Natural wine vs other wines: different production, different label

How many times do we buy a food and distractedly look at the label, without even asking ourselves what really is inside what we eat? The fact is that the label we are accustomed to see and take for granted is a complex world that hides a lot of information for those who know how to read it, especially when we talk about natural wine labels.

The natural wine label: an essential source of information

Therefore, it is important to read, and be able to read, the label of what we buy. This is especially the case of the foods that are most often manipulated by chemical and mechanical interventions during their production, factors that can alter their organoleptic and taste properties and, in the worst cases, make them unhealthy. One of the most famous examples is the label of extra virgin olive oil, with its special denominations subject to rigid parameters and tests.

In the world of wine, the label is equally fundamental: if in the olive oil field it can mean pretty different goods, in the wine one it may be the difference between a natural wine and one that is not at all.

Something went wrong in the production

When we pour our glass of wine after a long day of work, we think there is nothing more genuine, right? After all, wine is a drink whose production is rooted in the past times, when the food was produced naturally. Unluckily, it’s not like that. Instead, as noted e.g. by Marco Marrocco, owner of Azienda Agricola Palazzo Tronconi, something has gone wrong in the evolution of agriculture, and it has become a race to who is using more chemical additives and pesticides.

Natural wine label vs other wines’ labels

We believe that the following comparison list says more than a thousand words: these are chemical additives and manipulations that are permitted by law in the various types of wine. Obviously they are just indicative and, fortunately, many manufacturers do not use them all. Also, remember that there is no actual label for natural wines, since they can be organic, biodynamic or totally independent, without a certification; when the matter is about natural or not, the key is always the trust in your winemaker, or, if you don’t know them, to choose wines selected for you as natural by an oenologist , as the ones you can find in our shop.

CONVENTIONAL WINE
Citric Acid / L(+)Tartaric Acid / L Ascorbic Acid / L-Malic Acid DL Malic / Lactic Acid / Metatartaric Acid / Acidification by bipolar electrodialysis / Egg Albumin / Sulfurous Anhydride SO2 / Self-enrichment by evaporation / Self-enrichment by reverse omosis / Lactic bacteria / Bentonite / Potassium Bicarbonate / Potassium bisulfate / Ammonium Bisulfate / Calcium carbonate / Cellulose Carboximetil (CMC) / Cellulose Gum / Potassium caseinate / Casein / Enological carbon / Chitin glucan / Chitosans / Copper citrate / Fish glue / Hiamine hydrochloride / Silicon dioxide (silicon gel) / Yeast / Electro dialysis / Enzyme beta glucanase / Spontaneous alcoholic fermentation / Rapid pasteurization / Gelatin / Arabic gum / Diammonium phosphate / Cremor tartar /Active dry yeast / Lysozyme / Yeast mannoproteins / Vegetal proteins from wheat or peas / Potassium metabisulfite / Tangential filtration / Oak chips / Concentrate must / Polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP) / Enzymes for pectinase activation / Cation-exchange resin / Copper sulfate / Ammonium sulfate / Enological tannins / Neutral potassium tartrate.

ORGANIC WINE
Citric Acid / L(+)Tartaric Acid / L Ascorbic Acid / Lactic Acid / Metatartaric Acid / Egg Albumin / Self-enrichment by evaporation / Self-enrichment by reverse omosis / Lactic bacteria / Bentonite / Potassium bisulfate / Potassium metabisulfite / Potassium Bicarbonate / Calcium carbonate / Potassium caseinate / Casein / Enological carbon / Copper citrate / Fish glue / Hiamine hydrochloride / Silicon dioxide (silicon gel) / Yeast / Spontaneous alcoholic fermentation / Gelatin / Arabic gum / Diammonium phosphate / Cremor tartar / Active dry yeast / Vegetal proteins from wheat or peas / Tangential  filtration / Oak chips / Concentrate must /  Enzymes for pectinase activation / Copper sulfate / Enological tannins / Neutral potassium tartrate / Sulfurous Anhydride SO2

BIODYNAMIC WINE
Egg Albumin / Sulfurous Anhydride SO2 / Bentonite / Enological carbon / Tangential filtration / Spontaneous alcoholic fermentation

NATURAL WINE
Sulfurous Anhydride SO2 / Spontaneous alcoholic fermentation

After reading this, we are sure you will be rethinking the genuineness of the wine you are drinking, and maybe you will start as well reading the labels before purchasing your next bottle.

…but luckily something is changing

For decades only a few people have paid attention to the labels and, as a consequence, manufacturers have been free to add chemical elements in their wines to produce more and control their wine’s features. However, luckily, in recent years consumers have finally got interested in what’s contained in the goods they eat and drink. That is why the label has become, bit by bit, a key element.

Thanks to this, a big movement is born, made of consumers paying more attention to authenticity and  producers who started to say no to these methods in favor of the recovery of a more natural winemaking. It is the natural wine movement and these new goods are the ones that you can find in our selection: natural wines, all the way to the label.