Natural Wines on the Web
By Steven Lanum

The internet has turned every personal computer into a giant mailbox stuffed with innumerable newspapers, magazines, books, and other content on almost every conceivable topic. Wine is no exception. It's now possible to learn most everything you ever wanted to know--excepting taste--without leaving home. There is worldwide burgeoning interest in naturally made wines from artisan producers, and this enthusiasm is reflected in many online resources.

If you'd like to learn more about wines hand crafted using traditional methods--or you'd just like to while away some time in pleasant fashion--here is a personal list of places you might wish to explore. All of these sites offer what seems to me to be a worthwhile, personal perspective on wine, without degenerating into jargon, complexity, attitude, or the bestowing of rating points.

At www.wineterroirs.com Parisian photographer Bertrand takes visitors on tours of small French estates, Paris wine bars and wine shops, as well as a few unanticipated destinations. His evocative photographs adorn each of his posts, and he provides tasting notes for properties that he visits. Alice Feiring is a New York-based wine journalist who uses her blog, www.alicefeiring.com, to express her views and opinions, sometimes very directly. Her perspectives are often enlightening. The New York Times wine writer Eric Asimov maintains a blog, The Pour, on the paper's website. His audience is large and vociferous. Sometimes the most interesting thing about an Asimov post is the wide variety of responses he provokes from his readers. On the issue of naturally-made wines specifically, see his entry dated March 6, 2007 ("When Technology is Worthwhile"), and the hot and heavy debate that follows it. A fairly small community of like-minded wine consumers share their thoughts and tasting notes with each other at Wine Therapy (www.enemyvessel.com/forum/). This is a good place to learn about natural wines that are available in the U.S.

And for a clear, step-by-step introduction to natural wines and winemaking an outstanding resource is www.morethanorganic.com, written, in English, by Pierre Jancou, the former owner of the charming Caves Miard wine shop in the sixth arrondissement of Paris. Covering many aspects of grape growing and winemaking, the site describes the choices and compromises a winemaker is called upon to make along the path from vineyard to finished bottle of wine. Jancou is a purist, there's little doubt about that, and he makes many compelling points, especially in regard to the universal use of sulphur dioxide in the making of wine. The site has no photos or tasting notes, so it isn't necessarily pretty, but is highly informative.

On the commercial side of things (i.e., sites sponsored by folks who have a pecuniary interest in selling a product or service related to wine) there are several more useful and insightful online resources. LDM Wine Imports specialize in artisanal producers, mostly from France, and their website (www.louisdressner.com) discusses the underlying philosophy that guides their winemaker-partners. Many of the wines imported by LDM are sold at New York City wine shop Chambers Street Wines. Their site (www.chambersstreetwines.com) provides background info about traditional winemaking methods, as well as occasional tasting notes.

Berkeley's Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant now posts its informative and quirky monthly newsletter online (www.klwm.com). Lynch has always sought out hand-crafted wines typical of their appellations and personally possesses an admirable palate.

At the eponymously named www.jacquelinefriedrich.com, author Jacqueline Friedrich provides savvy notes on French wines, noting specifically what she bills as "hypernatural" wines. Friedrich literally wrote the English language book on Loire Valley wines, and her recent "The Wines of France" is the only genuinely useful wine buying guide I've ever encountered. Although this is a book recommendation in an article about websites, check it out if you'd like a pithy, up-to-date survey of French wines.

Wrapping things up, a final book recommendation for those who travel and read French: "Paris en Bouteilles," by Pierrick Jegu (Parigramme), is a slim, 6 euro pocket-sized guide to wine shops and wine bars in Paris. Indispensable if wine is to be a significant component of your visit.

(c) 2006 Steven Lanum

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