自然酒的神話

文｜Tersina Shieh 編｜張恬熙

自然酒可謂是葡萄酒界最新的流行詞，年輕潮人們常光顧的自然酒酒吧正在世界各地涌現。那自然酒究竟是什么呢？

首先，我們要復習下葡萄酒的釀造過程。在我們的周遭環境中有許多酵母菌株，當葡萄或是任何水果暴露在這樣的環境中時，酵母會使其中的糖發酵成酒精。因此，發酵過程是自然發生的。然而不同的酵母菌株與糖發生的反應，可能會讓葡萄酒完全不一樣。有些味道可口，有些則口感奇怪甚至不適合飲用。無論品質如何，最終釀造出葡萄酒常常混有沉淀物并且酒液渾濁。有一些甚至會由于氧化或是細菌感染而變質。在葡萄酒愈加商業化的同時，果農們也在以可控的方式管理葡萄園，控制葡萄的質量和產量。在酒莊里，釀酒師使用培養的酵母（選擇性地培育天然酵母菌株）來釀造葡萄酒，確保其口感令人愉悅。他們還會添加如蛋白和魚鰾等天然澄清劑，與葡萄酒中的懸浮顆粒結合，形成更大的沉淀物，再通過過濾使葡萄酒明亮、清澈。為了確保葡萄酒有更長的保存期，釀酒師會添加亞硝酸鹽來保護葡萄酒免受氧氣和微生物的破壞。整個發酵過程是自然的，用來保障品質達標所用到的物質也都是天然的。

隨著葡萄酒需求的增加，酒農在葡萄園里使用化學藥品來增加葡萄產量及保護葡萄藤免受疾病侵害，這就像其他農產品的做法一樣。合成的澄清劑代替了蛋白和魚鰾。釀酒師可能還會使用酵母營養素以確保發酵過程順利并徹底完成，并控制其他因素，如發酵溫度和萃取的程度。釀酒師還會用不同材料做成的容器來發酵或者陳釀葡萄酒，像是不銹鋼或者是橡木做成的容器就能讓葡萄酒變得果香濃郁或者充滿復雜度。發酵過程依然是自然的，但果農和釀酒師控制了釀造過程以保證品質。

如今，“自然酒”這個詞沒有官方定義，可以算是一個主張或信念：葡萄采用有機、生物動力法或可持續的方式來種植，釀造過程不使用培養酵母、澄清劑和過濾，葡萄酒釀造完成后可能會加入少量亞硝酸鹽。葡萄酒的品質跨度也很大，它可以是宜人、清新或純凈的，也可以是帶著一股膻味、酸澀和不愉悅氣味的。但可以肯定的是，當自然酒不在新橡木桶中陳釀時，它會帶點香草和肉桂的香氣。由于自然酒沒有或僅含有少量的防腐劑，所以無法長期存放。

在我看來，所有的葡萄酒無論是使用化肥還是生物動力法種植，添加野生還是培養酵母，使用合成澄清劑還是沒有澄清，都是自然的。自然酒的興起就像反體制運動，消費者厭倦了主流、工業化的產品，擁抱其他代用品。這就像是20世紀70年代嬉皮士的生活方式一樣，在一定程度上，這也是今天政府體制多樣化的原因。

無論傳統還是自然酒，品質都有好有壞。享用自然酒是一種生活方式的選擇，但消費者必須知道怎樣分辨劣質的自然酒，而不是盲目地接受所謂的“自然”。那些把劣質葡萄酒標榜為“自然酒”的生產商，完全是在欺騙消費者。

我并不反對自然酒，但我在想：如果“自然酒”的品質更加穩定，能讓更多消費者愿意去接受它，那它終將成為主流。可那時候，“自然酒”是否還能這樣別具風格？到時候又會有什么樣的葡萄酒來取代它今天的地位呢？

The latest buzzword in the wine circle is natural wine.Natural wine bars frequented by young hipsters are popping up around the world.Whats the fuzz?

First of all, look at this.There are many yeast strains in our environment.When grapes, or any fruits, are left unattended, yeasts ferment sugar in grapes and turn it into alcohol.The process of fermentation,therefore, is natural.However, depending on the yeast strains that react with sugar, the resulting wine can be very different, some palatable and some funky or even undesirable.Whatever the quality, the final product is often cloudy with sediments, and eventually turns into vinegar because of oxidisation or bacteria spoilage.

When man commercialised wine, they planted vineyards in manageable manner to control quality and quantity.In the wineries, they used cultured yeasts-selected strains of natural yeast-to make sure pleasant wine is produced.Natural fining agents such as egg white and gelatine derived from fish bladders were used to combine with the suspended particles in wine to form bigger precipitates that can be filtered from wine, thereby making the wine bright, clear and visually pleasing.To make sure the wine has a longer life, winemakers added sulphites to protect the wine from oxygen and microbial spoilage.The entire fermentation is still natural and the products used to ensure the quality standard are also natural.

As the demand of wine increases, producers use chemicals in vineyard to increase yield and protect the vines from disease, just like all other agricultural products.Synthetically produced fining agents replace real egg whites and fish bladders.Winemakers may use yeast nutrients(ammonia products) to ensure a smooth and thorough fermentation, and control factors such as fermentation temperature and extraction.They may also ferment or age wine in different materials containers such as stainless steel tanks or wood barrels to make fruitier or more complex wine.The fermentation process is still natural but man exerts more control in the process to maintain quality.

Today, the term natural wine has no official definition.It is an approach to vine growing and winemaking that vines are farmed organically, biodynamically or sustainably; and wine is made handsoff without the aid of cultured yeasts, fining agents and filtration.Sulphites may or may not be added to final wine.The quality of wine ranges from pleasant, fresh and pure, to gamey, sour and foul.A few things for sure are that natural wine has vanilla or cinnamon aromas as they are not aged in new barrels, and they cannot be stored for a long time because of no or minimal preservatives.

To me, all wines, whether using inorganic or biodynamic farming,wild or cultured yeasts, synthetic fining agents or without fining, with our without sulphites, are all naturally made.The rise of natural wine is like an anti-establishment movement.Consumers are fed up with mainstream,industrial products and embrace alternatives.It is like hippies lifestyle in the 70s and to a certain extent, the election of non-mainstream government all over the world.

There are both good and bad conventional andnaturalwine.Drinkingnatural wineis a lifestyle choice but consumers must know to identify badnatural winerather than blindly accept it asnatural.Producers who label their winenaturalto disguise fault are cheating consumers outright.

I am not against natural wine, but thinking loud, I wonder if natural wine will still be cool if its quality becomes more predictable, more consumers accept it and it eventually becomes mainstream.Maybe another type of wine will takeover?