If you are a wine lover, you’ve probably heard if natural wine. But what makes natural wine so special? Why is it worth trying?
First and foremost, natural wine is made with grapes grown using organic or biodynamic farming methods. This means that no synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers are used, and the vineyard is treated as a living organism, in harmony with its environment. This results in healthier grapes, which in turn produce a more complex and flavorful wine.
Natural wine uses minimal intervention in the cellar. This means that the winemaker does not add any chemicals or artificial flavors to the wine, and does not filter or fine it. Instead, the wine is fermented with wild yeasts, which are naturally present on the grapes, and the wine is allowed to age in oak barrels or stainless steel tanks. This results in a wine that is alive and expressive, with unique and unpredictable flavors.
Here at Akin Cooperative we carry a nice selection of some of the most fun and natural wines, no two bottles are the same! (Thanks Alt Imports!)
And we just brought in some AMAZING wines, because life is too short to drink bad wine!
Subject to Change Wild Child
Grape: Petit Sirah, Carignane
Region: Mendocino County, CA
Vineyard/cellar stats: CCOF-certified organic farming; Dorn Vineyard Carignane was foot crushed whole cluster and placed on the bottom of the stainless tank while the uncrushed whole bunch Petite Sirah was placed on top of the Carignane.
They sealed the tank and took a dry-cap approach to this wine to minimize extraction (no pump overs or punchdowns for two weeks on the skins). The Upton Vineyard Petite Sirah was a true carbonic maceration in a stainless tank for two weeks. The wines were pressed separately and blended together after fermentation for 7 months in a 5,000L fiberglass tank; bottled unfined/unfiltered with no added SO2.
ABV: 12.8%
Case Production: 500
Winemaker: Alex Pomerantz
Hillside Vineyard 'Disco!' Skin-Contact Sauvignon Blanc
Grape(s): 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Vineyard: Planted in the 1970s, organically-farmed Hillside Vineyard in Talmage sits right above the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. CCOF certified, the vines are head-trained and planted on loam. Managed and farmed by Humberto Nunez, Hillside has become a cornerstone for Subject to Change.
AVA: Mendocino
Method: The Sauvignon Blanc grapes underwent partial carbonic maceration for 1 week (1/4 of the grapes in the tank were foot-crushed whole clusters, topped with 3/4 uncrushed whole clusters). The grapes were then pressed into a stainless steel tank. 2/3 of the wine got moved to neutral oak barrels for 6-month elévage, while the other 1/3 underwent elévage in a stainless steel tank. After the 6 months, the wine from barrels and tank was homogenized into a stainless tank before bottling. As always, no fining, filtration, or addition of SO2.
ABV: 11.5%
Case Production: 1,376
The 2022 Disco! was released with 4 different color labels. The juice inside each bottle is the same!
Sfera Vino Bianco
Grapes: Cortese
Sfera is a small collaboration with organic growers found all over Italy from the Alps to the Mediterranean. The wine is batched in small runs, allowing Sfera to collab with a multitude of different growers.
This Bianco is a fruit-forward, medium-bodied white with notes of green apple, peach, and pineapple.
The back label declares in Italian the wine to be "without cultured yeasts, without clarification or filtration, and no frills." Although there is a little bit of sulfur added on bottling, this wine is completely natural yet retains its freshness and cleanliness. Before fermentation, the juice spent a night on the skins so there is a bit of color, and then it remained on the lees for a few months to add complexity and structure.
ABV: 12.5%
Las Jaras Wines Super Bloom
Grapes:
21% Mourvèdre
19% Marsanne
15% Roussane
14% Carignan
11% Viognier
10% Grenache Noir
7% Grenache Blanc
3% Picpoul Blanc
Superbloom is named after the wildflowers that erupt in the desert after a wetter-than-normal rainy season. They’re a sign that winter is over and warmer, happier days are ahead. We know that spring has not yet sprung in a lot of the country — but in the meantime, you can sip Superbloom and dream of warm California nights.
Almost all of the grapes come from Love Ranch vineyard in Madera County, near Coarsegold. This certified-organic vineyard is situated near the southern gate of Yosemite on rolling hills at about 2,000 feet above sea level. The soils are free-draining granitic granitic schist. We also added a touch of early picked viognier to give some acidity to the blend.
In the mood to try a tasty wine? Swing by Akin Cooperative, your neighborhood bar.
Mention this blog and receive 10% off our bar program!
Interested in joining us for a wine tasting? Check out what we have lined up in our gathering section!
Drink Local!