Isabelle Legeron: Natural Wine: An Introduction to Organic and Biodynamic Wines Made Naturally CICO Books, New York, 2020, 224 pp., ISBN 978-1782498995, $16.39.

Abstract

Nature is full of color, vibrancy, and biodiversity; and so, too, should it be with natural wine. In her newly expanded and updated third edition of Natural Wine: An Introduction to Organic and Biodynamic Wines Made Naturally (2020), Isabelle Legeron argues that natural wines are made with conviction and promote a philosophy of love for the land that can, and should, affect the entire wine industry. To make her case, Legeron acknowledges that natural wine is not new; in fact, she states, it is what wine has always been. And across the three distinct parts of her impressive work, she asserts the benefits, qualities, and authenticity of making wine just as nature intended.In the Introduction, Legeron writes that her book is "a tribute to those wines that are not only farmed well, but also fly in the face of modern winemaking practices, remaining natural at all odds" (p. 6). Brimming with photographs and scientific studies throughout her writing, Legeron interlaces her well-researched perspective with vivid illustrations and rational evidence, pointing out that while the agriculture behind creating organic and biodynamic wines may look untamed and untidy, natural wines require careful attention and precision from those producing them. This native, wild approach to viticulture is exactly how Legeron believes winemaking should be. After all, "We are not separate from our environment and even less so from what we eat and drink" (p. 11).Following the Introduction, Part 1 of the book, "What is Natural Wine?," is broken into five sections, each with their own sub-sections to explore the question: Is there such a thing as natural wine; and, if so, what is it? Legeron purports, "Natural wine is literally living wine from living soil" (p. 92); and from the vineyard to the cellar, she takes her reader on a nearly 100-page viticultural and vinicultural journey through the production of natural wine.In the first segment of Part 1, "The Vineyard," Legeron examines viticulture across three distinct areas: "Living Soils," "Natural Farming," and "Understanding Terroir." In "Living Soils," Legeron explains that because there is no worldwide legal certification, one of the challenges in discussing natural wine is in defining it to clarify the difference between natural and organic winemaking. Natural wine "is wine from vineyards that are farmed organically, at the very least, and which is produced without adding or removing anything during vinification, apart from a dash of sulfites at most at bottling" (p. 23). And the first step in producing such a wine is found at the ground