Natural wine is having a moment. While hard numbers for natural wine are elusive, sales of organic wine—a broader, often overlapping category—are projected to reach USD 25 billion by 2030, nearly tripling a 2021 valuation of USD 9 billion.*
Younger wine drinkers increasingly prioritize high-quality, mindful alcohol consumption. According to Le Figaro Vin, around 30 percent of wine consumers aged 25 to 40* regard organic wines as superior in quality.
Natural wine, while related to organic, is currently uncertified and nearly impossible to segment. There’s a group of small, scrappy winemakers—No Love Lost, Benevolent Neglect, and Gamling & McDuck—in downtown Napa, who each identify differently with the “natural wine” movement. Still, their philosophies converge around a central tenet: let the vineyard speak, and don’t get in the way.
What Is Natural Wine, Exactly?
While France recently introduced an official designation—”vin méthode nature”—there’s no universal certification for natural wine elsewhere, and in the U.S., natural wine doesn’t have an agreed-upon definition. Unlike “organic,” which can be certified, or “biodynamic,” which follows specific principles, “natural” is more of a mindset than a rulebook.
Still, it follows two guiding principles: 1. In the vineyard, the grapes are farmed organically or biodynamically, usually without synthetic pesticides or herbicides. 2. In the winery, the winemaking process is low intervention, generally using native yeasts, no added enzymes or tannins, and little to no sulfites. Wines are often unfined and unfiltered, with wine allowed to ferment with the yeast that naturally exists on the grape skins and in the air, called spontaneous fermentation.
Many consumers may not know that over 50 additives are legally permitted in conventional winemaking in the U.S. and Europe, including tannins, enzymes, fining agents (like egg whites or fish bladder), synthetic yeasts, and even oak flavoring. Natural wine avoids that. It’s fermented grape juice—and that’s it. In theory.
“We use the term minimal intervention,” said Ben Brenner, co-founder of Benevolent Neglect. “It’s about making wines that are an actual expression of the vineyards they come from and keeping a purity of flavor, not obscured by manipulations.”
A Return to the Original
While the phrase “natural wine” might sound like a trend, the methods it references are ancient. Humans have been making wine with wild yeast, native fermentation, and no additives for thousands of years—from Georgia’s clay qvevris to the old cellars of rural France.
That started to change in the last century, particularly after World War II, when industrial agriculture, chemical fertilizers, and advances in enology introduced new ways to control and standardize wine production. Mass production prioritized consistency, shelf stability, and marketability, sometimes at the expense of the wine’s character and connection to the land.
In some ways, the “natural” wine movement responds to that loss. It attempts to rediscover wine’s original identity, reviving ancient methods with a modern understanding of ecology, microbiology, and craftsmanship. In that sense, “natural” wine isn’t a new trend at all—it’s the original way of winemaking.
Across Europe, especially in France and Italy, a new generation of winemakers is re-embracing ancestral methods—not only to distinguish themselves in a saturated market but also as a practical response to climate change, rising costs, and a growing demand for authenticity. In Napa, where polished Cabernet still dominates the narrative, a handful of producers are embracing this ethos in their own way. Despite varying approaches, they share a commitment to authenticity and low intervention.
Gamling McDuck Cabernet Franc // Photo courtesy of Gamling McDuck
Gamling & McDuck: Thoughtful, Not Dogmatic
“We’re very low interventionist; philosophically, when we start intervening, we start moving away from all that hard work farming and all of the potential of that vineyard and the vintage,” said winemaker and owner Adam McClury.
They make only two varietals: Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc, in 10–15 styles per year, producing around 2,000 cases annually.
“It’s all native fermentations. It’s very low SO2 (sulfur dioxide). There are a lot of things that I have in common with whatever the current manifesto is for ‘natural’ wine, but I’ve never been willing to say that we were natural.” Why not? “If somebody says my wine’s natural, we all know there’s no real thing. It’s either delicious or it’s not. If we had to intervene, we would do it. We want to make good wine at the end of the day; we don’t want faults in our wine.”
That delicious philosophy is apparent in wines like the 2022 Pickberry Vineyard Cabernet Franc from a site planted in 1982 in Napa’s cooler zone. “It was a long, cool growing season, and it’s just a very old-world style Cabernet Franc,” Adam said. “It’s my favorite thing.” // www.gamlingandmcduck.com
No Love Lost wines // Photo courtesy of No Love Lost
No Love Lost: Accidents and Underdogs
At No Love Lost, located in a downtown Napa tasting room, founder and winemaker Jay Nuñez tells a story that echoes the journey of many natural winemakers. “I never set out to make natural wine,” he said. “But I also didn’t want to make wine the way everyone else was doing it.”
Instead, he works with small, family-owned vineyards, all herbicide and pesticide-free, and many organically farmed. He added that some are so small they don’t pursue certification “because the family’s doing the farming, and it’s only an acre.”
Jay’s philosophy is simple: don’t add what doesn’t belong. “We don’t have to add the FDA-approved additives, most of which are carcinogenic, and then, in turn, the wines are lighter in alcohol. So, you’re, by default, consuming more responsibly because the alcohol levels are lower. We make Cabernet from Napa that is 13 percent alcohol, super-bright, food-friendly, and approachable stylistically, but we also make wines like Vermentino and Ribolla Gialla.”
“We have a lot in common with the new wave of natural producers and thinkers interested in artistic expression and making wines that are not what their fathers drank. We’re also focused on building community.” Still, he’s frank about some less knowledgeable consumers’ perceptions. “We’re fighting against the stigma that natural wines are variable. That only happens when people are careless in the vinifications.”
Their flagship sparkling wine, California Sparkling Riesling ‘Seeing Stars,’ was, fittingly, a mistake. “We call it Seeing Stars because it was a happy accident, and it’s become our number one seller in the tasting room. We produce about 300 cases of it, and it sells out every year.” // www.nolovelost.wine
Photo courtesy of Benevolent Neglect
Benevolent Neglect: The Art of Letting Go
Just a few blocks away, Benevolent Neglect is helmed by Ben Brenner, Matt Nagy, and Jeff Warren, who found their style by avoiding manipulation. The name says it all.
“We use the term minimal intervention,” Ben said. “It’s about making wines that are an actual expression of the vineyards they come from.”
Both Ben and Matt have pedigrees in traditional Napa winemaking. Matt worked for winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown, known for high-end Cabernet Sauvignon, and later, both he and Ben worked for Steve Matthiasson of Matthiasson Wines, a pioneer in organic and sustainable viticulture.
“In my opinion, you know, if your wines are tasting good, leave them alone. We will make sure they will be microbially stable throughout the process, bottling, the next 10/15/20 years, whatever. But beyond that, if we think the wines taste great, then let’s not do more. It’s kind of our philosophy.”
Ben noted the cultural shift around them. “More and more, everywhere you go, there’s like a pizza place with natural wine popping off—not just in New York and LA or Chicago—there’s natural wine in Iowa now.”
The tasting room on Second Street welcomes curious drinkers and offers a wide range of varieties, including lesser-known ones, like Counoise, a tasting room favorite. “The Counoise is an off-the-beaten-trail French variety that we really love.” //
www.bnwines.com; www.matthiasson.com
The Cultural Shift in a Glass
Natural wine offers an antidote to a wine industry that, by some metrics, is struggling. Overall, U.S. wine consumption is flattening, and younger consumers are more selective. Yet the natural wine movement keeps growing because it speaks to values that resonate: transparency, sustainability, and community.
Jay added, “Our network has grown over the last five to seven years to the point where people who are farming the right way are reaching out to us because we’ve become the champion of the underdog.” This sentiment underscores the growing recognition of organic and ‘natural’ winemaking as more than a trend—it’s a return to authenticity, community, and craftsmanship in an industry ripe for change.
