Trowbridge encourages consumers to research brands with producers and retailers carefully. They simply can’t afford to buy and certify their own vineyards. But he said many new millennial producers are small enterprises that begin with roughly 2 tons of grapes. “Organic and biodynamic producers are very dismayed by the natural wine movement because they know some of their vineyards are not organic and biodynamic in practice.”ĭerek Trowbridge of Fulton’s Old World Winery crafts natural wine and said a certification would benefit transparency. There’s no certification for natural winemaking and this unregulated category has created some infighting in the wine industry, according to Pam Strayer, senior editor of the Slow Wine Guide USA. Like himself, they develop relationships with their growers and monitor the land to make sure it’s chemical free, even if these growers don’t have certifications. Trowbridge said most producers of natural wine in Sonoma County don’t own their own land. He adds small amounts of sulfur to kill unwanted bacteria and yeast and to stabilize his wines, holding to his philosophy of minimum intervention. He makes a range of 12-plus varietals, all natural wines. Old World Winery, in contrast, operates on a smaller scale, producing 3,500 cases a year. “If you have an 80,000 gallon tank and you have to turn it over, you can’t have grapes in it for more than seven days,” Trowbridge explained. While legal, he said these additives have spiraled to more than 70.Ĭhemical additives, Trowbridge said, began to multiply after World War II, many of which are used to process wine more quickly. He also objects to the use of many of the additives in conventional winemaking. The winemaker said he’s opposed to conventional farming, which allows the use of pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers. Everything was absolutely natural.”įounded in 1998, Old World Winery has long-term leases for about 12 acres of vineyards and Trowbridge said these vineyards are biodynamic and regenerative. “We had a rich heritage here in California before Prohibition. “I grew up drinking my grandfather’s wine,” Trowbridge said. The Italian immigrant, who began his odyssey in Sonoma County in 1889, made wine free of pesticides and chemical additives. Here’s a glimpse into this burgeoning movement from the inside by introducing you to a trio of winemakers - two millennials and a Gen Xer - who are making natural wines in Sonoma County.ĭerek Trowbridge, Fulton’s Old World WineryĪt 53, Trowbridge is a lanky Gen Xer who said he wants to make wine like his late grandfather, Giuseppe Martinelli, did. Stanko, Khosrowmanesh and Miller all say they expect the market for these wines to grow, with millennials driving the traffic. They include Luke Stanko, a production manager at Windsor’s Grand Cru Custom Crush Kaz Khosrowmanesh, the beverage manager of Sonoma’s Valley Bar & Bottle and Ryan Miller, co-owner of Sebastopol’s The Redwood, a natural wine bar. Other industry insiders are witnessing this local groundswell of millennials crafting these low intervention wines. “Millennials want to feel good about what they’re drinking and know they’re not damaging the earth with pesticides and synthetic fertilizers,” Herbst said.īorn between 19, millennials range in age from 27 to 42, according to the Pew Research Center. These additives, which are legal, can be used to standardize and process wine more quickly.Ĥ) Winemaking typically uses additives to fine and filter wines, removing particles to give the finished product more clarity. 1) Natural wines are expected to be bottled with grapes grown in vineyards free of pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers.Ģ) In the cellar, natural winemakers practice low intervention winemaking, with few if any additives.ģ) Natural winemakers rely on airborne yeasts, whether from the grapes or in the cellar, in fermentations, rather than adding commercial yeasts which are more predictable.Ĥ) Natural wines can be murky with some particles in them because they typically forgo fining and filtering.ġ) Farming allows the use of pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers.Ģ) Commercial yeasts are typically used in fermentations because they’re more predictable and more efficient.ģ) Winemaking can use 70-plus additives.
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