Santa Barbara County, CA

What constitutes a “natural wine”? How do you know if this wine is organic? What on earth is biodynamically made wine? Let’s talk “natural wine!" There is no clear definition of natural wine, nor are there any legal confines which determine whether a wine can, for sure, be deemed “natural." What does exist are a number of organizations around the world which set guidelines for particular wine growing regions; associations which only allow wines made a certain way, to carry a natural wine designation. Loosely utilizing some of the rules set forth by these organizations, we can somewhat-safely say that natural wines at their very base level, must start with grapes which have been organically and/or biodynamically farmed.

2884 Grand Ave
Los Olivos, CA

The Santa Ynez Valley has a growing number of organically-farmed vineyards, some of which sell their grapes to numerous labels, often aside from the vineyard’s own estate labels. One such vineyard and wine label is Coquelicot Estate Vineyard, a certified organic (CCOF) planting located in the Los Olivos District, a micro-AVA within the Santa Ynez Valley AVA. Wines which originate from Coquelicot’s vineyard range in varietal from Chardonnay to Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling to Grüner Veltliner, to Pinot Noir, Malbec, Syrah and Sangiovese, as seen in Coquelicot’s own Sangiovese Rosé.

6700 CA-246
Lompoc, CA

Another organically-farmed Santa Barbara wine country vineyard is Spear Vineyards & Winery, in the famed Sta. Rita Hills – an AVA most known for its award-winning Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Spear produces its own estate label, but also sells grapes to other Santa Barbara County winemakers and brands like Kings Carey Wines, which bottles a low-intervention Grenache from organically-grown Spear Vineyards grapes.

2890 Grand Ave
Los Olivos, CA

Organizations that monitor what could be considered natural wine often differ on the hot-topic of sulfites. Sulfites are used as a preservative in most wines, and the use of sulfites in rather small quantities will usually, still qualify a wine as “natural” in a number of purist wine circles. Santa Ynez Valley wine country examples of low-sulfite wines are Solminer Wine Co., which also places the utmost importance on organic farming practices.

458 Bell St
Los Alamos, CA

Another Santa Ynez Valley wine country example of low-sulfite wines is Lumen Wines, which pulls grapes from sustainably-farmed vineyards. Early picks, fruit sourced from certified sustainable and/or organic vineyards, high natural acidity, low sulfites, and extremely low-intervention winemaking: that is the Lumen philosophy. Make a reservation at their tasting room in downtown Los Alamos.

448 Bell St
Los Alamos, CA

Let’s get technical. Switching gears just slightly, another wine-geek term and trend is “carbonic.” Carbonic maceration, to be more exact, is a fermentation process for red wine, differentiated by the way in which fermentation is initiated. In carbonic maceration processes, no yeast is added to kick off fermentation; the process essentially starts within the grape itself, when those grapes have been sealed in a large vessel which also contains carbon dioxide. You might see the mention of “carbonic” on Santa Ynez Valley wine country labels like Lo-Fi Wines, which practices whole cluster carbonic fermentation on some of their minimalist wines (how’s that, for a mouthful?).