🍷 Natural wine doesn't keep? That sounds like a cliché!

"A natural wine ages poorly" or "a natural wine should be drunk quickly," phrases we often hear from certain wine merchants whose names we won't mention, and this is FALSE, yet another prejudice that sticks. Let's be clear: a natural wine (whatever its color), like a non-natural wine, whether light or powerful, can age or not, and we'll explain why and how.

A winemaker, whether working with natural wine or not, doesn't improvise - a wine is the result of know-how. Experience then allows him to choose in advance what he's looking to achieve: a wine for laying down or a wine to drink quickly after bottling. Take the (slightly far-fetched) example of a Beaujolais Nouveau: the wine we drink to celebrate the end of the harvest is precisely made to be drunk as soon as possible! Conversely, if a 2018 Octave tastes so good today, it's because everything has been put in place to ensure it improves with age!

Material, acidity, complexity: the winning trio 🍷

As with all wines (conventional, organic, biodynamic, etc.), the more "material" a wine has (tannins, body), acidity (for pep, freshness), and complexity (aromas that gradually reveal themselves), the more it has what it needs to stand up to the years. It's a bit like a top-level athlete: you have to be well-built to go the distance.

Grape varieties with guts 🍇

Some grape varieties are naturally better suited to aging than others. Shall we call the shots? Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Malbec, Tannat... "Present!" These grape varieties have thick skins, which provide tannins (for structure), color (for fun), and a nice acidity (for freshness again). And let's not forget sugar, a precious ally of sweet and liqueur wines, which can age like gods and withstand the decades, like our Samos from 1958!

Ready to drink or not ready to drink? ⏰

That's the million-dollar question! Storing wine for a wine merchant or winemaker is expensive: that's why it's easier to find recent vintages on the market than older ones. You then have two options: buy young wines and age them in your cellar, or shop from professionals who have aging cellars (like us). Be careful, there's a limit! A wine that's too old is a bit like an old rocker: it's lost its voice and energy. The acidity and strength vanish, and there's not much left.

Pampering your natural wine: instructions 📜

Natural wine needs to be pampered - like all wines. Made without additives and with little or no sulfites, it is, however, a bit more sensitive to adverse effects. You must therefore pay even more attention to your logistics and storage.
Some basic advice:
- For optimal aging, lay the bottles down (not upright!).
- Your cellar must be healthy, with a humidity level above 70% (to prevent the cork from drying out) and a stable temperature around 12-14°C.
- Avoid temperature variations and protect the bottles from light
(it's like for us, the sun is good, but not too much).