Natural wine? Prove it!
I like the idea of natural wine. Clean, pure, additive-free, treads lightly on the Earth? Gimme! But natural is controversial, and I understand that.
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A while back, my local wine shop set up a separate natural-wine shelf at the back of the store. Now I rarely, if ever, go to the shop without checking it out. And, usually, buying something interesting. That shelf is thoughtfully set up by a merchant who knows his stuff, and that’s a big plus.
But I’m also aware that a lot of the debate over natural wine is based on good reasons. Perhaps most important, there’s no legally regulated definition for natural wines. Declaring a wine “organic” on the label requires certification by established licensing organizations. “Natural,” not so much.
A natural wine is generally understood to have been made with “low intervention” methods in the vineyard and the winery, avoiding even established methods – most important, added sulfites – that protect the wine from spoilage, bacterial infection in the wine, and even variation in quality from bottle to bottle.
Is the quest for good natural wines really as challenging as trying to find a royal match in a pond full of frogs?
Even the notion of low intervention has its doubters. Letting nature take its course as the wine is grown and made has romantic appeal, but many centuries of wine-making heritage have yielded techniques that ensure modern wines come to the consumer fresh and clean, without spoilage or other unpleasant things that can go wrong if the wine is left to grow without supervision.
I love the concept of natural wine but have reasonable concerns about its variable execution. What’s the solution? The easy answer, which I hinted at above, is simple: Buy your natural wine from a merchant you trust.
Here’s another: While the term natural may not be regulated, there’s a growing squadron of licensing bodies that test and, if earned, grant their seal of certified status to verify wines as organic, free of additional sulfites, GMOs, and other additives, vegan, sustainably produced, fair to workers, engaged in fair trade, and more. Many natural-type wines now display a row of tiny icons across the back label to verify those certifications, and they’re worth looking for.
Today’s featured wine, Santa Julia 2024 “El Burro” Malbec Natural from Argentina’s Mendoza region, builds the word “Natural” right into its name, and it verifies its status with a row of certification icons from:
Orgánico Argentina, the official national guarantee that agricultural and processed products are produced using sustainable, environmentally friendly methods without added sulfites, synthetic chemicals, GMOs, or artificial fertilizer.
LETIS S.A., an independent third-party certification body that audits and certifies compliance with international quality, sustainability, and organic production standards. It operates globally and provides protocols for organic production, food safety, vegan certification, and animal welfare certification for national regulators, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Fair for Life, an independent fair trade and corporate social responsibility certification program. It guarantees decent working conditions, environmental sustainability, and fair compensation throughout the entire supply chain—from initial farming and production to the final store shelf.
VEG Argentina, which verifies certification for vegan foods, cosmetics, and other products that do not involve raw materials, additives, or adjuvants of animal origin or derived from animals.
All that is fine, but here’s the ultimate test: How does it taste? I’m happy to report that it is extremely good. It’s not a wine made for deep contemplation or long cellaring. But as a wine to enjoy at any season or setting, with food or for casual sipping, it’s a high-quality wine of very good value, with the balance and complexity that rewards thoughtful enjoyment. At a retail price well under $20, it’s a very good value.
What’s your take on natural wine? Advice on sorting the princesses from the frogs?
Today’s Tasting Report
Santa Julia 2024 “El Burro” Mendoza Malbec Natural ($18.50)
Certified organic, unfiltered, and made with no added sulfites, Santa Julia “El Burro” Malbec Natural is a dark reddish-purple in color with a garnet edge. This natural wine delights with exuberant scents of red berries, plums, black cherry, and a back note of cocoa. Delicious fruit carries over in the flavor, shaped by zippy, food-friendly acidity and soft but persistent tannins providing structure. 13.5% alcohol. U.S. importer: WineSellers Ltd., Skokie, Ill. (June 20, 2026)
FOOD MATCH: Steaks and grilled meat are the natural companion of this impressive red wine, along with sharp and aged cheeses. Look for bold plant-based matches such as hearty mushroom lasagna or spicy grilled eggplant or squash.
WHEN TO DRINK: This wine is drinking beautifully now and shows no signs of early aging, but wines without the natural preservative effect of added sulfites are rarely candidates for cellaring.
VALUE:
This appetizing wine is an excellent value in the middle to upper teens. Wine-Searcher.com lists a $17 average U.S. retail price.
WEB LINK:
Here is an El Burro info sheet from importer WineSellers Ltd.
Here’s Santa Julia’s El Burro fact sheet in English. Santa Julia also has an active Facebook page in Spanish.
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors for Santa Julia “El Burro” Malbec Natural on Wine-Searcher.com.
Read more about Argentina’s Mendoza region and browse a selection of its wines at this Wine-Searcher link.
This Wine-Searcher link opens an article about the Malbec grape and the wines it makes.
Find the wines you want
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Wine-Searcher.com is the place to go online if you want to find where to buy a particular wine that interests you. What’s more, Wine-Searcher.com offers so much more. It’s well worth a visit just to discover its many features, including its popular list of the world’s Top 10 Best Value Wines.
Good wines we’ve tried under $12!
Want tips to still more good, inexpensive wines? Here are Wine-Searcher links to vendors and prices for a bunch more wines for $12 or less that I’ve told you about in recent years. In some cases, the prices may have risen since I reviewed them, but they should still be excellent bargains. Please tell us about your favorites!
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Having been burned too many times by mousy or otherwise flawed “natural” wines I prefer to look towards producers who are fine stewards of the land, practice minimal but not dogmatic winemaking, and put great care in how they package the wines for the carbon intensive transport and distribution processes. Producers like Tablas Creek and Bedrock Wine Co. immediately come to mind. All the virtues of natural wine with none of the hairshirt drawbacks.
Interesting and thoughtful post, Robin. I need to say this, though: Most proponents of low intervention or natural style wines do not eschew SO2. The common assumption that these wines are not made with sulfur dioxide is a bad, and patently unfair, knock.
True, there is a tiny minority of producers around the world that avoid SO2, but that's what they are: A minority. Most producers who fall in "natural" categories who go through the trouble of sourcing from organic, Biodynamic or regenerative farmed vineyards and exercise minimum intervention in the cellar recognize the importance of SO2 (typically applied with requisite restraint) in the quality and stability of their wines. For most of them, it's an important part of their objectives in the first place, which is unabated expression of terroir and natural grape qualities. Why would they ruin this by deliberately crippling their wines by withholding SO2?
If anything, let's give these vintners their due!