Should a natural vineyard stay true to their philosophy of winemaking, or adapt their approach to save damaged grapes?
In 2018, artisanal Italian vineyard Frank Cornelissen was one of the world’s leading producers of natural wine. But when weather-related conditions damaged that year’s grapes, founder Frank Cornelissen had to decide between staying true to the tenets of natural wine making, or breaking with his public beliefs to save that year’s grapes by adding sulfites.
TIONA ZUZUL: So, this is a very complicated question, and I’m sure that both Frank and my grandfather, if he was alive, would take issue with the incredibly simple answer that I will give. But essentially, wine begins with grapes that are grown in vineyards. The grapes are harvested. Sometimes this is done mechanically, sometimes it’s done by hand. Then the grapes are crushed. This used to be done, I’m sure you’ve seen pictures and videos of people crushing grapes.TIONA ZUZUL: That’s right, yes.
Industrial products don’t start with the grape. A lot of these commercial wineries will start creating their wine by thinking about what is it that the customer wants? So, we know that people have a preference for Chardonnays that reach a particular level of acidity, a particular level of sweetness, a particular level of oakiness, a particular alcoholic content. If it’s a red wine, certain kinds of tannins.
BRIAN KENNY: Interesting. Okay. And so the fundamental difference here is that natural wine making, they don’t introduce any sulfites or yeast or any other ingredients into the process. TIONA ZUZUL: And so natural winemakers insist on creating wine using as few of these interventions as possible. So at minimum, that typically means only using natural yeasts, and some will go so far as to say nothing should be added.TIONA ZUZUL: So, Frank grew up in a family that loved wine. And then because of his love of wine, he became a wine agent, traveled all over the world, and in particular Europe tasting different wines.
BRIAN KENNY: What was his pricing strategy? Was it super expensive? I mean, how do you make money doing this, I guess? BRIAN KENNY: So, what is the reaction of the natural wine making community when Frank decides to do this?
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