Pragmatic Departure from Natural Wine Dogmas
Penned by the Slow Food Coalition, it largely follows the rules that apply to organic wine in Europe, with the addition of several other requirements.
- Sustainability has to be ‘taken into account’ and winery buildings have to ‘respect their environmental surroundings.’
- Wineries have to ‘collaborate with the entire surrounding community’, sharing knowledge to avoid ‘unfair competition’.
- Wines must ‘reflect their place of origin’ and winemakers cannot use reverse osmosis or add rectified must or sugar, or purchase more than 30% of their grapes – unless they are located in regions like the South of Spain or the Napa valley where grape-purchasing is common practise.
This kind of pragmatism features elsewhere in the manifesto:
- Irrigation is permitted, but only to ‘avoid critical water-stress conditions’.
- Sulphor dioxide may be used – but only in doses allowed by organic rules, and there is no ban on fining or filtering.
- In another veiled message to some natural wine producers and fans, wines must be free of any winemaking defects “as they tend to homogenize the wines and stamp out any regional identity.” In other words, Brettanomyces doesn’t reflect terroir; it simply makes a wine smell and taste like another wine with the same fault.
In another departure from natural wine dogma, while indigenous yeasts are ‘encouraged’, so is “scientific research to isolate native yeasts which can then be replicated and used by the winery” - or others in the same area.
Three Days Fair in Bologna
The event that was associated with this manifesto, was held over three days and brought together over 6,000 visitors and 540 producers from Italy and 18 other countries. The largest number of non-Italians came from Northern Europe, especially Germany and Denmark, and the US.
Gianpiero Calzolari, President of BolognaFiere, where the fair was held, said that "Sana Slow Wine Fair marks an important step for BolognaFiere. We’ve long hosted events focused on organic products and sustainability, but now we open up to that leading edge of the wine world which is building a greener future through their commitment to the values of Slow Food.”
After a successful first year, Sana Slow Wine Fair is set for a repeat performance next year.
