What makes a wine natural, and how we prove it

Natural wine, in one breath

Natural wine is wine made with minimal intervention: organically or biodynamically farmed grapes, fermented with native yeasts, bottled with little or no added sulfites.

In most countries there is no legal definition. France has a voluntary Vin Méthode Nature label (since 2020); everywhere else it is a practice, not a certification. Organic and biodynamic describe the farming; natural describes the farming and the cellar.

Try this: Explain the difference between organic and natural to a colleague in two sentences.

• Glossary: natural wine, organic, biodynamic
• What is funky wine?

Styles you will see on a list

Pét-nat: sparkling wine bottled before the first fermentation finishes. Skin contact or orange: white grapes fermented with their skins, for colour, tannin and grip. Chillable reds and glou-glou: light, juicy reds served cold.

Zero-zero means nothing added and nothing removed, the strictest and most variable style. Unfined and unfiltered wines can be hazy; that is a by-product of leaving the wine whole, not a defect.

• Glossary: pét-nat, skin contact, zero-zero, glou-glou

Funk or fault?

Some wild aromas are character: a little brett (barnyard, leather), a little volatile acidity (a kombucha lift). Reduction (struck match) often blows off with air and a swirl.

Mousiness is the one almost nobody defends: a stale-cracker taste on the finish that builds with each sip, which you can taste but not smell. When a guest says a glass is off, taste it, and offer something else.

Try this: Next time a bottle is opened, smell it, then taste it after two minutes in the glass. Note what changed.

• Glossary: brett, VA, reduction, mousiness
• Wine aromas

Proof stamps: carries, proof, list, checked, seal

isitfunky never calls a place natural without a source and a date. Each venue gets a stamp from the proof on file: a natural importer lists it (carries, not counted as proven); its own site, named press or natural importers say it pours natural wine (proof); its list names two or more natural producers (list); an editor reviewed and approved the proof (checked); or we visited in person (seal, which lapses after 12 months).

Stamps can't be bought. Nothing a venue pays for, and no partnership, changes one.

• The Funk Score: stamps and points
• The badge

Reading a Funk Score

The Funk Score is a number from 0 to 100 for how strong the proof is that a venue pours natural wine. It starts from the stamp and adds points for the venue's own words, the natural producers on its list, named press and natural importers. A dead website or a closed flag takes points away.

Ratings, reviews, popularity and money never count. A high score means stronger proof, not a better bar: a small room with a handwritten list can be the best night in town and score lower.

Try this: Open your own venue's page (or a favourite bar's) and read how its score adds up, line by line.

• The Funk Score