Dry January or Natural Wine Know How?

From Dry January to the Wisdom of Natural Wine

hile multiple lockdowns pushed a fair few of us towards the brink of alcoholism (one in five of us, according to Drinkaware), pandemics aside, January has for a long time been the established month in which to ditch the booze for a brief (or extended) while. At Christmas we all over-indulge (save for those who are teetotal, of course) and our livers start getting nervous, pulling on the safety cord for a little time out, a rest from tilting a glass filled with hops or grapes from the vine. So it is that Dry January exists, run by Alcohol Change UK, who work to make sure people know the facts about their favourite poison (quite literally), and how it’s the leading cause of death, ill-health, and disability for people aged between 15 and 49 in the UK.

Yet, when February comes round, don’t just revert to the same habits you had before. In addition to a general trend to better care for oneself, eat healthily and exercise, these are also ecologically awoken days, too. Therefore, consider a “cleaner” way of drinking: think natural wine. Still a “magical world”, that niche of 100% grape juice from an organic vineyard undergoing fermented witchery and wonder is “rapidly expanding” in popularity, as recently reported by The Chalkboard Magazine. The premise is that the grapes themselves have everything a winemaker could want and need: they contain the water and sugars, the vitamins and enzymes, even the yeast and bacteria. Crush the grapes and they will ferment – as long as intervention by the vigneron is minimal, then it’s natural wine. And who would want to pass up on the resveratrol antioxidant benefits of red wine, eh?

Taste-wise, there isn’t too much difference (barring the missing razor blade metallic tang you might get an aftertaste of from commercial Continental vineyards). Most natural winemakers don’t use sulphites out of principle, but some use a minimal amount. In general, though, the fewer the sulphites, the less likely you are to have a hangover (consideration of volume consumed always helps, of course). Nonetheless, visually a natural wine looks, well, a bit more natural: cloudy, with the presence of sediment. These are necessarily earthy wines. If you’re patient, you can filter off the sediment; if you’re not, then how much of an issue is haziness after you’ve imbibed a couple of glasses anyway?

It pays, also, to have a little faith in the taste of natural wine. Like an artisanal cheese, natural wine will surprise and be different to what one is used to as poured from the conventional bottle. It has been suggested that those new to natural wine should think with “their stomach, gut, reactions and instincts, rather than with their heads”. Don’t compare that first sip with run-of-the-mill chardonnay or cheap and cheerful pinot grigio. Indeed, natural wine is thought to age better than commercial wines, as well. Prep your cellars… Or at least a cool storage area, in this space-at-a-premium age we live in.

The other exciting thing about natural wines is their diversity. Made “from hundreds of different grape varieties in hundreds of different places”, assessing a natural wine is a far cry from comparing mainstream malbecs. To reiterate, natural wines are a far cry from conventional methods that dust grapes with sulphites to kill off natural bacteria and yeasts, that add a foreign yeast strain, taking the wine in a direction far from natural. And that’s before colour or tannin is added, or the wine is filtered with charcoal, or even fined (the liquid made clearer) with gelatine or egg whites or fish derivatives… Definitely not plant-based palatability.

Such a controlled environment is the exact opposite of the natural winemaker’s experience who, in order to provide consumers with a unique product, must submit to the fickleness of the earth and trust in Nature to work her magic well over their spell of viticulture: 90% of the finished wine depends on it. That’s why soil health is so crucial and, for the most part, natural wine vineyards are biodynamically regeneratively managed, ensuring vines grow in microbiologically rich soil full of nutrients (not dirt sterilised by years of chemicals): the vigneron must work organically, in harmony with their plants and the ground in which they grow. One comparison made between natural and conventional wines has been the difference between a child raised free-range – playing in dirt; allowed to eat something dropped on the floor, say – and a child mollycoddled and surrounded by a sterile environment, too often put on antibiotics for common infections: there will be no resistance to disease, no strength to their natural immunity. Indeed, 99% of commercial wines are synthetically altered, with circa 95% of the sulphites used as preservatives sourced from the petrochemical industry.

Logic dictates, then, that natural winemaking is a process which benefits the planet, as much as the palette. Certainly, natural winemakers are folk conscious of their carbon footprint and the key to transferring such an eco-minded conscience into the sector is setting up a vineyard in a location that doesn’t require irrigation and thus excessive water use. Similarly, the vines are planted alongside grasses and other plants to promotes insect and animal diversity: a small-scale nature reserve. Begun, or rather re-started, in the mid-2000s, at the time the natural wine movement combined traditional farmers and those moving away from the cities with a certain vision. It was the film director, Jonathan Nossiter who really brought natural wines into the spotlight, however, with his book Cultural Insurrection: A Manifesto for the Arts, Agriculture, and Natural Wine. As he wrote, it’s all about “the protection of biodiversity, the preservation of that biodiversity for new generations via cultural transmission, the promotion of a human and fraternal ethic, an emphasis on qualitative rather than purely quantitative democratization”. We talk about animal agriculture a lot when it comes to the future of farming, but livestock are not the only issue, as Rachel Carson showed only too well in Silent Spring. But it was Nossiter who reminded us: “We’ve forgotten that it’s agriculture – sedentism and faith in the future – that enabled the birth of human civilization”.

Liver Health and Awesome Antioxidants

Even if you drink natural wines, of course, you’re still consuming alcohol, and alcohol, sugar, and fat all make our liver work more intensely. If you overindulged in December in one or all of these, then why not try a few of the following foods to restrengthen that amazing organ and help detoxify for the year ahead, so that the liver can continue assisting your metabolism, energy levels, and support your immune system in these ongoing Covid times.

Artichoke

Rich in cynarin and chlorogenic acid, artichokes help the liver in its detoxification processes, providing protection against oxidative stress and reducing overall risk of liver damage.

Broccoli Sprouts

Similar to other cruciferous veg, broccoli sprouts are rich in sulforaphane, a detoxifying compound that assists – you guessed it – the liver in doing its detox thing.

Grapefruit

High in naringin (metabolised as naringenin), an anti-inflammatory antioxidant, it is thought grapefruit can help reduce risk of cirrhosis and hepatic fibrosis, as well as generally metabolise alcohol and offset some of its damaging effects.

Blueberries

Rich in anthocyanins, blueberries protect against oxidative stress and – like cranberries – help reduce liver damage and risk of hepatic fibrosis.

Beetroot Juice

A traditional remedy for activating liver enzymes and increasing bile, beetroot juice is high in betalains – compounds that reduce inflammation in the body and – yes – help reduce liver damage. Additionally, in the same way as certain foods help our liver to cleanse and stay in optimum condition, so there are herbs which work similarly:

A traditional liver tonic, milk thistle is rich in silymarin, an anti-inflammatory antioxidant with immune system supportive properties. Studies have shown the beneficial effect of milk thistle in treating both alcoholic liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, with other studies suggesting a lower risk of liver cancer, also.

Milk Thistle

Burdock Root

TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) has a long history of using burdock root as a liver tonic – and not for nothing. Rich in antioxidants and brilliantly antiinflammatory, studies have shown it protects the liver from damage by toxins.

Curcumin

Turmeric’s active compound, curcumin is antiinflammatory and protects the body from free-radical damage. Frequently used in Ayurvedic medicine, supplements which combine curcumin with piperine are best, the black pepper compound increasing absorptive capabilities.

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