Whilst perusing the rather brilliant The Fence magazine for Magnified, we happened upon an article by wine writer Henry Jeffreys on how best to order wine and this is his hot take when it comes to natural wine.
“When ‘natural’ wines first started appearing ten years ago, I was generally positive about them. Wine made without added sugar, enzymes, yeast, minimal sulphur and oak influence, how could I resist? But such wines run the gamut from gorgeously pure to undrinkably rough. Widening the definition for what can acceptably be sold as wine means that it can sometimes be hard to tell if the wine is meant to actually taste like that…
There is a way to get a drinkable glass of wine out of even the most evangelical of natural wine wait staff. You may have encountered these specimens, with a messianic gleam in their eyes. Be on your guard: if they detect the slightest piece of interest in something different, they will try to sell you something made in an amphora by a young couple in Portugal who previously worked in digital marketing.
The trick I learned from visiting Terroirs near Charing Cross station is to say, ‘That sounds fascinating, we might try that next time but for now imagine you’re ordering wine for your grandfather, what would he like?’
You may not appear quite so cool, but in no time at all you will have something worth drinking.”
