What is meant by natural wine?
na-tu-RA-le — four syllables, stress on third.
When encountering 'vino naturale' on a menu or wine list and wanting to understand what it means.
'Vino naturale' has no legal definition but generally means: organic or biodynamic grapes, indigenous wild fermentation (no commercial yeasts), minimal or no added sulphites, no filtration or fining. The result is often cloudy, funky, alive — divisive but increasingly celebrated.
Il vino naturale è stabile?
Is natural wine stable?
A legitimate concern — without sulphites, natural wine can be more fragile in transport
Perché è torbido?
Why is it cloudy?
Natural wines are often unfiltered — cloudiness indicates living wine, not a fault
Ha dei difetti o è intentional?
Does it have faults or is it intentional?
Some natural wine aromas (brett, oxidation) divide opinion — ask to understand the intention
Italy's natural wine scene is centred in Rome, Milan, and the Collio/Friuli zone. The Vinitaly Natural salon 'VinNatur' is one of Europe's most important natural wine events, held in Gambellara, Veneto. Natural wine has transformed Italian urban wine bar culture and is increasingly mainstream.