I used to advertise that my wine was naturally fermented. I've stopped.
I had never added yeast, but I learned that most "natural fermentations" aren't what they claim to be, including mine.
Yeast lives on everything. It's everywhere. So if you want a true natural fermentation, you'd have to work with fruit grown on your own land in a space where no fermentation has ever happened before.
I thought that as long as I didn't add yeast, it was a natural fermentation. Turns out the yeast my dad pitched once, back in 2007, is probably still the dominant strain.
I haven't tested it, but that was enough for me to stop calling my wines "natural."
Natural fermentation doesn't make wine healthier, but yeast drives flavor. The fewer outside inputs you have, the more the wine speaks for its place.
Many wineries add a heavy dose of sulfur at harvest to kill off natural yeast so they can start clean with a commercial strain. They want total control.
I don't do that. My grapes come in, start fermenting with whatever yeast lives in the vineyard, and finish with whatever's taken up residence here over time.
It's wine minutia. In the end, only two things matter:
Does it taste good?
How do you feel the next day?
I think you'll like the taste of my wine and by skipping the massive sulfur dose, you're one step closer to feeling great tomorrow.
