A growing phenomenon, but which still remains elitist. And the outlines are still uncertain, in the absence of certain legislation. This is the production and consumption of the so-called "natural" wine, carried out by a small number of demanding producers and consumers. The inverted commas are a must, given that there are still no certainties, even if the first data are beginning to emerge on this interesting phenomenon which often pits the "Goliaths" of large-scale industrial production against the "Davids" of artisanal production. Today, “natural” wine faces the skepticism of part of the academic world and the mistrust and snares of the Italian and European bureaucracy. Beyond fashions, manufacturers are spokespersons for a dream of naturalness and a return to nature desired by a greater number of people tired of the shortcuts of globalization and the uniformity of products and tastes of contemporary living.
The definition. According to the producers, "natural wine" is a wine that does not have any additive substance beyond the must in a regulatory framework that today allows the addition of up to 100 additive substances, including tannins, selected yeasts or gum arabic, during the process of transforming grapes into must. This would be a step forward compared to organic wine which, according to European laws, can still contain up to 60 additive substances. The reason for resorting to additives is essentially commercial: to generate a standard product whose taste does not vary too much from harvest to harvest, despite the variations in climate and territory, and which lasts longer in view of exports.
Production. The numbers of the production of "natural wine" are still small, also due to the lower yield of this type of production: natural producers obtain a quantity of hectoliters 2,19 times smaller than that of ordinary wine. This is the reason why natural wines are sometimes more expensive than others and are favored by an elite of quality-conscious consumers. According to the recent volume “The 'natural' wine. Numbers, intents and other stories” (written by the Servabo collective and published by Versanti) which, among the first, tries to give a precise picture of the production of “natural wine” in Italy, in our country there would be 771 producers who would work the 1,64% of the Italian vineyard area and would produce 0,74% of global output. According to the research, almost half of these companies are located in Northern Italy and produce 45% of the total hectoliters. Highlighted regions include Tuscany and Piedmont, at the forefront of the production of "natural wine", as well as Trentino Alto Adige, which boasts the highest percentage of natural hectares and hectoliters with yields higher than those of "non-natural" wines. Bringing up the rear is Sicily, which has a particularly poor yield. In 2011, there were 42 million bottles, therefore equal to those produced by a large Italian company, such as Zonin. Of the total producers, 60% have organic certification, while 13% have obtained a Demeter certification from biodynamic production.
The certification. Certification is one of the biggest problems for “natural” producers. To date, the term "natural" wine does not exist and such a denomination does not exist in the regulations governing the marketing of wine in Italy and in the European Union. Those who produce "natural" wine cannot therefore affix any "legal" label that qualifies their production in this sense. Vital then becomes the trust between the consumer and the manufacturer or distributor.
