Natural Wine/Raw Wine/LoFi Wine:

A frequently challenged and challenging word in the wine world, natural wine has been defined in many different ways. At Folkways, we define “natural” wine as wines made with minimal intervention in both the vineyard and cellar. Which begs the question, what does that actually even mean?

Natural wine philosophy often emphasizes organic: meaning no pesticides. Every country has different regulations which can make it even more confusing to truly nail down one concrete definition. For us, it means, no pesticides used throughout the entire process. 

Biodynamic Farming: 

Grapes grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. Many natural winemakers go beyond certified organic to practice holistic vineyard management. 

Biodynamics started in the 1920s with Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, who believed that a farm is a living organism. Soil health, plant health, animal health, and cosmic rhythms are all intertwined. In practice, this means composting with specific herbal preparations, planting and harvesting according to lunar calendars (and sometimes not), and treating the vineyard as a regenerative ecosystem rather than a production facility. 

Hand-Harvested Grapes:

Picked by people, not machines, allowing for careful selection of only the best fruit.

Wild Fermentation:

Using naturally occurring yeasts found on grape skins and in the cellar environment rather than commercially manufactured yeast strains.

Zero/Zero:

Simply put, only grapes go into the wine. There’s zero added sulfites and zero commercial yeasts, using only what's naturally occurring in the immediate environment for wine making and no other additives whatsoever.

Pét-Nat/Pétillant Naturel/Méthode Ancestrale:

Pét-nat, short for "pétillant naturel" (naturally sparkling), is the original method for making sparkling wine, predating Champagne by centuries. Instead of adding yeast and sugar for a second fermentation like traditional Champagne, pét-nat wines are bottled while their initial fermentation is still happening, trapping the naturally occurring carbon dioxide to create bubbles. This ancient technique produces wines with a softer, gentler fizz and often a slight cloudiness from residual yeast. Pét-nat wines tend to be  fresh and unpredictable. These wines offer an authentic, unfiltered taste of sparkling wine in their most elemental form.

Spontaneous Fermentation:

While most industrial winemaking involves adding yeast to “kick-off” fermentation, spontaneous fermentation relies on what’s, in essence, already floating around. The ambient bacteria and yeast often lends different, wild, compelling flavors in the final product. 

Carbonic Maceration:

Carbonic maceration is a winemaking technique where whole, uncrushed grapes ferment in a sealed tank filled with carbon dioxide. Without oxygen present, the grapes begin fermenting from the inside out at a cellular level, creating wines with bright fruit flavors and softer tannins. This process is most famously used in France's Beaujolais region, particularly for Beaujolais Nouveau, but winemakers worldwide now use it to create fresh, approachable wines meant for easy drinking. The technique typically lasts anywhere from a few days to several weeks, producing wines that are vibrant, low in tannins, and bursting with juicy fruit character.

Sulfur/Sulfites:

Consider sulfites as wine's natural defense system - these naturally occurring compounds form during wine fermentation and protect wine from spoilage and oxidation. While all wines contain some level of sulfites from the fermentation process itself, many commercial winemakers add additional sulfur dioxide to extend shelf life and maintain consistency.

Native Yeasts:

Yeast, simply put, turns grape juice into wine. It eats the sugar in grapes which then creates alcohol and CO2. A lot of winemakers buy commercial yeast strains bred in labs to ensure more predictable results and specific flavor profiles. Native yeasts on the other hand are wild and live naturally in the vineyard, on grape skins, and even on the cellar walls. Also called ambient, indigenous, or spontaneous yeast, these local cultures kick off fermentation at their own pace. Though sometimes slower and less predictable than their commercial cousins, the payoff is wine that offers a more transparent link to the land they come from. 

Volatile Acidity (VA):

A term you’ll often hear in the world of natural wine, volatile acidity refers to the presence of acetic acid and its by-product ethyl acetate, basically, compounds that form when alcohol meets oxygen and begins to turn a bit “vinegary.” Every wine has some VA, but when levels climb too high, aromas can shift towards nail polish remover or permanent marker. 

Unfined Wine:

Egg whites, fish bladders, gelatin, casein and clay, these are just some of the ingredients winemakers can use to further clarify wine and give it that more polished look. These fining agents are stirred in to attract any solids in the wine before settling to the bottom of the vessel prior to racking. Conversely, when wine is unfined, winemakers are relying on time and gravity to bring those solids to the bottom.

Glou-Glou/Vin de Soif:

A French onomatopoeia for “glug-glug” aka, the sound of wine disappearing fast from a bottle. In the natural wine world, glou-glou describes wines that are typically bright, juicy, chillable and often, low-ABV. Glou glou wines are for carefree drinking, unfussy and fun. 

Orange/Amber Wine:

Orange wine is white wine made like red, meaning, the grape skins are left to soak (or macerate) with the juice during fermentation instead of being pressed off right away. This longer contact with the skins gives the wine its distinctive amber or orange hue. It’s not a new idea, even though it has certainly become more popular in recent years, it's actually one of the oldest. See Skin Contact to learn more.