Natural Wine Explained: What It Is, What It Tastes Like, and Should You Try It?

Natural wine has gone from niche to mainstream in a remarkably short time. You’ll find it on the lists of serious restaurants, in independent wine shops and increasingly in supermarkets. But what actually is it — and should you be drinking it?

What Is Natural Wine?

There’s no legal definition of natural wine, which is part of what makes it confusing. In practice, natural wine producers broadly follow these principles:

• Grapes grown organically or biodynamically — no synthetic pesticides or herbicides
• Hand harvested rather than machine harvested
• Native yeasts used for fermentation rather than commercial cultured yeasts
• Minimal intervention in the winery — no fining agents, no excessive filtering
• Little or no added sulphur dioxide (the preservative used in virtually all conventional wine)

The result is wine that its proponents describe as a more honest expression of place and vintage — and critics sometimes describe as unstable, unpredictable and occasionally faulty.

What Does Natural Wine Taste Like?

Here’s the honest answer: it varies enormously. At its best, natural wine has extraordinary vitality — more texture, more complexity, more of what sommeliers call “energy” than conventionally made wine. At its worst, it can taste funky, cloudy, oxidised or simply unpleasant.

Common characteristics: slight haziness (unfined/unfiltered), lower alcohol, more savoury and less fruit-forward flavours, sometimes a slight spritz, and often more food-friendliness due to lower intervention.

Orange Wine — What’s That?

Orange wine is white wine made like red wine — the grape skins are left in contact with the juice during fermentation, extracting tannins, colour and texture. The result is an amber-orange coloured wine with grip and savouriness that white wine lovers often find surprising and red wine lovers find accessible.

Organic and Biodynamic — Are They Natural?

Not necessarily. Organic certification covers only the vineyard — it says nothing about what happens in the winery. A wine can be certified organic but still be heavily processed with commercial yeasts and fining agents. Biodynamic goes further but again doesn’t guarantee minimal intervention in the winery.

Should You Try It?

Yes — with the right expectations. Natural wine rewards curiosity. Start with a producer-led recommendation rather than buying blind, and approach it with an open palate rather than expecting conventional wine flavours.

Our organic and natural selections are available at 51wines.uk. Our AI Sommelier can filter recommendations by style to find natural and organic options from our current range.