33 questions, answered.

Natural wine is made with minimal intervention: organically or biodynamically farmed grapes, spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts, and little or no added sulfites. Nothing is added to change the taste, colour or texture, and it is often unfined and unfiltered. In most countries there is no legal definition; it's a way of making wine rather than a regulated category.

Not in most countries: "natural" on a label proves nothing on its own. France has a voluntary label, Vin Méthode Nature, approved in 2020, which caps added sulfites and requires organic grapes and native yeasts; most natural producers don't use it. The practical test is who made the wine, how it was farmed and what was added.

Funky describes wild, unconventional aromas — barnyard, kombucha tang, cider, cheese rind — that fall outside clean, fruit-driven norms. It comes from native yeasts, low sulfites, and skin contact. Funk is a spectrum, not a single taste, and not automatically a flaw.

No. Organic and biodynamic certification are mostly about farming. EU organic rules also limit some cellar additives and sulfites; in the US, "organic wine" means no added sulfites, while "made with organic grapes" allows them. Neither requires native yeasts or rules out filtration or additives such as commercial yeast. Natural wine usually starts with organic or biodynamic farming and then keeps intervention to a minimum in the cellar too.

Orange wine is white wine made like a red: the juice ferments in contact with the grape skins for days to months, extracting color, tannin, and texture. The result ranges from gold to deep amber with tea, dried apricot, and umami notes. Georgia has made wine this way in clay qvevri for thousands of years; UNESCO lists the method as intangible heritage.

Pétillant naturel is sparkling wine bottled before its first fermentation finishes, so the remaining sugar creates natural carbonation (the méthode ancestrale, older than the Champagne method). It's often lower in alcohol with gentler fizz, sometimes cloudy, and varies noticeably bottle to bottle.

Nothing added, nothing taken away: no added sulfites at any stage, no fining and no filtration. It's the strictest style of natural wine, and the most variable from bottle to bottle.

Often, but not always. Conventional wine can be fined with animal products such as egg white, casein or isinglass; many natural wines aren't fined at all, which makes them vegan by default. A producer can still use egg white, so if it matters, ask or check the producer's notes.

No. Plenty of natural wine is precise, mineral, and clean — made with the same low-intervention philosophy but without loud funk. Funk is one expression of natural winemaking, not its definition.

Not in any way that's been shown. It skips many additives conventional wine can legally contain, carries less added sulfur and usually comes from organically farmed grapes. But it's still alcohol, and no clinical evidence shows a health benefit. Some natural wines are lower in alcohol than big conventional reds; check the label.

There's no good evidence that it does. Hangovers are driven mostly by how much alcohol you drink; if a lighter natural wine left you feeling better, the lower alcohol is the likelier reason. The sulfite explanation is largely folklore.

Rarely. Genuine sulfite sensitivity affects a small fraction of people and typically shows up as breathing problems, often in people with asthma, not headaches. Dried apricots usually contain several times more sulfites than wine. Headaches are more plausibly linked to alcohol, dehydration and biogenic amines. If you have a diagnosed sensitivity, follow your doctor's advice.

Yes, a little. Fermentation makes some sulfites naturally, so no wine is completely sulfite-free. Natural winemakers add little or none; conventional wine may legally carry far more (the EU and US set maximums, and US labels must say "contains sulfites" above 10 parts per million).

Sometimes, yes. Unfiltered, low-sulfite wines can carry higher levels of biogenic amines such as histamine, and higher volatile acidity. If you're histamine-sensitive, a zero-zero unfiltered red may sit worse than a conventional wine.

Not by default. Skin contact, native-yeast aromatics, and a touch of brett are deliberate character. Mousiness, runaway volatile acidity, and accidental oxidation are genuine faults. The test: does the funk add complexity you enjoy, or has it erased the fruit and the place?

Because it's bottled unfined and unfiltered, leaving yeast, grape solids, and proteins suspended in the wine. Filtration makes wine bright and stable but strips aroma and texture. Cloudiness is a processing signal, not a spoilage signal — it's safe and often adds flavor.

A fault that tastes like stale crackers or corn chips, appearing on the finish and building with each sip. It's caused by microbial activity in low-sulfite wines and can't be smelled, only tasted. It's the one funk almost nobody defends.

Brettanomyces is a wild yeast producing barnyard, leather, smoked-bacon, and band-aid aromas. In small amounts it adds savory depth — classic in some traditional French reds. When it dominates, it flattens everything else. It's the most argued-about compound in wine.

Probably not. That's reduction — sulfur compounds formed with limited oxygen exposure. Swirl hard or decant and give it ten minutes; reduced wines often open up dramatically. If it never blows off, then it's a fault.

Usually cooler than you'd expect, including many reds. Pét-nat 6–8°C, whites and rosé 8–10°C, orange 10–12°C, light reds 12–14°C, structured reds 14–16°C. When unsure, over-chill: wine warms in the glass within minutes.

Typically 2–4 days refrigerated — comparable to conventional wine, sometimes longer. Skin-contact wines often improve on day two or three because skin tannin acts as a preservative. Pét-nat fades fastest. Recork and refrigerate everything, reds included.

For most cloudy whites and pét-nats, gently invert the bottle to distribute the lees, where much of the flavor sits. For older unfiltered reds with real sediment, stand the bottle upright for a day and pour off the top.

Cooler and more carefully than conventional wine. With little or no sulfite protection, heat is the main enemy — a warm shelf can change a bottle in weeks. Store it cold and dark, and treat shipping in summer as a real risk.

Rarely for aeration, occasionally for sediment. Most natural wine is made to be drunk young and opens up in the glass. The exception is a reductive bottle, which benefits from vigorous swirling or a short decant.

Skip the word funky — it means different things to different people. Name a direction instead: something wild and savory, a zippy pét-nat, skin contact with grip, or clean but natural. Naming a producer you like is the fastest way to get a great recommendation.

Start with Beaujolais Gamay for juicy reds, a Loire pét-nat for bubbles, a Friulian skin contact for texture, and a Georgian qvevri amber for the origin story. Producers worth seeking: Foillard, Lapierre, Radikon, Gravner, Cornelissen, Gut Oggau.

Small production, hand farming, lower organic yields and more risk: a grower who refuses chemical intervention can lose more fruit in a bad year, and there's no scale to spread costs across. Import and tax regimes add more in some places. Value does exist; regions such as the Languedoc, Chile's Itata and South Africa's Swartland reward looking.

isitfunky maps 1,000+ proven natural-wine bars, restaurants and bottle shops in 100+ cities. Each city has a guide, and cities with at least three proven places have a short answer: the best-proven places, why each counts, and the date we checked.

Each city guide lists its proven bottle shops and grocers alongside the bars, and the short answer for each city names the shops with the strongest proof. Online, look for independent shops that name the grower for every bottle; natural wine is made in small lots, so specialist shops carry far more of it than supermarkets.

A place counts only when there is evidence on file: its own website says it pours natural wine, its wine list names natural producers we recognise, a named publication calls it a natural-wine venue, or natural-wine importers list it as a stockist. Each place shows its reasons, a source link and the date we last checked. An editor reviews the strongest stamps, and the wax seal takes an in-person visit.

A number from 0 to 100 that adds up a place's natural-wine proof, point by point: the stamp, whether its own site says natural, how many natural producers its list names, press, importers and how fresh the check is. The breakdown is shown on every proven place. It never counts ratings, reviews or payment.

No. Listing and proof are free, stamps can't be bought, and rankings follow the strength of proof only. Venues can claim their page to fix details, add hours or upload a wine list, and the same proof rules apply. Paid work, when there is any, is labelled on the thing itself.

Our crawler re-reads venues' own sites and wine lists on a schedule, and every place shows the date it was last checked. Lists change and bars close; if something is out of date, email hello@isitfunky.com and we'll look again.