Natural Wine

Natural wines begin with how the vines are grown. In Denmark they need to be ecologically certified. You will probably have noticed that more wine menus now include orange or skin-contact wines, but the sheer number of natural wines can make it confusing to understand exactly what it is. Skin-contact wines are white wines produced like red wines, using natural fermenting methods. Nothing extra is added to start the fermenting process. Grapes are mashed, put into a barrel or container and placed in a controlled environment. The colour the wine takes on depends on the amount of time the skins are left in the grape mixture. It could be hours or weeks. If hours, the wine is lightly tinged with orange, but if left longer the colour becomes more vibrant. These wines have the characteristics of red wine, such as a fuller body and more tannin yet they maintain the acidity of white wine, so can stand up to red meat.