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For every big wine cashing in on the “clean wine” craze by advertising its low calorie counts and friendliness to a ketogenic diet, there are a dozen small-scale, thoughtful winemakers quietly making natural wines here in California.
Natural wine lacks an official definition in the U.S., so every practitioner may follow a slightly different set of principles, but the philosophy is broadly characterized by sustainable farming and minimal intervention in the cellar. Most self-identified natural wines are fermented by ambient yeast, are bottled unfiltered and undergo few or no additions. More recently, though, many companies have been capitalizing on the lingo without following through on the philosophy. Brands like Avaline and Good Clean Wine have amplified the already growing interest in natural wine — but have also drawn considerable ire from members of the natural wine community, who fear that some companies are spreading false information and taking advantage of the work that the real natural winemakers have done.
The moniker remains a thorny topic in certain wine circles. Some California winemakers take issue with the implication that only certain types of wines are “natural,” as if the rest were industrial, chemical plonk, often pointing out that legally allowed wine additives are not harmful to human health. That’s a discussion for another day.
But all that said, if you’re new to natural wine and want to support small, independent producers — rather than, say, Cameron Diaz — this list of wines is a great place to start. All of these bottles are from California and, to my palate, should be fairly universally appealing; none of them is excessively “funky” or alienating. And this list merely scratches the surface of the long roster of excellent natural wines now being made in California.
You can buy any of these wines directly from the wineries’ websites, or look for them — and others — at one of the Bay Area’s natural wine-focused shops, including Minimo, Ordinaire, Bay Grape and the Punchdown in Oakland; Tofino, Terroir, Ruby, Gemini, Verjus and Fig & Thistle in San Francisco; and Vineyard Gate in Millbrae.
• A crisp, ultra-light summer white: Et Alia Picpoul Blanc El Dorado Sierra Foothills 2019 ($26, 12.1%). This wine comes from Cara and Aaron Mockrish, who mostly make wines under the Frenchtown Farms label, including from the legendary Renaissance Vineyard. This rendition of Picpoul Blanc, a variety associated with France’s Rhone Valley, is racy and linear, which you don’t always find in Picpoul. It’s flinty, suggesting underripe pear and sappy herbs, with a sunny, bright quality that wraps around the entire mouth.
• A white that can stand up to food: St. Rey “SRV” Chenin Blanc Sutter Ranch Vineyard Clarksburg 2019 ($15, 12.36%). Craig Haarmeyer is one of the great winemakers of the greater Sacramento area, working with vineyards from Yolo County to the Sierra foothills. His SRV Chenin Blanc tastes like a summer fruit salad — think peach, cantaloupe and a generous sprinkling of lemon zest. Firm, mouth-watering acidity carries the wine. Recently, it was showing a hint of reduction — that smell of struck matches — when first opened, but give it a few minutes in the glass and that’ll blow off.
• A different take on Cali Chardonnay: Florèz “Moonmilk” Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains 2018 ($40, 11.8%). The name “Moonmilk” puts you in the right mind for the aroma of this wine, which has a dairy-like quality, something like tangy plain yogurt. Look for sour pineapple and sweet sage notes, and don’t mind the spritziness that the wine shows when you pour the first glass. In other words, this effort by winemaker James Jelks is nothing like the stereotypical buttery California Chardonnay you might be used to.
• A “glou glou” red: Woods Zinfandel Capo Creek Vineyard Dry Creek Valley 2019 ($34, 14.2%). San Francisco craft brewery Woods is now also a wine company, with winemakers Chris Scanlan and Kyle Jeffrey crafting the new bottlings. This Sonoma County Zin is a good example of what the natural-wine cool kids like to call “glou glou,” an onomatopoetic term that describes light, easy-drinking, chuggable wines. Despite this wine’s light color, it expresses the deeply juicy fruit notes that are typical of Zinfandel. The nose is pure raspberry puree, the palate full of blueberry pie, and a chalky, rustic texture holds it all together.
• A light-but-serious red: Iruai Shasta-Cascade Red Wine ($28, 12.5%). Iruai is the other label from winemaker Chad Hinds, also of Methode Sauvage. This extraordinary wine is a blend of Trousseau, Mondeuse and Blaufrankisch, grown in what Hinds has termed the “Shasta-Cascade” region of Northern California. Its color is a brilliant, translucent ruby, and its taste embodies a sense of mountain-air freshness. The flavors recall orange peel studded with spicy, musky cloves and a savory hit of anise. Loud and expressive, yet light on its feet. I challenge anyone to dislike this wine.
• A big red that will please the Cabernet lover: Absentee NMWD “Private Stash” California Red Wine 2018 ($30, 14.5%). A mainstay at the Point Reyes Station farmers market, Avi Deixler makes his wines in a Marin County dairy barn. Though the name of this wine stands for “North Marin Wine District” (a term Deixler made up), the contents — Carignan grapes — come from Mendocino County’s Poor Ranch. It’s a dense red, big enough to stand up to a steak. Grippy tannins, baking spices, graphite and blackberry round out this substantial, structured but balanced wine.
Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicle’s wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob
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July 29, 2020 at 06:00PM
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Natural wine for beginners: six exemplary California whites and reds - San Francisco Chronicle
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