‘Nature in the glass’: Principles and practices in low-intervention winemaking

Abstract

Wine is often portrayed and perceived as a natural product; however, in fact, it's predominantly a highly industrialized, processed commodity. The vast majority of vine is cultivated in monocultural systems, requiring the intensive use of pesticides and agricultural machinery. Advanced cellar technologies and oenological practices standardize vinification, controlling and manipulating microbial and biochemical processes to ensure a uniform product. This approach has faced criticism, primarily due to its ecological implications. In response, a niche market has developed around so-called ‘natural’ or ‘low-intervention’ wines, emphasizing environmentally conscious production methods, resulting in a distinctive product. In a qualitative research approach, we explore the alternative practices which reflect the winemaker's care for soil and plant health, support microorganisms in the must, and preserve the wine's ingrediencies. Through practices like no-till, soil fertilization, and spontaneous fermentation, low-intervention winemakers aspire to stop soil degradation, regenerate their plants' microbiome and respect the grape's indigenous fermentation capacity, allowing in-situ yeasts to do their job and craft an individual wine flavour. Our article proposes a framework to explore these practices and the underlying philosophy, where the observed processes and winemaker's attitudes reflect an approach of ‘co-producing with nature’, which we explore by adopting conceptual ideas from more-than-human geographies.