Written by: Clifford Roberts; Photographer: Johan Viljoen
The concept of “natural” wine is ancient, but for most novice wine drinkers, it remains a mystery. Swartland producers are among the most outspoken on the category, which makes a visit to the region an ideal place to learn more.
Natural wine refers to a philosophy and a generalized movement among winemakers that prioritizes minimal intervention, both in the vineyard and the cellar. While there isn’t one strict, universally accepted definition, the core idea is to produce wine as simply and traditionally as possible. In this way, the grapes and the environment where they grow are said to best express their unique character.
In this way, wine can retain its link with its natural environment as opposed to being made to standardised tastes associated with what is often larger scale production.
Among the Swartland producers that have long been part of the natural wine movement is Swerwer’s JC Wickens, who believes in taking the “minimalistic approach and [to] let the grapes meet the glass”.
Says Eben Sadie about the approach of The Sadie Family Wines: “We believe everything starts with respect for what we have been entrusted with and this humbling view enables one to regard place above progress.”
How the Swartland sparked a revolution
The drive for natural wines in South Africa was in no small part due to the work of the now defunct Swartland Independent Producers (SIP) organisation, which enshrined its values among its signatories.
Among these was that wines carrying the SIP logo be naturally produced. “By this we understand a minimum of manipulation in both vineyard and cellar,” it stated. It also campaigned for amongst others, lower oaking of wines.
Today, many of these values have been embraced not only in the Swartland, but further afield.
In the vineyard
Winemakers often say that wines are made in the vineyard and that good wine cannot be made from poor fruit. With natural wine, cultivars should ideally be matched to environments where they are best suited. Soils must be rich in micro-organisms and synthetic and chemical substances should be best avoided. A vineyard is managed as an ecosystem.
Grapes are typically hand-picked to ensure their quality and minimize damage, as opposed to machine harvesting.
“Wine is all about natural balance, purity and freshness,” declare David and Nadia Sadie on their website. “We believe that these qualities can only be rightfully expressed when the soil and vineyards are respected. Our focus is on different soil types, different mountain terrain and mainly bush vines. In the cellar, we have a minimal intervention approach and only add a little sulphur. It’s about the soil and vineyards after all.”
At Kalmoesfontein, home of AA Badenhorst Wines, vines are “farmed as biologically as possible”. In the cellar, “no additions are done to the grapes other than sulphur before and after fermentation.”
In the cellar
When the aim is to produce natural wine, the approach in the vineyards extends to the cellar. At Klein Amoskuil, which employs a range of strategies in its making of natural wines, its Obscura wines are “made the ancient way, unhurried and unfiltered”.
Makers of natural wines typically allow fermentation using the wild yeasts present on the grape skins and in the winery environment, rather than adding commercially cultivated yeasts.
Producers avoid additives legally permitted in conventional winemaking, such as sugar, acidity regulators, powdered tannins, enzymes and commercial fining agents.
When it comes to sulphites, makers of natural wines aim for low levels or add none to their wine. These compounds are produced during fermentation and help to preserve the wine.
A light touch also applies to filtration and fining, which means natural wines may – but not exclusively – retain more of the natural particles that can contribute to a cloudier appearance.
Techniques to remove alcohol or aggressively pump wine as ways of manipulating the final expression are avoided, too.
What difference does it make?
Natural wines are about highlighting characteristics that differentiate wines from each other. As such, their flavours and aromas are likely to have wider variation to wines that are produced to a standardised profile. Amongst others, many natural wines can appear hazy or cloudy, which is not necessarily a sign of spoilage.
More importantly, however, natural wines are a way that some wine producers use to drive home the message that wine is linked to agriculture and the wider natural environment.
For Billy Hughes of Nativo, he embarked on a mission to make wine with the “desire to produce a wine reflective of its origins infused with site-specific characteristics”. To get there, he uses a minimally invasive approach, which includes certification as an organic producer.
While the interpretation of “minimal intervention” can vary among producers, the underlying philosophy remains consistent: to produce wine as purely and authentically as possible.
As such, it recognises wine as a vestige of human endeavour, authentic and trustworthy interaction, and the natural environment in a fundamental way.