NEW YORK CITY — If you want to reduce your hangover and feel a bit less guilty about your alcohol consumption, consider a natural or biodynamic wine.
Wines that are made the old fashioned way, without sulfites and artificial fragrances, are growing in popularity as a new crop of independent winemakers in France, Italy and other wine hubs jump on board the movement.
The term "natural wine" refers to wines made from organically-grown grapes. The biodynamic wine-making process takes it a few steps further by using moon cycles to guide farming, resting the earth occasionally and even inserting a cow horn filled with manure into the ground.
“[With natural or biodyanmic wines] there’s no artificial flavors, scents or technical trickery that is done to [conventional] wine these days to control the outcome,” said Michael Yarmark, from Thirst Wine Merchants in Fort Greene, which focuses exclusively on natural and biodynamic wine.
Much like food manufacturing, the large scale wine-making process has evolved to the point where adding preservatives, artificial flavors and sugar is regular practice. Additives like Mega Purple make a wine seem fuller bodied. Specific yeast is chosen to mimic flavors like “earthy” or “fruity.”
“It has become like a factory wine,” said Yarmark.
Because the process of making natural wines is not controlled like conventional wines, bottles of the same type of wine may vary in taste.
“That is one of the reasons why people are getting excited about these wines. There is good variation in the wine,” said Yarmark.
Here are five natural or biodynamic wines under $20 that are good introduction to the movement:
Tolrem 2014 from Thirst Wine Merchants, 187 Dekalb Ave. in Fort Greene
Price: $19
Tolrem (the name is merlot reversed) is a 100 percent merlot wine from Bergerac, France. It comes from a young winemaking couple named Camille and Mathias Lestignac.
“It’s a little soft, but fruity and it has some tannins, but not overly tannic,” said Yarmark.
Domaine Julian Peyras Gourmandise from Kweens Wine and Liquor at 80-45 Kew Gardens Rd, Kew Gardens
Price: $18.99
This wine from the south of France is 100 percent Cinsault. The wine is made in stainless steel tanks — rather than traditional oak barrels — and has no added sulfites.
“It’s fresh red cherry nose and bright complex making it so easy to drink,” said Nicky Holla, from Kweens.
Arndorfer Vorgeschmack 2013 from Waterfront Wines and Spirits at 360 Furman Street, Brooklyn Heights
Price: $19.75
The Grüner Veltliner (80 percent) and Riesling (20 percent) grapes make this a perfect wine to start your meal with (vorgeschmack is German for appetizer). Josh Knepley from Waterfront calls it “a sleek, racy, and mineral driven white wine.”
Valli Unite "Il Brut & the Beast" 2013 from the Natural Wine Co. at 211 N. 11th St. in Williamsburg
Price: $19.99
II Brut & and the Beast is a sparkling wine from Piedmont, Italy. The winemaker, Valli Unite, is a co-op of farmers that all use the biodynamic method.
“This wine is made from a blend of indigenous grapes and is super fun and refreshing, slightly sparkling and slightly funky,” said Karl Wurst, the store’s manager and wine buyer.
Cuvée Des Galets 2012 from Honor Wines at 36 Bay St. in Staten Island
Price: $13.75
This Cotes Du Rhone is unfiltered — which is common for natural wines — so expect a meatier texture to this red. It comes from a co-op of organic farmers with no yeast or enzymes added. There are notes of ripe red fruits and a dash of spice with supple tannins.
