RAW WINE REVOLUTION: An interview with Isabelle Legeron

Interview by Andrea Eby, DipWSET, IWS, CMS, Sommelier, and Gary Hewitt, DipWSET, CWE, FWS, Sommelier

Isabelle Legeron is the author of Natural Wine: An Introduction to Organic and Biodynamic Wines Made Naturally and the founder and driving force behind the “totally independent” RAW WINE fairs. Isabelle was raised in a traditional agricultural family, developed a love of the land, and later found herself drawn to the study of wine. Even advanced studies left her wanting more, and she enrolled in the Master of Wine (MW) program, where she discovered that her non-intervention and organic outlook challenged the program’s conventional teachings. But Isabelle remained resolute: she not only graduated but is now a champion of the natural wine movement. Isabelle brings deep knowledge and a focused, clear approach to her ongoing work. She happily shared her time in order to spread the word about natural wines

Isabelle Legeron

Gary Hewitt (GH): Perhaps we could start our discussion with your definition of natural wine.

Isabelle Legeron (IL): Natural wine is literally a 100% grape juice—nothing added, nothing taken away. It’s a wine that has been made from organically grown grapes with very little intervention in the cellar and nothing added during the vinification process. And really, for me, it’s the wine that preserves the living: the living in the soil, in the vineyard. That life, that microbiology, is preserved and translated during the vinification process.

GH: At the moment, there is no official definition of natural wine…?

IL: Yes, that’s really true. I think the closest thing you’re going to get may be some charters of quality that grower associations are putting together like the Association des Vins Naturels (France). At the moment, we’re relying on private organizations and their definition of what is a natural wine.

Andrea Eby (AE): Do you feel that the community wants an official definition or does the culture of that community like a little ambiguity in the definition?

IL: I think it’s divided. I would say that the majority of people would like to see a definition. You cannot tell anything from the wine label or from just looking at the bottle of wine. So, from my perspective, it is important to define it. I like things to be quite transparent; I want to open eyes, and I like to know what’s what.

But, there are people who prefer it to be more nebulous. And for me, the two go together. When you start exploring natural wine, and you start talking about the growers, you realize that the vast, vast majority of these growers are highly organized, highly meticulous, and highly precise. I think a lot of people assume that these growers are a bit all over the place, and it’s really not true. You have to be a lot more organized and, in a way, have much greater hygiene to make natural wine than when you make conventional wine.

That’s why the wines are getting better and better. It’s because people are understanding what they are dealing with. Even though there is a certain amount of mystery, nature is much more complex and much more organized and balanced than we’ll ever be. I think that a level of knowledge and scientific understanding definitely is helping.

GH: How did your interest in natural wines evolve?

IL: It very much reflects my upbringing. I was brought up on a farm where everything we consumed we grew or made. We were very much subsistence farming: we had animals, we had grapes. I was brought up in the rhythm of the seasons, because we only ever ate what was in season.

As a typical kid, I thought, “I have to go to University, and I want to get out of this farm.” And so I left the nest, and I got a job in London. But within a few years, I was really missing the farming and missing the culture. I went back to studying, but as I became more and more educated in wine, I realized actually a lot of what wine was, wasn’t what I was looking for. It didn’t really resonate with the type of person I am. I’m much more comfortable having a picnic in the back of a van in the vineyard than having fancy dinners in some top château. And so I was looking for more of the type of people that I wanted to spend time with. That led me to organic-biodynamic farming and then natural wine throughout my Master of Wine studies. When I finally finished with my studies, I decided that the only thing I want to do is work with natural wine.

GH: How did the idea of the RAW WINE fair develop?

IL: RAW WINE fair is a natural and low-intervention wine fair. We welcome people who farm organically, who ferment naturally and who use small amounts of sulphites and some people who use no sulphites at all. I wanted to be transparent because sometimes people mix all of everything together. RAW WINE is kind of a broader church, so to speak, where we bring together a community of people who farm organically and naturally and produce both natural and low-intervention wines.

In the beginning, I wanted to organize an event in London so that people from the UK could meet those amazing growers from Italy and France. I really wanted to organize a fair that I would be proud of if I was pouring or if I was tasting. And the growers really loved it. They said, “For us it is such an amazing event.” People turning up at the event were actually interested in the wine.

I never really thought I’d be here today with an event which is actually quite international. The growers said to me that they really wanted us to do something on the continent, and we ended up in Berlin. And then a lot of growers and importers in the States, particularly in New York, said, “We’d love you to really organize this in New York.” And that’s how it started. We have had RAW WINE fairs in London, Berlin, Montreal, New York, Miami, and Los Angeles.

GH: I think RAW is a great name for the event. It has a real visceral feel to it.

IL: RAW WINE is a trademark. It’s not a category of wine. For me, “raw” is what they are, they’re a little brut (crude or unrefined), you know, as they say in French. I work really hard at making sure the charter quality is implemented and every single grower signs off on the analysis of all their sulphites and stuff inside the wine. So, when people taste the wine with the RAW WINE seal of approval, they know what it is. I’m quite precious about the name.

GH: You’re an advocate for ingredient lists on wines. Why?

IL: Well, to be honest, I’m shocked that it doesn’t happen. As a consumer, I’m really very careful about what I eat. And I don’t understand how people do not demand to know what’s in their wine. Somehow wine got this exemption that it doesn’t have to declare any of the ingredients. And as a result, people believe that all wine is natural. I really believe that we owe it to the people who drink the wine to give them all the information and then they can make up their minds. If the wine has had fish bladder, used for the refining process, this wine is not actually good at all for a vegetarian or vegan person—and that person really should know. For decades, we have sold this notion that wine is this very romantic product made with just tears and sunshine and vegetables. Not even 1% of the wine production is made like that.

AE: As an advocate for low-intervention and natural wines in Winnipeg, I’m confronted with the criticism of natural wine, in particular, faults or flaws or characteristics outside of what we would consider normal for wine. How do you address this kind of criticism?

IL: It’s always a tough one. Wine drinkers are so used to having extremely squeaky clean, shiny flavours. Whenever they have something that is more alive and different, they just can’t get their heads around it. I think how we’ve been brainwashed, for 40 years, into thinking a Sauvignon Blanc has these tendencies, a Merlot should taste like this, a Chardonnay should taste like this. And this has been depicted by very modern winemaking practices, focused on grape variety.

I think it is very useful to question yourself and think: “Why do I think that a Sauvignon should be tasting like this?” I try to have a conversation around being open to different flavours and then trying to realize that we taste inside this very small box, which is a shame.

AE: What do you think the natural wine scene will look like in 10 years?

IL: I think it will definitely grow, but I wouldn’t say it’s going to explode. I think we need to remember it’s still going to be a niche. I see a lot of applications for the RAW WINE fair from more and more young growers who have 3, 4, 5 hectares. And it’s their first, second, third vintage. There’s a lot more of that because it’s becoming a proposition where you can make good wines and sell them—and you can make a living out of it. I think you and I are very specific people who believe that it’s worth spending more on an ethical choice of what we consume. But the vast majority of people don’t actually really care about that.

AE: What are your concerns about some of the big players moving into the natural wine sector?

IL: Well, that’s a big concern absolutely. I see people who try to get into the fair just because they make one wine or two wines that might possibly fit the criteria, and I know they have no place in the fair. When you taste it, you can’t taste any of the terroir or any of the viticulture.

But, it’s awfully important to remember why we do what we do. For me, the bigger picture is about the environment. If a very big company gets inspired by what’s going on—even if they do it for marketing purposes—they are converting a lot of land to organic farming.

If big wineries end up using less water and produce less pollution, if they stop using fertilizers, weed killers, and synthetic stuff for farming, that is a really good thing. Maybe they are not called natural wine, but I’m not going to quibble over 10 or 20 parts per million of sulphite being added or not added because I think that butchers the point. We also want to do this because there is a need to change the way people farm. I believe we can change the environment.