Megan Bell, winemaker at Margins Wine, is frustrated by the term “natural wine.”
While there’s no official U.S. designation, it generally refers to wines made without chemicals, flavoring or coloring agents, as well as no added sugars or acids, fining or filtration. Many believe that natural wines should be made without additional sulfur or temperature-controlling agents like dry ice, though others make exceptions for those practices. Despite such porous parameters, Bell finds the term exclusionary.
Early Mountain Vineyards’ Block 10 Merlot in Virginia / Photo courtesy of Early Mountain Vineyards
At events like RAW Wine Fair, participants must have used all organic or biodynamic agriculture, have less than 70 milligrams per liter (mg/L) sulfites, and can’t use additives or sterile filtration.