Taste
The aVANguardists of natural wine at the Fair in Rome with over 300 wines
The autumn edition of the Fair organised by the Associazione Vignaioli Artigiani Naturali (Association of Natural Artisan Winegrowers) is coming back to Rome to present several new realities on the national territory that have chosen to set their production philosophy on environmental sustainability alone, without predefined protocols.
From 5 to 7 November, dozens of small entrepreneurs of ‘spontaneous’ wine will gather at the Città dell’Altra Economia in the Capital, Testaccio area, to present their paths linked to biodiversity and environmental vitality. A journey in stages through the most and least known Italian wine areas that becomes an opportunity for discussion and growth to explore over 300 types of wines
I VIGNAIOLI ARTIGIANI NATURALI is an association that currently unites 27 Italian wine cellars, whose commitment is to produce totally natural wines, with full respect for the life of the land, plants and man.
Safeguarding and protecting the vines and the entire ecosystem is the basic philosophy that saw the first artisanal wineries born over ten years ago, and grow through the determination to communicate, through their work, the significance of the tradition of the territory in the expression of its wine and food culture.
Wines are made without defined protocols, giving space to one’s own creativity and experience, and it is this difference in history and culture that is the true wealth of the product. To create a wine, therefore, all practices are adopted to favour the vitality of the soil for the development and health of the plants, without forcing interventions and above all abstaining from any product that damages the biological balance of the vineyard, according to the practices in use in organic and biodynamic agriculture.
“Calling a wine ‘natural’ is intended to emphasise a cultural, philosophical and spiritual concept concerning the relationship between man and nature. In wine, the expression of this relationship is spontaneous fermentation, the moment of natural transformation from must to wine, when work in the vineyard gives way to work in the cellar. This is the moment when all the uniqueness of the vintage and terroir can be delivered to the wine.
According to the Charter of Intent drawn up by VAN, natural wine is:
a wine with integrity and vitality because it is made from organically or biodynamically grown grapes, even if self-certified
an agricultural product obtained by the winegrower who directly follows all the production phases, from the cultivation of the vine to the packaging in the bottle
obtained only from its own grapes, cultivated directly, or, if purchased, from vineyards of organic or biodynamic producers in the same area (no more than 30% of the total)
obtained by spontaneous fermentation, without the use of yeasts or selected bacteria manufactured in a laboratory;
obtained without the addition of any of the oenological additives or adjuvants permitted by conventional specifications and also by those of organic and biodynamic wine, in vinification, maturation and ageing;
free from those manipulations and invasive physical or chemical treatments permitted by conventional or organic wine specifications.
a quantity of sulphites (total sulphur dioxide at bottling, declared by the producer and analytically verifiable) is allowed in wines that may be higher than that which is naturally generated in musts during alcoholic fermentation, but is always kept well below that permitted by law (conventional wine and organic wine) and used only for the purpose of delivering intact for consumption, over the years, a wine produced with the utmost naturalness at all stages, from the vineyard to vinification.
obtained from organically or biodynamically grown grapes, also self-certified, harvested by hand;
made solely from spontaneous fermentation (no added yeasts or bacteria);
with a total sulphur content at bottling of max. 40 mg/l for all wines, regardless of residual sugar content;
without the addition of any additives or oenological aids during vinification, maturation and ageing;
without brutal and invasive physical treatments (reverse osmosis, tangential filtration, pasteurisation, cryovinification or thermovinification, sterilising filtration, etc.).
