One, posts from winemakers who are looking for help during harvest.

Two, messages from wine lovers who are…

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“…

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Me hot. Me need cold wine.

You hot, too?

OK, me share wines. We drink. We feel better.

A racy, bright Pinot Blanc

Nobody talks about how delicious the white grape Pinot Blanc is, probably because it’s a little bit rare and so you only occasionally come across a bottle. But ice-cold Pinot Blanc absolutely hits the spot—it’s high in acid but flattered by beautiful peachy tones that balance it out.

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It’s in Champagne. On the left, is a plot farmed biodynamically (by a wonderful label called Vouette & Sorbée) while on the right, is a p…

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I’ve loved every minute of my 40s so far. I’m more self-assured, more comfortable in my body and my clothes, since I turned 40. I know what I need to do to have a good day—and I understand that I have to defend my time in order to do those things. I protect the hour of the day when I exercise, I protect my reading time and writing time. I am devoted to the friendships that are meaningful, less likely to respond to someone who I feel hasn’t been supporting me.

Being 40 also means a different relationship to wine. And it’s a little bit going against the general vibe of natural wine culture, which can be, at times, excessive.

In the culture of natural wine, there is an assumption that you don’t just want one glass—you want to drink to the max. Drinksmaxxing, maybe?

Picture the infamous glou-glou wine presented in clear bottles so you can glimpse how light, bright, refreshing, and easy to guzzle the wine within will be. When I was my my twenties and just discovering natural wine, I couldn’t get enough of the stuff, and the first bottle of the night was always glou-glou. From there, we’d go onto a bright, lifted white, and then to a skin-contact (orange) white wine, and eventually to light red and more structured red.

But now I’m in my 40s and I can’t always drink the entire rainbow. I do still, however, embrace wine as part of my lifestyle. I don’t plan to give it up, even if I spend more time now thinking about my skin elasticity and digestion than I do about recent vintages of Burgundy.

So, how does one approach wine in the throes of mid-life? To answer this, I reached out to some late 30s/40-something peers who have also stood by their dedication to a nice glass of pét-nat.

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These three important, eternal secrets are the only things you need to know about wine. If someone tries to talk to you about the “legs” as they swirl a glass, you can put your hand in their face and say, STOP THIS NONSENSE! I know the true wine secrets!

If your WSET instructor goes into a speech about “varietal typicity,” you can jump to your feet and run screaming from the classroom, yelling, THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WINE’S DEEPEST, TRUEST SECRETS!

These secrets are powerful, too powerful for any wine course, even too powerful for technology.

In fact, their extreme power meant that I couldn’t even write them on a computer. I had to sit in the sun, with my floppy hat on, and write them by hand.

Below, I have scanned these handwritten texts where I transcribed wine’s most important secrets.

Secret truth no1

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“So you’re into organic, huh? The vineyards have to be sprayed with nettle and calendula? Then tell me, why are you all smoking?”

Uh, yeah.

Well.

We’re smoking. We’re standing outside La Dive Bouteille, the famous natural wine salon in France’s Loire Valley, rolling ciggies while we finish a plate of oysters and unfiltered Sauvignon Blanc. We’re passing around a packet of tobacco outside The Four Horsemen, between courses of pickled foraged ramps and locally-sourced charcuterie, or whatever’s now on the menu at everyone’s favorite New York wine bar. We’re huffing ‘em down between glasses of sulfite-free, organic pét-nat as if we were trying to counterbalance the well-being provided by the wine itself with a nice dose of carcinogens.

Maybe we’ve always been just ahead of the times—because it sounds like smoking is back, baby!

Consider that novelist Xochitl Gonzales recently wrote for The Cut about nostalgia for smoking:

“I certainly remember smoking in the ’90s — it was divine. Before we stood around staring down at our phones, we used to stand around staring at each other. Talking and talking while we blew smoke in one another’s faces.”

Smoking, Gonzales reminds us, was classically much more than a nicotine fix: It was a way to create a spontaneous situation full of possibilities. Whom might you chat to while standing outside the club, having a smoke? During my twenties (peak smoking years), I flirted with countless guys with the age-old line, “Mind if I bum one?” (Honestly, so effective.)

It’s in line with the “I don’t want your fkn matcha” trend on social media, where people post images of cheap, plastic tables set with two bottles of beer and an ashtray betraying evidence of an hours-long conversation marked by rolling, lighting, and inhaling. No kombucha. No chia seed pudding.

And yet we—those of us in natural wine, and the general population—also know very well that smoking is carcinogenic. Big Tobacco is pure evil, marketing to us with a cute camel for decades so that we associate smoking with a kind desert animal instead of with addiction, yellowed teeth and fingers, and a burnt-out esophagus. How to explain this contradiction, that so many natural winemakers and industry professionals love a good smoke, and the vibe is somehow shifting in the media toward this?

Natural wine cannot be reduced to “clean living”

Maybe Gwyneth Paltrow is talking about “clean” wine—maybe she’s infusing it with collagen and peptides—but in the natural wine world, we’re not trying to get a daily dose of anti-oxidants or consumable lip filler when we enjoy a glass. It’s something else.

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It’s no secret that authoring a sophomore book is an entirely different, often more difficult affair than a debut. But it happened and I’m thrilled to welcome the gorgeous, hardcover HOW TO DRINK NATURAL WINE to bookshelves worldwide.

First, a word about the book—but then, below I am sharing all of my realest, juiciest tips about having a writing career. The stuff I wish someone had told me when I was starting out, at 26. The advice that would have helped me get through the lonely nights of crying in my bathtub in my Brooklyn rental, after submitting an article I’d worked on for three days and getting paid $75.

I want all of you to know these tips, because the writing world needs you. It needs your voice, even if you aren’t sure what that voice is yet. It needs your persistence, even if you aren’t sure what it’s getting you.

HOW TO DRINK NATURAL WINE presents everything you could ever want to know about organic, unfiltered, additive-free wine in 223 pages. It features the history of the movement, taking you to vineyards in France’s Beaujolais region and the Republic of Georgia. It shares interviews with groundbreaking winemakers, retailers, and sommeliers. It breaks down, step by step, how natural wine is made, pointing out differences vis-a-vis conventional wine along the way. It shares bottle recommendations of course, and tips for pairing natural wines with food. It offers advice on getting into a natural wine career, on visiting winemakers and attending wine fairs.

Below is an excerpt from the book:

You can order HOW TO DRINK NATURAL WINE just about anywhere in the world (see here). If you can’t find it, send me an email and I’ll help you out.

But to back up, how did this book happen? And the one before that? How did I get to be a published author? And what can you, an aspiring writer in 2026, do to carve out this career for yourself?

You need to know why you’re writing.

George Orwell famously discussed four main motives for being a writer, in his seminal essay Why I Write:

1. Ego: “Desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered after death, to get your own back on grown-ups who snubbed you in childhood, etc., etc.”

2. Love of beauty: “Perception of beauty in the external world, or, on the other hand, in words and their right arrangement. Pleasure in the impact of one sound on another, in the firmness of good prose or the rhythm of a good story.”

3. “Historical impulse. Desire to see things as they are, to find out true facts and store them up for the use of posterity.”

4. Politics: “Desire to push the world in a certain direction, to alter other people’s idea of the kind of society that they should strive after.”

If you are reading the above and nodding, then forget all questions of rationality, of “earning enough to survive,” of a “stable career.”

If you are a writer, then you’re a writer, full stop. You will find a way, no matter what the obstacles. You will hold down jobs you don’t like, in order to write—or you won’t, and you’ll find some other way to survive.

To write is a calling, a purpose, a commitment—if you know that this path is for you, then don’t let anyone else deter you. The sooner you accept your mission, the sooner you can begin accomplishing your goals as a writer.

You have to be able to withstand rejection.

Three months ago, my literary agent and I split ways.

This was heartbreaking—she had guided me through my first book deal, had been there during the second one—but it does happen sometimes.

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Uranus—the change-maker, the disruptor, the rebel, the one who brings breakthrough and innovation—has entered the realm of Gemini for the first time in more than 80 years. With this, comes unpredictability, a reworking of the structure.

Gemini’s domain is communication. Consider that in this planetary transit, how we think, speak, and share information—a realm already undergoing rapid change, with AI—is going to evolve deeply under the heft of Uranus.

We’ve seen glimpses of Uranus’ influence recently, between May and September 2025, when the ringed-planet flashed her position in Gemini. If you felt a sort of awakening during that time—a deeper connection with a wild force within and around you, an urge to guzzle Champagne, an instinct that you had to transform your work or family life—then get ready for even more.

Astrologers are warning of a great shake-up, of a “storm before the rainbow.” (Sources: the general internet, Instagram, Reddit.) Of course, every Zodiac sign is affected differently by this momentous occasion, last seen eight decades ago.

Read on for the wine-soaked version of your own personal horoscope for this era dominated by the stunning effect of Uranus in Gemini. What does this epic planetary transit moment say for your wine career or passion? For the wine varieties and regions you should be exploring? The wine adventures and travels you should be embarking on?

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For paid subscribers, I’ve added on an exclusive for you: My all-time favorite rosés. It’s always rosé season for me personally, and I hope you can find one of these bottles wherever you are, next time you have the chance to enjoy a beautiful sunset.

I remember my first glass of natural wine. It was like the moment in the Wizard of Oz, when the film suddenly turns to color. The world lit up with the liveliness on my palate. What is that? I wondered, my nose plunged into a glass of Gamay that smelled of crushed roses, freshly plowed fields, and something truly wild. I was desperate to know more.

Ten years later, I’ve been a wine salesperson, wine journalist, wine educator, and winemaker, always in the “natural” realm, and I’m here to share my experience with you.

The wine that most of us drink in our early twenties is meticulously crafted to taste a certain way. That’s not necessarily a bad thing—you know how Skittles’ yellow candies have that “artificial banana” profile? Nothing about it seems derived from actual fruit, but it’s really good. A lot of conventional wine operates on the same premise—your palate has come to expect certain flavors that your brain associates with “wine,” even if those are mostly artificial.

Natural wine, because it is fermented without commercial yeasts, made without large doses of preservatives, and made entirely of grapes—no flavor or color or acidity enhancers—is a very different tasting experience versus conventional wine. Some people love natural wine’s profile right away, while for others, maybe it’s an acquired taste.

While some natural wines can have very “classical” profiles, there’s no denying that there’s something unique, different about natural wines. What you’re tasting, with natural wines, is a wild ferment. The yeasts are present on the grapes already or in the atmosphere—unlike in conventional or some boutique wines, where a commercial yeast strain is purchased.

In conventional wine, often the yeast is designed to make the wines taste like consumers want them to—a great example is New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Critics love to describe it as having a particular “cat pee” flavor (what a horrid descriptor). But this flavor comes from one specific clone of Sauvignon Blanc, harvested early and then urged through fermentation with the help of a particular yeast strain. There’s nothing essential or natural about it.

I know that the catch-all phrase for describing natural wines is “funky.” I’m not here to tell you not to use that term. But let’s look at a few other descriptors that can be useful when talking about natural wine, with some explanation behind them.

First, how to taste natural wine:

The process of tasting a natural wine involves engaging all your senses.

First, examine the color and appearance of the wine. Pour into a simple, all-purpose glass with a stem, and lift it up to the light. Does it look like there was maceration? If so, was it for a long time or just briefly? Does the wine look light-bodied or medium-bodied? Put the glass on a table, grip the stem between your pointer finger and thumb, and gently swirl without lifting it up. This opens up the aromas.

Lift the glass to your nose and inhale. In a young wine, you may notice yeastiness—one hallmark of a wild fermentation. Keep swirling and sniffing, and see what else arrives to your olfactory system. You may notice fruity aromas (fresh or dried; red or dark), floral notes, outdoor fragrances like straw or rainforest, or whatever else comes to mind.

Next, you taste. Take a small sip, and swish it around so it coats the insides of your mouth. Is the wine refreshing? Do the tannins linger on your tongue? Notice the texture: What does it tell you about the grape varieties in the wine, or the winemaking technique? Or what questions does the texture bring up?

Helpful descriptors for natural wines

Fruity: Most of us grew up hearing that wines could be dry or sweet, but this is a misleading distinction. A finished, bottled wine, unless it is indicated to be demi-sec (off-dry), is dry. If it weren’t dry, it would re-ferment in the bottle. What the word “sweet” is meant to describe could be summarized as fruity. If you are perceiving “sweetness” in a wine, use the descriptor “fruity,” because it better encapsulates flavors such as tropical, berry, or stone fruits. Fruity flavors might also indicate carbonic maceration (described in full in the book!).

Bright or lively: Let’s talk about acidity, a crucial component in wine. Acidity is what makes wine dance on your tongue; it tingles, even. Without acidity, a wine is flabby, heavy. Winemakers can achieve acidity by harvesting earlier or by adding tartaric or malic acid. We know which approach natural winemakers prefer! Generally, natural winemakers harvest quite early, because grapes are heathiest when they have just entered the ripeness window (before birds swoop in to damage them, or excessive sun or rain arrives). So, you may notice that natural wines have more acidity than conventional ones. Acidity appears as citrus fruit flavors and a bright, lively sensation on your palate.

Tannic: Tannins are astringent polyphenols found primarily on grape skins and stems (and in many other plant foods) that impart flavor and texture into a wine when it undergoes skin contact during fermentation. Depending on the grape variety and the length and type of skin maceration, tannins might manifest on the palate as a grippy feeling, with notes of cranberry, blood orange, leather, or tobacco. B oth whites and reds can be made with skin contact, leading to an array of tannic experiences in wines. Generally, tannins feel dry in the mouth—what people usually describe as a dry wine is often a tannic one; or they could be referring to the “crisp” character that many conventional wines achieve by arresting[RS1] malolactic fermentation. Tannins usually develop complexity as a wine ages in bottle.

Mineral: Welcome to a Pandora’s box: “Minerality” is a tasting note that some love to identify, while others profess that it doesn’t exist. When we talk about minerality, we’re referring to the ways that a vineyard’s rocks or soils make themselves known in a finished wine. Imagine the sensation of licking a rock: cold, chalky. Some people identify this characteristic in wines—especially wines from regions known for limestone, like Chablis or Burgundy, or the Muscadet region of the Loire, where vines grow on metamorphic rocks like gneiss. Minerality is considered positively, because it means that a wine displays terroir, finesse, and aging potential.

Funky: This is a popular term, but it’s also a little vague. Funky notes could merely refer to the fact that the wine had a wild-yeast fermentation (think of sipping kombucha) or to a so-called flaw like Brettanomyces. Contrary to what many seem to think, not all natural wines are funky—it really depends on the grape variety and fermentation method. “Funky” could also indicate volatile acidity.

I hope that these terms are helpful to you in describing natural wines, and in getting the wines you want when you’re out shopping or dining.

If you enjoyed this, please check out my book!

And now below, for paid subscribers, an extra treat: ROSÉ TALK. Natural rosés only, of course. None of that pale, Provençal stuff! These are authentic, small-batch wines made from 100 grapes only, for serious conversation with good friends. Also made for aging—why not buy 2 bottles and save one for next year?

You don’t need to drink them ice-cold—and don’t pour them on ice, please :)

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It will impress the socks off that guy waving around the $300 Cru Beaujolais when you calmly explain to him how it happens that we have Gamay in the first place.

It will impress your natural wine loyalist friends, too, when you explain why it’s so important that we keep supporting small producers who make wine from rare, heirloom grape varieties like Pineau d’Aunis, Menu Pineau, Ansonica, Pansa Blanca, Xinomavro, and so on.

But, first, I need to take you back a few millennia, to the nomadic days of humankind.

HUMAN FERMENT THINGS

Grapevines, prior to deliberate cultivation, would have grown by winding themselves around trees. At some point, someone thought, OOOOH THOSE LOOK TASTY and climbed up a tree to gather them, then fermented them in an amphora.

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This may have happened as far back as 8,000 years ago in the Caucuses, which today is the Republic of Georgia—considered the oldest continuously wine-producing region in the world.

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This explainer is all about how to avoid wine wastage—bottles half-drunk; wines not stored in the best conditions and therefore spoiled—and how to generally get the most out of your natural wines. Below, I’ll share tips on extending the life of open bottles and answer questions about how long a natural wine can last, once opened.

For the more adventurous of you, one of the tips I’ve shared below includes details on how I’m making a batch of vermouth using bits of leftover wine! I really think that anyone could do this at home—all you need is neutral grain spirit, some jars, a large air-tight food-safe vessel, and a good palate.

Read on, and you’ll never again waste a bottle of beautiful natural wine!

Problem #1: I’m not sure I will finish this bottle if I open it tonight; won’t it go bad?

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When the wine arrived, the sommelier offered me a taste of the freshly opened bottle. It lifted it to my nose, then tasted. There was something off—but perhaps the wine was oxidized? It took me five minutes to realize that there was something else going on here—this wine was corked. It was undrinkable.

If you’re curious about wine flaws, particularly in regard to natural wine, my new book HOW TO DRINK NATURAL WINE has an entire section devoted to this topic! You’ll learn about all the flaws that could affect natural wines, why they happen, and what to do if you encounter them.

What is corked wine?

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Why? Firstly, because there are no real “rules” in natural wine. Secondly, because natural wine is a kind of food, in its own right—it’s an agricultural product, designed to be consumed with a meal, rather than a wine that shouts from the rooftops, overpowering your plate.

Entering the world of pairing natural wine and food calls for creativity, spontaneity, and self-confidence. In this explainer, I’ll rely on ten years of working with natural wines and enjoying them with home cooking as well as at the world’s best restaurants, to help you understand the art of pairing.

Because it needs to be said, that pairing natural wines with food can be a little different. There are some unique aspects to natural wines, that affect the approach.

Check out my explainers

By the end of this post, you might find your mouth watering for a delicious glass of Gamay with a simple, herby roast chicken.

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Lesson 1: What grows together, goes together.

The best job I’ve ever had was teaching wine education, in tandem with a cheese instructor, at Murray’s Cheese in Manhattan. Yes, I was paid to choose wines to pair with the world’s best artisanal cheeses, and then educate people about the wines and why they matched with each cheese: It was heaven.

At Murray’s, one of our favorite mantras was, “what grows together, goes together.”

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They’re not the first from my Pipette in Italia tours to do this! Working harvest is a highly tempting rite-of-passage that allows people to take their wine obsession further, offering priceless insight into the everyday workings of a winery.

It’s not just a peek behind the curtain, either—hands-on work sheds light on winemaking in a way reading and tasting simply could not. I learned more from trying (and failing) to roll an empty barrel, at Domaine Mosse back in 2017, than I had in two years of working in Brooklyn bars and wine shops.

"What is a living wine?"

Of course, there are endless questions associated with working harvest: who, what, where, when, and how? No two harvest experiences are alike because of the infinite variables here. Ultimately, to get into a harvest role, and get the most out of it, you’re going to want to think about a few critical things.

And, once you’re accepted, a few tips will ensure your experience goes smoothly.

For paid subscribers, below: The complete list of everything you need to know to get a harvest internship at a winery you love, and how to get the most of the experience.

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Choosing where you go: Region, country, producer…based on when you can go.

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Joy Kull is a winemaker on Lake Bolsena in central Italy, between Rome and Florence. Her label, La Villana, produces energetic, playful wines from local vineyards (ncluding her own) featuring common grapes from the area, such as Procanico (a local variation of Trebbiano, Italy’s most common white grape) and Aleatico (a local red, traditionally used for sweet wines).

Seven Italian natural wineries to know

Lake Bolsena is a region I visit often because it is literally surrounded by amazing natural winemakers—it’s almost difficult to name them all, there are so many.

Born in Switzerland and raised in the U.S., Joy Kull showed up in Italy fresh out of hospitality school for a harvest. She promptly fell in love—simultaneously with Lake Bolsena’s gorgeous vineyards and with a local Italian shepherd, who courted her by riding his tractor nearby the farm where she worked, singing in loud baritone until she couldn’t ignore him anymore.

They got married and meanwhile, Joy set up her winery while still a bright-eyed twenty-something, planted a vineyard from scratch a few years later, and has been making uncompromisingly natural, fun, surprising wines ever since.

Recently, I was staying with Joy and her husband Simone (the operatic shepherd) for a few days, resting in between leading tours and attending Augusta Wine Fair. She suggested that I challenge her with some blind tasting.

Joy thought I was going to give her all local wines—but I went beyond the concept and poured her wines from other parts of Italy. This made it slightly more difficult.

As you will see in the video we made together, Joy’s palate is really sharp. This is how you know someone is not a bullshit winemaker! She identified certain key aspects of the wines right away, even if she wasn’t always immediately sure.

At the end, when we are speaking in Italian, she was able to determine that we were drinking Sangiovese, and by noting the absence of oak-aging, guessed correctly it was a wine from neighboring vineyard Malauva. That’s impressive!

You can see the video with closed captioning on my Instagram, fyi.

Blind-tasting is a party gag. It’s a great way to open up people’s minds about wine; surprise yourself by what you know or what you don’t know; and enjoy wine in a slightly competitive approach.

When small-talk has reached its limit but you’re not quite ready for lights-off dance-partying, I think there’s nothing better than a little blind-tasting session.

Below I’m sharing tips on how to organize a blind-tasting session at a gathering. Your friends will be asking you to do it again and again.

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So, is natural wine healthy? Is it healthier than regular wine? Welcome to a very big question that’s not so easy to answer scientifically.

This post is mostly free-for-all because it’s an important topic, but as always there is some paywalled content at the end.

Anecdotally, nearly all producers of natural wine will tell you that their products are intended as part of a healthy lifestyle. What this means, though, is very specific: growing one’s own food, drinking in moderation on a daily basis, working outdoors in the vineyards. There’s also an assumption that natural wines are a living product that, when consumed, add to our gut bacteria.

There is no correlation between drinking natural wines and having a healthy lifestyle or being overall healthier. Alcohol is alcohol, and there is always a drawback to including it in your consumption habits.

But this doesn’t really answer the question. There’s more to it.

Origins of the notion of healthier wine

Studies on wine’s health benefits began in the nineties, when researchers struck out to understand the so-called “French paradox,” namely why French people, on a high-fat, daily wine-drinking diet, enjoyed long life spans and relatively low coronary disease.

Looking into the composition of wine grapes, researchers found several bioactive compounds that they determined to be responsible for wine’s health benefits. All of this led to the infamous medical advice that moderate enjoyment of wine, red in particular, reduces the risk of coronary disease, and even that it has an “inverse association” with overall mortality. Further medical studies found that wine consumption seemed to help with type II diabetes.

A glass a day keeps the doctor away?

One of the most significant compounds found in wine grapes is resveratrol, which has cardioprotective and anti-inflammatory effects. In other words, it’s good for your heart, among other things. Researchers[1] have noted the following:

• Grapes’ levels of resveratrol “are affected by the grape variety, clone, meteorological conditions, soil type and cultural practices”

• “As a rule, the higher the concentration in grapes, the higher the concentration in wine”

• Resveratrol is higher in red grapes due to the thickness of their skins

• “the production of high resveratrol-containing grapes and wines relies on quality-oriented viticulture (suitable terroirs, sustainable cultural practices) and on wine-making technologies which avoid degradation of the compound”

• Vineyard practices matter; shoot-thinning results in higher concentration of resveratrol, while irrigation results in lower concentration

Clearly, the quality of viticulture, and even winemaking, affects the presence of resveratrol in wine grapes.

Is “natural” better?

So, doctors recommend moderate wine consumption. If a wine is made from organic grapes, without sulfites (or with little added sulfites), and without acids or MegaPurple, is it even healthier than the average wine?

When natural wine entered mainstream culture in the early/mid-Aughts, there was a lot of talk about the idea that you can drink as much as you want of natural wine, but get away without a hangover the next day, due to it being lower in both alcohol and sulfites.

I am here to tell you that’s not true, at all. Sulfites or no, organics or no, wine gives you a hangover if you drink too much of it.

Does conventional wine give you a worse hangover? I think so—I sort of feel that I get a “sulfite headache” when I’ve had wine with added sulfites, these days. But that’s personal, and there have been no notable studies that prove either way.

Considering alcohol content

It’s worth pointing out here, that among natural winemakers there is a tendency to produce lower-alcohol wine (I’ve written about this here!).

This has a lot to do with a preference for early harvesting. (Early pick = healthier grapes = less need to fuck with ‘em.) The result for drinkers, though, is that the natural wine category generally features less boozy wine.

Consuming three glasses of natural wine at 11.5% ABV, versus 3 glasses of sulfited conventional wine at 13% ABV, I suspect you’ll notice a difference in the overall impact.

It’s about what’s not in the wine

Before we look at some of the science supporting the idea that well-made wine is healthy, it’s important to consider what’s not in natural wine. It’s fairly established that sulfur dioxide isn’t toxic in moderate consumption, but there are other problematic substances used in conventional vineyards to know about:

• Herbicide: A very common chemical herbicide called glyphosate is banned in countries around the world and categorized as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the World Health Organization. Some studies have linked glyphosate (known in branded form as RoundUp, a Monsanto product) to non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Natural winemakers don’t use herbicide. In natural, organic, and biodynamic winemaking, weeds are managed through human labor (tilling, mulching, grass-cutting, cover-crop sowing) instead of using herbicide.

• Pesticides: Chemical pesticides, used to keep bugs off vines, have been linked to Parkinson’s Disease amongst vineyard workers in studies by the University of California Los Angeles as well as the U.S. National Institutes of Health. For natural winemakers, ultimately the goal is welcoming life in the vineyard while preserving the health of the vines, a challenge that can take many years of patient organic farming to achieve.

• Fungicides: In many humid wine regions, various fungicides are employed to kill mold. In studies by the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, agricultural fungicides have also been shown to cause similar genetic changes in mouse neurons to those seen in autism and Alzheimer’s disease. Organic viticulture relies on the “Bordelais mixture” of sulfur and copper to protect vines from mold diseases.

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In summary

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“An energetic wine can only come from a healthy vineyard. When tasting healthy grapes from healthy vines, the taste itself isn’t so important because the wine changes every day and anyway, taste is subjective–more important is, how does the wine make you feel?”

-Eduard Tscheppe of Gut Oggau, at 2025 Melbourne Food & Wine Fest

The notion of a living wine is at the core of natural wine, and it builds on the belief that everything is interconnected.

Consider the existence of a universal cosmos, which defines life on our planet and beyond—and within which humans have a unique position, as farmers. Plants are directly connected to the cosmos and work with its chaos as their primary material.

The cosmos is ethereal, which makes it difficult for humans to understand—unless they pay close attention to nature’s patterns. When they do this, they can work with the cosmos and transmit its energies.

To appreciate a living wine is to understand the concept that wine is energetic.

I’m going to cite Rudolf Steiner in this piece, as his work evolved to be extremely relevant to natural wine. However, Steiner and his acolytes are far from the only ones to touch upon the idea that all matter is deeply intertwined:

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

―Martin Luther King Jr., in his 1964 book about nonviolence, Why We Can't Wait

To be a “living wine” means that a pure wine, from naturally tended grapes, is an active player in the universe. It is a transfer point for energies, communicating between farmers, soil life, and climatic conditions.

It means a wine that’s responding to people who made it, who handled the bottle, and even the people around when it’s opened.

Anthroposophy, the Cosmos, and the Vine

Rudolf Steiner was an Austrian philosopher who came from the theosophist tradition (i.e. Hilma al Klimt) and developed a new notion, known as “anthroposophy”—which eventually became the backbone of the modern biodynamic farming movement.

Core to anthroposophy is the notion of the “cosmos,” this being a quasi-spiritual, metaphysical, “astral” plane that is transmitted or communicated strongly through certain beings, including plants.

Steiner, in his talks, clarified that anthroposophy, despite being a “spiritual science,” was more scientific than previous belief systems that explored the metaphysical:

“What is here called ‘Spiritual Science’ must not be confused with those things which, more than ever at the moment, appear as Occultism, Mysticism, etc. These schools of thought either refer to ancient spiritual traditions which are no longer properly understood, and which give in a dilettante manner all kinds of imagined knowledge of supersensible worlds, or they ape outwardly the scientific methods which we have to-day without realizing that methods of research which are ideal for the study of the natural world can never lead to supernatural worlds.”

—from Steiner’s “Cosmology, Religion and Philosophy” lectures, 1922

In the 1920s, at the request of some high-level friends—and out of concern for the way vegetables and farm products were losing flavor and quality—Steiner began offering public “agricultural lectures,” and these created a new understanding of nature, farming, and modernity. In these lectures, Steiner laid out his vision for an agriculture that disregarded modern approaches.

Steiner urged people to understand plants and their role in the cosmos. Plants, he informed the audience, are not just “ethereal,” they are also “astral.” We can’t just treat them as machines, in other words. They are energetic.

He discussed how plants grow, referencing chaos theory, and disputed the rising use of manufactured fertilizers. Steiner explained the incorrectness of focusing on “feeding” plants. Plants, he said, don’t need “fertilizers” which inject them with vitamins. They need soil, and manure.

“To manure the earth is to make it alive, so that the plant may not be brought into a dead earth and find it difficult, out of its own vitality, to achieve all that is necessary up to the fruiting process.”

Steiner made numerous other points in the lectures which became the basis of biodynamic farming. Two big ones are: 1) the importance of compost, not just in “fertilizing” plants but in helping them to transmit the cosmos; 2) cows and their ability to transmit the cosmos through their silica-rich horns and hooves.

“The cow has horns in order to send into itself the astral-ethereal formative powers, which, pressing inward, are meant to penetrate right into the digestive organism.”

This cosmic nature of cow horns forms the basis for the “500-501” treatments, where farmers stuff cow horns with manure, bury them for a season, then dig them up and “dynamize” the manure into a spray for plants.

A hundred years later, these concepts are at the heart of biodynamic viticulture.

Another important figure played a role in this development: a German gardener named Maria Thun, who helped create the biodynamic farming calendar based on astral cycles. I go into detail about Maria Thun in my book, which comes out next year (you can already pre-order it; more links below).

This is not all to say that energetic wine must be made according to Steiner’s prescriptions. But within the biodynamic farming philosophy, you have the notion that plants are spiritual (astral) beings, and this is an excellent basic for understanding wine as a living thing.

The entire energy of the farmer, the soil, and all treatments used to enhance a vine—this all adds up to a wine’s energetic capacities.

Some recent research on water sheds light on how prescient Steiner’s thinking was.

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Masaru Emoto on Water & Consciousness

In the early 2000s, Japanese researcher Masaru Emoto set out to document how human emotions and intentions could influence water, by observing how crystals formed in the water. His theory was that positive intentions led to more aesthetically-pleasing and symmetrical crystal formations in water.

In the experiments, water that was able to “read” negative words (insults, “war”) had only fragments of crystals, while water exposed to positive messaging prolifically made “beautiful hexagonal crystals.”

His books, including The Hidden Messages in Water and The True Power of Water, are built on the results of that experiment.

Emoto points out that human bodies are 70% water. Everything we do is impacted by water quality, with most of us relying upon tap water—which, according to Emoto’s experiments, does not form crystals at all—or mineral water—again, not ideal, as it has been shown to be tainted with chemicals.

Emoto speaks of hado water: water that is vibrational, energetic. This is the ideal.

Wine is typically around 85% water.

The concept of living wine is reminiscent of Emoto’s hado water: It identifies how wine responds to its environment, including whether it is treated with respect or disregard.

We, of course, are then impacted by what we consume, as well as the water we bathe in. Interconnectedness means that energetic levels affect everything.

This is the famous “butterfly effect” from chaos theory, which follows the premise: When a butterfly flaps its wings in China, it can cause or prevent a tornado happening in Texas. Imperceptible actions can cause giant effects.

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Living Wine in a Commercial World

A bottle of living wine is fairly easy to identify. Even with all the dupes out there.

We know it’s possible to manufacture wine that mimics the marketing of natural wine. But it’s impossible to truly mimic living wine—energetics cannot be created through anything but actual energy.

Without the understanding that all is connected, without the awareness that water responds to us, and wine, too—a maker cannot make a living wine.

When a wine really speaks to you, when it seems to come alive in your glass, this is a living wine. It actually is speaking to you, and it actually is alive. The lack of filtration and sulfur dioxide mean you are able to fully experience its vibrancy.

However, it is also true that living wines are delicate and can be dramatically affected by travel. Consider that these wines go in refrigerated containers on anonymous boats, and then are stored in large warehouses. It’s a bit shift from the wildflower-filled, sunshine-drenched vineyards where they grew as plants.

You wouldn’t be at your best after a 4-week journey around the world, then 3 months of storage in a cold warehouse, and a bumpy ride in a truck, would you? So, why do we expect this of a living wine?

Maybe the logic then follows that we need to not only be forgiving of living wines after they’ve traveled, we need to… make them feel more comfortable?

Conversely, what would happen if we expressed gratitude to a bottle of wine? If we played music for it? If we spoke words of kindness for days before opening it?

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To learn more

I’ve written in my new book, HOW TO DRINK NATURAL WINE, on how Maria Thun converted anthroposophy in a lunar-based gardening approach, which forms the basis of biodynamic winemaking today.

HOW TO DRINK NATURAL WINE comes out in May 2026 (or June, in the States) and you can pre-order it here:

• U.S.: via Barnes & Noble

• Canada: via Indigo

• UK/Europe: via Bookshop.org or Blackwells

• NZ/Aus/Asia: via Mighty Ape

Or ask your local indie bookseller! They can pre-order copies now. The publisher is Mitchell Beazley.

Can a “living wine” be made with sulfur dioxide? Or alterations like filtration, fining etc…

Ah. The big question.

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“Would it be of any use, now,” thought Alice, “to speak to this mouse? Everything is so out-of-the-way down here, that I should think very likely it can talk: at any rate, there’s no harm in trying.” So she began: “O Mouse, do you know the way out of this pool? I am very tired of swimming about here, O Mouse!”

-Alice in Wonderland

Of all the natural wine flaws, the particular issue known as “mouse” is probably the most beguiling, and also the most challenging for drinkers and producers alike.

Unlike volatile acidity or Brettanomyces, mouse at even the lowest level does not lend any charm at all to a wine.

When a mousy wine is on the market, people are quick to point fingers at the producer and the supply chain, angry that they’ve paid for an undrinkable bottle—but the reality is that even for industry professionals, mouse can be somewhat elusive, an unfortunate surprise that nobody saw coming.

Let’s break it down.

What is mouse?

“Mouse” is a bacterial spoilage or taint that occurs when compounds known as “tetrahydropyridines” are exposed to certain conditions, and which is perceived via retronasal orofaction.

Reasons why mouse can occur are still being studied, but they generally seem to include: high/alkaline soil or wine pH; high “nutrient loads” or high solid content in wine; oxygen exposure; too-early bottling; these, along with a lack of sulfur dioxide additions, can often lead to mousy wine.

The name “mouse” comes from the French goût de souris, presumably a name that emerged because the taint reminded people of mouse urine or droppings.

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Why are there so many mousy wines lately?

It does seem that, in recent years, people are complaining more about mouse. There’s not enough research on this question to answer it properly, but based on anecdotes, opinions, and hunches, a few possible answers present themselves:

• Increased demand for natural wine in the past decade has meant that winemakers are often pressured to bottle early; this results in mousy wines

• There are increasingly more new natural wine producers on the market, and they aren’t as experienced and therefore, are making wines that end up mousy—or, their wines seem fine upon tasting at the winery, but then they become mousy after transport to an export market or a major city

• Climate change is causing some wines to be less acidic, therefore triggering the conditions for which tetrahydropyridine compounds are perceived as mousy

What does mouse taste or smell like?

If you’re among the thirty percent of the general population that cannot perceive mouse, then congratulations—you don’t have to worry about it at all.

For the rest of us, mouse is a retronasal olfactory phenomenon. This means that sensory receptors in our mouths emanate odors during eating and drinking.

Therefore, we cannot smell mouse unless we are tasting it.

Mouse tends to appear differently to different people, but a few consistent notes are:

• Wet cardboard

• Puppy’s breath

• Popcorn

• Cooked rice

• Vomit (ugh, sorry)

For me, mouse translates to a taste of wet almonds. Not as bad as vomit, but bad enough that I don’t want to drink the wine.

What do we do about mouse?

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No, yes, maybe—everywhere you look, particularly, in the past week, people have strongly-opinionated, completely different answers.

You’ve got Keith Beavers of Vine Pair stating that “orange wine has never been associated with natural wine,” for example.

Meanwhile, over on MORE Natural Wine, they’re sharing a video of Georgian-American winemaker John Wurdeman shooting down the idea that orange wine is a “modern trend” by discussing its ancient roots.

Let’s set the record straight, shall we?

I’m here as a 10-year natural wine journalist and 7-year natural winemaker, and someone who has had the privilege of visiting two of orange wine’s homelands—the Italy-Slovenia nexus, and the Republic of Georgia—to explain what orange wine (skin-contact white wine, macerated white wine) is (and is not!) and how the style emerged in modern times.

How is “orange wine” (also: skin-contact white wine, macerated white wine) made?

To understand how orange wine is made, we need to know the anatomy of the grape.

A grape is a berry that grows on a grapebunch (cluster of grapes). On a grape, the main parts are: skin, stems, juice, and possibly seed. Flavor, tannin, and even texture are all contained primarily in the skins. Stems, too, consist of tannins and flavor—but most winemakers don’t love the flavor of stems. Grape juice itself, depending greatly on the variety, can be fairly neutral or mildly or strongly flavored.

Now, how is white wine versus red wine made?

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