This all leads me to believe that critics of natural wines are either in willful denial or holding out for set of standards complete with loop holes that will allow spoof to masquerade as real. No matter what the wine genre is called-Spoof, Naked, Live, Naturel, the word can be and will be co-opted. Mark my words, the Gallo Natural line extension will be upon us before the next hyped Bordeaux vintage or Brunello scandal. Mike is clearly in agreement with your sentiments posted on Jancis’ board. He weighed in this way: “The phrase natural wines is irredeemably problematic. The discussion just can’t seem to get beyond this phrase. I think the people using the term “natural wines” need to come up with a much more convincing justification for its use, or they need to find a better, less loaded term to describe the wines.”

Yes, the word ‘natural’ is an easy mark. Look, I don’t love my name either. I think life would have been easier as a Sophie, but I grew into an Alice the way these wines grew into Natural. To paraphrase the late charismatic Teobaldo Cappellano, the more we have fake the more we need real. (Natural = real. There you go. I’ve no problem with the word.) There is no bullet proof name and you know what? The more the controversy rages, the more I resist the very idea of a definition and look for refuge in anarchy.

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David taught me, most importantly, something that I think is the core concept of natural wine for me, which is the use of cultured vs. inoculated yeast. Every time we would taste with salespeople, no matter what wine, that was his first question. What’s the yeast situation? Soon it became my first question. The idea that an inoculated yeast could obscure terroir was for me, a profound concept that I had never quite thought about. The more I tasted with David, and figured out which wines were yeasted and which wines were not it really was something. I really noticed a difference. I was in. In deep. David had created a monster. The first bottle I took home on my first day, on David’s recommendation ,was the 2002 Domaine de la Belliviere Hommage a Louis Derre from the Coteaux de Loir. My first Pineau d’Aunis. An auspicious start as I did not like the wine. It was tannic as hell and I could not discern much else. I gave him a hard time the next day, and he told me, in classic David Lillie style, “Oh that wine takes three days to get going, try it tonight.” So I went home that night and, what do you know, this wine, made from some freakazoid grape I never even knew existed two days before was just slaying me. Freshness, purity along with a kind of mutant Pinot Noir flavors ad soaring freakish aromatics. The wine was just unbelievable. I never had anything like it. After that I was hooked. I chatted David up almost ad nauseum, spending half my paycheck each week on his recommendations. I discovered Clos Roche Blanche, Domaine de Peyra (R.I.P), Breton, Foillard, Jean-Paul Brun and many others. It was the definitive part of my wine evolution.

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Okay, so by now I knew a thing or two about selling wine. But over the past few years my personal wine palate had changed. I could no longer stomach the big, oaky wines that so many new world producers were making. I read Alice Feiring’s The Battle For Wine and Love, which has been an eye-opener for many wine lovers seeking more authentic wines. I started seeking out these wines that had been less chemically manipulated, both for the flavors and aromas but also because of a philosophical synergy.

At the same time, I was shopping at farmers markets in Los Angeles. I went out of my way to buy only organic fruit and vegetables. I found that my passion for both drinking and selling wine was re-awakened.

So it made sense to take the plunge and sell only the wines I loved. I sunk my tiny little nest egg into purchasing wines from importers like Savio Soares as well as domestic producers like La Clarine Farm and Donkey & Goat, and representing them in the California market. Virtually all of the wines I sell are ‘hand-sell’ wines from small producers, and yes many of them farm organically and use very minimal intervention in the cellar. I literally put my money where my mouth is. Scary? Hell yes. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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As someone who works in a wine bar, I sell wine on a bottle-by-bottle, glass-by-glass basis, not by the case or by the truckload. Not that there’s anything wrong with wine at that scale; I just mean to suggest that I have a very intimate relationship to the end-consumer in the wine-distribution chain. The wine I sell is appreciated in front of me, and I’m often privy to people’s thoughts and curiosities about wine. Hundreds of members of the general public sit down at my bar every week and drink thousands of (different) glasses of wine.

Sometimes, in all my enthusiasm for wine, I have to remind myself that not everyone’s interested in how many grams residual sugar versus tartaric acid this Mosel Riesling has. I cannot interest people in many things I have to say about wine at more than a surface level. This is fine. I accept this, albeit sadly. Natural wine is the exception to this rule.

For the average consumer, tasting wine is a binary action. Is this delicious or not delicious? They don’t concern themselves with vine age, soil types, lees contact, barrel aging regimens or any of the stuff that us cork dorks get ourselves all in a tizzy about. For most people, wine is an alcoholic beverage that comes in red, white, pink, sparkling, dry, and sweet, and that’s about the level many people are interested. I can say with confidence that in the last two years of working wine bars in food-friendly Manhattan, sustainable, organic, and biodynamic wines are the most consistently interesting facets of wine to the average consumer. I would consider producers in all these categories to be pursuing some platonic ideal of natural wine.

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While it was recognized that SO2 restriction may be lifted in bad vintages, the commission kept pushing for a geographically uniform regulation. Why this obsessions with a single rule for all geographical regions? If it can be accepted that higher SO2 levels may be needed when the weather is not favorable, why not accept that in certain geographical areas the weather is not favorable most of the time?

This insistence on uniformity is surprising, considering that the problems the new legislation would pose to northern organic winemakers were flagged from the very beginning of the research and negotiation process. Already in the research report by ORWINE, submitted to the EU Commission, it was noted that all organic wine producers in Germany were against any limitation of SO2. The fear was that limiting SO2 in absence of alternatives could lead to a deterioration of sensorial qualities of organic wines, and a further loss of consumer confidence. Furthermore, ORWINE noted that reducing SO2 levels would have to result in trade-offs with other oenological practices for some winemakers; for example some may be constrained to use selected yeast strains, or control fermentation temperatures.

As shown by ORWINE tastings, using such techniques resulted in wines which tasted different to those obtained following usual protocols of organic winemakers which participated in the experiment. In other words, while SO2 limiting was found to be possible in organic wines, it could a) change their sensorial characteristics, as it would have to be coupled with a change in winemaking practices and b) was not accepted by organic winemakers in all countries, specifically those who practice organic viticulture in harsher climatic conditions, and whose grapes are therefore more prone to fungal and bacterial contaminations which can be counter-acted successfully only using SO2. These objections were, however, downplayed.

Further worries were clearly communicated by the members of IFOAM (International Foundation for Organic Agriculture). Throughout the legislation drafting processes the EU Commission was in correspondence with IFOAM, which in turn conducted internal consultations with its members and internal wine experts as well as the IFOAM EU Group board. From the outset the issue of SO2 reduction was the most controversial one for IFOAM members. In the position on the organic wine processing from 25th September 2009 IFOAM stated:

“The issue of sulfite reduction remains the most controversial for the organic sector and the discussion needs more time (some countries favors strong reduction of up to 50% while other countries are in favor of no reduction at all). We urge the EU Commission to recognize the sensitivity of the issue and to carefully consider the different options.”

IFOAM stressed that the proposed 50% reduction in SO2 levels (vs current country-specific levels) was not acceptable, as it would not allow organic wine production in all EU wine regions. In the IFOAM EU position paper of 28th October 2009 they reiterated this point, expressing a concern that “this [proposed reduction] would force organic wine producers out of business.” In a revised draft the EU Commission reduced the proposed SO2 limit to current country-specific limit minus 50 mg/l. This, however, continued to be unacceptable to German, Austrian and Dutch organic wine producers. In spite of this, the EU commission draft from April 2010 continued to require a 50 mg/l reduction, and suggested those producers who could not meet this standard continued using the ‘wine from organically made grapes’ label for the time being. This solution proved unacceptable to the IFOAM members, and finally on June 16th the EU Commissioner for Agriculture & Rural Development Dacian Ciolos withdrew the draft proposal to introduce rules for the production of organic wine.

The negotiations have now re-started, and organic winemakers still hope that in 2011 their wines will be able to carry the ‘Organic Wine’ label. It seems, however, that unless geographical differences between organic winemaking areas are seriously taken into consideration, 2011 will see a replay of the current scenario.

Ted Lemon's estate in Sonoma. Photo by Shebnem Ince.

Nine months ago, I was asked to curate the wine list for Henri, the second Chicago restaurant for Billy Lawless, who also owns The Gage Restaurant, where I am the wine director. He wanted it to be more classic than the Gage, which is bustling and bar-focused. The interior of Henri had been one of architect Louis Henri Sullivan’s last Chicago commissions in 1902. This is the last of five buildings left standing of all the prolific work from this important figure in modern design. It deserves to have a distinctive wine list to match.

People have no problem with blighting and destroying, yet down the line when something reveals itself to be a treasure we mourn its loss. If only we had known, or had been able to divine its importance, maybe we could have saved it.

This is happening in the wine world. I have noticed a marked shift, in wine that started around 1982. The popularity of certain critics, globalization, and the financial sector’s sudden interest in the wine world all snowballed, bringing a new set of standards and expectations, based on color, taste, texture and ripeness. Whether a Shiraz from Australia, a Bordeaux, or a Pinot Noir from Russian River Valley, the wine world suddenly came awash with a uniformity of flavors, eschewing personality, complexity and that ‘t’ word that everyone talks about but is so elusive – terroir.

So, the decision to create an all biodynamic/organic list became easy and made sense. Shouldn’t the wine list represent the most authentic wines? To honor winemaking at its most challenging and ultimately its finest. To allow each wine to express its sense of place, just as Henri expressed a sense of place, with its ornate facade, ghostly reminders of eras gone by and serene beauty?

The Pitch:

Fortunately, I had a  good track record with The Gage’s successful wine list, and I did not get too much resistance from my clients when I wanted an all biodynamic/organic list. About 70% of the Gage’s list fell under those parameters anyhow, I had unconsciously been buying wines like this for the three years we have been open. I downplayed the manure and horns, and focused on how such a list would distinguish us. I was given a green light.

The Parameters:

I told my vendors to start pulling all biodynamic, certified organic and sustainable wines. I quickly learned that the term sustainable farming was riddled with vagueness  and, depending on whom you spoke, meant very little. A common definition of sustainability was allowing the use of round-up on the sides of the rows to contain weeds. And while I am sympathetic to the demands of farming and the thin margins upon which agriculture is built, that seemed like a cop-out to me. After much research, I decided to use the charter developed by Nicolas Joly. Anything termed sustainable had to fall in the ‘one star’ category as the quality chart proposed. That would be the baseline for all Henri’s wines. if wines were to fall in the two and three star category, even better.

The Challenges:

Not all biodynamic and organic wine is good wine. And I have tasted out many a bottle of gnarly, strangely oxidized and generally off “natural wines” to know that although the practices are ecologically laudable, the wine, in the end, must  be delicious, balanced and sellable.

I went to Biodyvin, Summa Conference 10, Demeter USA, Ecocert and Demeter International and printed out page after page of producers who had been willing to make a stand about what went into their soils and how their wines were made.  Many producers I recognized, and had no previous notion that they were a part of this alliance. I noticed too, that there were definitely ‘hot spots’ of biodynamics: the Loire Valley, Burgundy, Alsace, and Sonoma.  But I needed to cull an eighty bottle list that offered more than these four areas could supply.

The Process:

Bit by bit I started to cobble the list together. My vendors started to dig into their books, many calling their importers or the winemakers themselves, for clarification and philosophic discourse. Many discussions about sustainability and la lutte rasionnee (the reasonable way) came up, as my perspective was not as ecological (great that you have a koi pond & sheep on the property – do you spray?) as it was philosophical. I became aware of more and more producers who were not certified organic but practicing organic/biodynamic methods, many of whom I saw as the true guardians of viticultural biodiversity. It is a well-established fact that synthetic applications are more damaging to low-vigor and heirloom vines, yet it is the inclusion of these older, lower yielding vines in the harvest selection that can add depth and character and a true sense of place to the end product – that bottle of wine sitting on your table. Had Domaine Romanee Conti not transitioned to organic practices 26 years ago, would their selection massale, the traditional way of propagating plants from old, pre-clonal stock, be at all possible now?

Findings:

In the late 1960′s, Maurice Combier of Domaine Combier had a severe allergic reaction to a phytosanitary product. He also noticed how the application of these synthetic preventatives and fertilizers were sublimating the personality and terroir of his vineyards in Crozes-Hermitage. He rapidly transitioned his 5 hectares of vineyards, as well as the 15 hectares of orchards to an organic regimen. The results in his mind, were tremendous, although for many years later he was known locally as crazy Maurice (Maurice Le Fou). It took nearly a decade to perfect their systems, but in the 1980′s the estate began to flourish and today the estate has expanded, remains organically farmed, and is very successful.

Ted Lemon of Littorai is an uncertified, but influential biodynamic producer in California’s north coast. One need only step foot on his other-worldy estate property in residential Sebastopol to know that something amazing and important is happening, right before your eyes. Fava bean stalks bend in the breeze, fixing nitrogen into the soil. Cover crops abound. Ladybugs hover in the air. Water lillies bloom in the water pond. The Haven Vineyard Pinot Noir ( I fell in love with 2006) from that estate is a profound expression of Pinot Noir, and something beyond words. It seems to hover between two worlds; ours and the ethereal world of imagination and abundant possibility.

The certification process can be  tricky, and the eligibility requirements rigid, and sometimes arbitrary. I talked at length one afternoon with Joe Wagner of Belle Glos. He has farmed his Sonoma Coast Taylor Lane vineyard organically now for four years. Because the fence posts at the row ends were constructed of chemically treated wood, he was not eligible for certification. He questioned the ecological and financial implications that ripping out the fence posts would entail; in the end he decided to not certify. However, many other aspects of his viticultural approach made him eligible, in my mind, for placement on this list.

Conclusion:

This list required more research than any other project I have undertaken. But through the research I have learned massive amounts about farming, agriculture, and the thin line winemakers walk between commercial viability and upholding ecological philosophies that have the potential to financially devastate them. I think lastly, that it is those who take the largest risks ultimately make the greatest wines. That has been my experience anyway.

Henri, located at 18 S. Michigan in Chicago, will open in August 2010.

Many of the complaints we get with natural wines include, “It’s cloudy, so something must be wrong,” “The wine tasted ‘bad’, so it’s corked,” all the way up to “Why organic? That type of product always tastes bad.” On one hand, there is a reluctance to experience new things. There is a resistance towards organic products that originate from the days when all organic products were unscientific, and generally not as good as they are now. On the other hand, people in my age range and younger are more eco conscious and often look specifically for organic wines. Some of my favorite moments include educating our customers about the amount of chemicals that go into a mass produced wine . . . Enzymes, colorants, liquid tannin, and more, and then seeing their reaction. Another one is explaining about the difference in the sulfite levels, and how that comes about (not adding sulfites to control the winemaking and using a limited amount during bottling) and what it might mean for them as consumers.

Read the full article.

June 4

Heaven…..bloom. The vines are blooming and the mixture of vine blossoms and clover blossoms smells like jasmine. This is the earliest the vines have bloomed in the history of growing wine on the North Fork. It is hot and it is dry. As I bike through the rows I feel the thousands of micro moments of fertilization that are taking place every second. The whole being of the vineyard is about exhilarating fertilization. Isn’t that incredible? Love.

June 5

Today at 1:00 pm a locomotive train came rolling through my brain, again. A blog called “Wine Seriously” posted an article titled “Can 100% Organic Grapes be produced on Long Island?” Jose Moreno is the author and the in-depth article is very well written. Unfortunately, once again, the local naysayers are happy to say nay: Quoted from the article as thus:

“As Perrine (co-owner Channing Daughters, Hamptons, Long Island) pointed out:  “Organic is virtually impossible in rainy climates like Bordeaux, Friuli, and LI; downy mildew and black rot cannot be contained by using organic methods.” 

In Pisacano’s view, (vineyard manager Wolffer Estate, Hamptons, Long Island and owner Roanoak Vineyards, North Fork, Long Island) :

“organic certification is too demanding and expensive, apart from the fact that the level of humidity in the area is just too high to allow for organic practices for preventing the control of diseases and molds like powdery mildew and botrytis.” Barbara Shinn said that she saw no reason why full organic conversion couldn’t be achieved in either North Fork or Hamptons AVA vineyards.  On the other hand, Jim Silver of Peconic Bay Winery (North Fork, Long Island) said flatly that any idea of producing organic grapes in Long Island is simply impossible—the stuff of dreams.

June 6

Ah, the stuff of dreams. Yes, it is my dream. And my reality.

June 15

As the vines finish blooming I love to cradle a cluster in my hand and smooth over the desiccated blossoms, letting the flower caps tumble off and see the immature berries. If we have shatter, my palm will be filled with berries the vine has rejected, conversely, if only a few pinhead sized berries let loose then we might have a good fruit set. I have to wait until the berries are pea-sized to know for sure. At fruit set the clusters can look full and then in a week or two I can look at the clusters again and the vine could have rejected half the potential berries. It is a quiet time of waiting and looking.

June 18

Jose Moreno, the blogger of “Wine Seriously”, visited again for a full walk-about. He is intending on reporting in on his blog by the end of the month. More controversy to follow? It is so strange to me that some who are in the business of viticulture wouldn’t let someone else farm in peace.

June 21

The birds are singing this year like I have never heard them before. It has gone on since bud break. What is this joy? They are calling not only from the vineyard but from the surrounding farms. And in the vineyard there are birds nesting in the vines everywhere. I ride my bike through the rows in the morning and they flit up onto the trellis wires and shout me away until I tell them to shrug it off, it’s ok.

And then there is George the groundhog who lives under the pile of vine stakes and doesn’t eat the vines (I think he is King of the Mountain and keeps the other groundhogs out, kind of like Diamond the crack dealer who kept the neighborhood safe when I lived in the flatlands of Oakland), and our ephemeral little fawns who live in the vineyard now and eat clover and not even one grape leaf. Her mother has given birth to twins every year for three years and they grow to adolescence in the Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Sauvignon Blanc until they grow up and join the herd across the way. The fawns are tiny right now, just little brown critters, spindly and saintful. They see us before we see them; they jolt themselves up and duck under the trellis to the next row and keep moving until we walk away.

Every day my vineyard guys and I report in on where we saw them and we all smile and feel like we are their guardians, but we know that nature adheres to a much higher level of intelligence than we can comprehend. We probably don’t matter to them one bit. All is good.

June 24

It is so dry and hot that many vineyard managers may suppose that it would be impossible to get hit with downy mildew this year. I kept a small row of nursery vines unsprayed as a control check since this year the main experiment in the vineyard is organic downy mildew control. Sure enough today the nursery row had downy, and the 20 acres of mature vines are clean. Something to be pleased about. To some extent I have relied on a new biological control which is an extract from the giant knotweed plant.

Now that the control section has proven we can indeed get downy mildew here no matter the weather conditions, I have the opportunity to conduct a trial between hydrogen peroxide and a new organic algaecide. It interests me because downy was just reclassified from the fungi plant kingdom to the algae plant kingdom. Perhaps organic control of downy has been so tricky because for decades we have been fighting downy the fungus instead of downy the algae. Thrilling.

And on to the dog days of July……

Ed Note: Jim Silver of Peconic Bay Winery has previously contacted the Organic Wine Journal about how he was quoted in Wine Seriously. He does not recall making this statement and applauds Shinn Estate’s attempt to grow grapes organically on Long Island.

Barbara Shinn said that she saw no reason why full organic conversion couldn’t be achieved in either North Fork or Hamptons AVA vineyards. On the other hand, Jim Silver of Peconic Bay Winery said flatly that any idea of producing organic grapes in Long Island is simply impossible—the stuff of dreams.

We’ve heard a lot of these arguments before, that producing organic wine somewhere is impossible, until someone actually does it. The author says this is the first part of a series, so it will be interesting to see what conclusions he comes to. Also interviewed are Larry Perrine of Channing Daughters and Richard Pisacano of Wölffer’s, who are typical of many wineries that “try to be as organic as possible,” but want to be able to fall back on certain methods if they become necessary.

* Update *

We’ve heard from Jim Silver who is quoted above. He had this to say:

It is a shame my single contribution to the discussion is an out-of-context pronouncement (I don’t recall making) that sounds wholly ignorant when taken as such. I applaud Barbara and David’s herculean efforts to prove organic farming works, if not for everyone, at least for them – which is just as important. I may not agree that it works, but I certainly don’t appreciate being portrayed as disrespectful of the process.

Many organic and non-organic winemakers are neighbors, friends and share their winemaking knowledge with each other, so Jim’s frustration as being portrayed as anti-organic is understandable. There are plenty of disagreements within the organic community itself, and, as Jim pointed out, everyone has to choose what works for them.