the natural wines from Domaine Tribouley, run by talented Jean-Louis Tribouley. He created his domain in the small village called Latour de France in Roussillon in 2002.
This is southern France, not far from the Spanish border. The summers are hot but Jean-Louis manages to have a tremendous freshness in his wines. This is in part thanks to his old vines. With their long roots they manage to find water even during the dry and warm summer months. It is also partly thanks to the way he works in the cellar. He is very careful not to extract too much tannin from the grape skins and he keeps an eye on the fermentation temperature. Too warm means heavy wines and he is more into elegance and finesse. He uses very little oak and never any new oak barrels.
Read Britt’s full article on BKWine on Forbes.
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