At Winona we love white wine. And alliteration. White wine is often the style that many people ar...Read More...
At Winona we love white wine. And alliteration. White wine is often the style that many people are introduced to when they first start to drink. Fresher, livelier, fruit-centric and acid driven. Flashes from youth watching parents pour greenish-gold liquid that filled the room with the smell of passionfruit and cut grass, whilst exclaiming “Ahhh Savvy B!”. Or, as you’ve grown older, you’ve found yourself wandering into a bottle shop, not sure what you want, and when the bottle shop assistant asks if they can help, you find yourself inexplicably replying, “Hmm...maybe your biggest, boldest, buttery Chardonnay?”. We’ve all been there.
It’s not often a style we associate with the world of natural wine, unfortunately we tend to lump it into the binary whose two poles glare ‘Wolf Blass’ and ‘Burgundy’. However, this is a common misconception. The world of natural wine not only incorporates more playful, left of centre styles like orange wines and pet nats, but refreshing, energetic and lively styles of white wine that will placate the classic Chardonnay quaffer, the Riesling enthusiast, the Savvy-B die-hard, to those who take no prisoners when it comes to reference point: Silvaner, Sauvignon Gris, Cortese, Assyrtiko rejoice! Natural white wines tend to favour lower alcohol levels, have unbridled aromatics and have a texture and voice that can only be described as...alive.
They also are made in a way that nurtures the land, encouraging wild yeasts, avoiding the use of chemicals, and allowing the fruit to speak for itself. Winemakers using organic, biodynamic, permacultural methods to grow fruit have really opened the doors for far more expressive, interesting and ultimately sustainable white wines. Drinking natural white wine is a way to reset your expectations when it comes to white wine drinking, and reduce your carbon footprint and likelihood of a disappointing wine whilst you’re at it. One can still flaunt their love of white wines made in regions steeped in tradition; Mosel, Burgundy, South African Chenin and Soave, whilst exploring lesser known varieties and regions. There is also less of a focus on the use of oak, instead exploring more interesting styles of making – the use of flor and oxidation in Jura and Spain (even Australia!) allow for rich, nutty, textural wines, for example. Or the practice of earlier picking, retaining natural freshness and vivacity. Cultivating local varieties and making wines that speak truly of place, as in Greece, Italy, France, South America...oh, and Australia! Experimentation of blends – blow your palate with a Semillon/Vigonier, a Cortese/Greco, a Trebbiano/Malvasia/Verdicchio...even reading this might make your brain tickle. At Winona we have curated a selection of wines that encapsulate the space they were grown and made in, whilst exploring a seemingly endless range of white wine styles. DIVE IN.
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