Part of the Problem With the World Natural (wine)

Is our goverment's use of the word. 

Here is the pertinent section from the regulations. As you can see, natural for them is a totally different beast. Actually, highly unnatural. 

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Natural wine. The product of the juice or must of sound, ripe grapes or other sound, ripe fruit (including berries) made with any cellar treatment authorized by subparts F and L of this part and containing not more than 21 percent by weight (21 degrees Brix dealcoholized wine) of total solids.

(a) Natural wine production. Water may be used to flush equipment during the crushing process or to facilitate fermentation but the density of the juice may not be reduced below 22 degrees Brix. However, if the juice is already less than 23 degrees Brix, the use of water to flush equipment or facilitate fermentation is limited to a juice density reduction of no more than one degree Brix. At the start of fermentation no material may be added except water, sugar, concentrated fruit juice from the same kind of fruit, malo-lactic bacteria, yeast or yeast cultures grown in juice of the same kind of fruit, and yeast foods, sterilizing agents, precipitating agents or other approved fermentation adjuncts. Water may be used to rehydrate yeast to a maximum to two gallons of water for each pound of yeast; however, except for an operation involving the preparation of a yeast culture starter and must mixture for later use in initiating fermentation, the maximum volume increase of the juice after the addition of rehydrated yeast is limited to 0.5 percent. After fermentation natural wines may be blended with each other only if produced from the same kind of fruit.

Comments

[Nick Gorevic]

I like the "special natural wine" section even better:

Special natural wine is a flavored wine made on bonded wine premises from a base of natural wine. The flavoring added may include natural herbs, spices, fruit juices, natural aromatics, natural essences or other natural flavoring, in quantities or proportions such that the resulting product derives character and flavor distinctive from the base wine and distinguishable from other natural wine. Fruit juices may not be used to give to one natural wine the flavor of another but may be used with herbs or spices to produce a wine having a distinctive flavor. Caramel and sugar may be used in a special natural wine. However, the minimum 60 degrees Brix limitations prescribed in the definition of “Liquid pure sugar” and “Invert sugar syrup” in §24.10 do not apply to materials used in the manufacture of vermouth. Finished vermouth will contain a minimum of 80 percent by volume natural wine. Heavy bodied blending wine and juice or concentrated fruit juice to which wine spirits have been added may be used in the production of special natural wine pursuant to formula approval. (Sec. 201, Pub. L. 85–859, 72 Stat. 1386, as amended (26 U.S.C. 5386))

Great find Alice, although I'm super confused and don't really understand what any of this actually means. What do they think natural means? This is clearly a totally different connotation than "unadulterated" as we often think of it.

[LCFwino]

Oh sweet Jesus! I've been doing it WRONG the whole time!

[Geoffrey Worden]

Unreal..couldn't resist.
I remain in constant amazement about how difficult and bizarre we make everything. Thanks for this post, it prompted me to post one of my own about natrual wine and organic confusion as well. http://bigeasywines.blogspot.com/2011/04/natural-wine.html
Wine intimidates too many already, we need to offer more transparency not more obfuscation.

[Vinos Ambiz]

Oh no! I've been doing it wrong too! I must go shopping for some enzymes, woodchips, acid, sugar, tannins, and maybe some micro-reverse-osmosis-centrifugal-mega-spoofulating equipment too!