Natural Wines come to London

While mid-May may be dominated by the London International Wine Fair, there’s another notable event taking place during this period in the capital that plans to raise the profile of an expanding but somewhat controversial sector.

Called the Natural Wines Fair and brainchild of presenter and wine personality Isabelle Legeron MW, the event, held in Borough Market from Sunday 15 to Tuesday 17 May, hopes to increase awareness of natural wines among consumers – with a ticketed entry for the public on Sunday – and the trade, who can gain free entry to the fair on Monday and Tuesday if they register here.

Legeron told the drinks business: “With the consumer element on Sunday we really want wine drinkers to start thinking about what goes into wine because there is an assumption it is just grape juice that has been fermented and then bottled.”

Legeron hopes the event will highlight an unadulterated approach to winemaking among the 120 growers who will be exhibiting during the three-day fair, and in particular, encourage visitors to consider the treatments used in the cellar and vineyard.

“I want the general public to look at wine in the same way they are increasingly looking at food,” she said.

As for the trade, she is keen for buyers and importers “to meet the growers”.

Legeron does acknowledge the criticism by some in the trade that there is no official accreditation for natural wines but points out that those people who make natural wines “tend to be anti-regulation and systems, so it’s difficult.”

However, she also pointed out that “there’s a good model in VinNatur,” which is an Italian-based association for natural wines which supports its members with scientific research and tests wines for pesticide residues.

Legeron would also like to see an “agreed upon definition for natural wines” and for the Natural Wine Fair has drawn up a quality charter, which states:

• all grapes are at a minimum organic
• all grapes are hand-harvested
• there are no added yeasts
• there is no added sugar
• there is no rectified acidity
• little or no sulphites are added during fermentation or at bottling

Dates and times:
Sunday, 15 May – 10 am to 6 pm (open to the public)
Monday, 16 May – 10 am to 7 pm (trade only)
Tuesday, 17 May – 10 am to 6 pm (trade only)

Click here to see a list of growers exhibiting.

There are also a series of seminars during the fair. See below.

Patrick Schmitt, 05.05.2011