Ten years ago, the main debate in natural wine was sulfites. Did they add them? How much? When? Did they want to stop adding them? Were they the first in their region to not add them? Never since MSG had a chemical substance (which, to be fair, does occur in nature) provoked so much debate, grist, and at times, petty arguments.
I’ll never forget the time I watched an Oregon winemaker dose her barrel with sulfur. She sniffed the wine through the bung hole and didn’t like what went up her nose. Quickly, she procured a white tablet, threw it in, and watched as the liquid inside foamed. Then, she realized she had added 40mg instead of 20mg as intended. Oops, and the wine was changed forever.
I’ve been making wine without sulfites since 2018 and it has been a hell of a ride. I had a Chardonnay that fermented super fast and hot in a barrel, then went volatile within weeks. I should have sold it as cooking wine. It’s hard to make wine without sulfites. If you’re a scientist, less hard — check out my archived interview (I’ve removed the paywall on this one) with Alex Shulkin from The Other Right, an Adelaide Hills no-sulfites winery, for a deep scoop on sulfites from a researcher-winemaker’s perspective.
But OK, maybe at this point it’s 2024 and I feel like enough has been said about sulfites.
More relevant to now, we have discontent in the community around sexual abuse scandals and exploitative vineyard labor, as well as the prevalence of white men owning land and having access to capital. So, hey, natural wine’s pretty tricky, if you are deep in the waters.
But what Honey Spencer does so well, and has in the many years she’s been rising in the London wine scene, is highlight how fermented grape juice can be fun, sexy, and accessible. When I first met Honey she was throwing a London street dining pop-up called Bastarda, and generally riding her bike around Hackney being a wine fairy. Then she went back to Copenhagen, a city where she and her husband have both worked in hospitality — Honey worked for importer Sune Rosforth, an experience she captured for Pipette Issue TK in an essay called “Tres Hombres” — and where their son was born. Since then, she’s been very busy slinging wine in restaurants and finally opening her own, Restaurant Sune.
Honey’s love for great, handmade, very lo-fi wines (and her strong connections with producers themselves) shines through in her new book, Natural Wine No Drama, and I highly recommend that you grab a copy.
It’s oozing with explainers, vocabulary, regions, and thoughts on farming, as well as profiles of fresh, cutting-edge natural winemakers all around the world, from California to Georgia. These are people you likely haven’t heard of, but you’ll want to try their wines once you’ve read about them here. The overall feel of the book is: let’s look to the future. There’s so much we can learn and use to build natural wine’s culture. I think it’s an attitude the movement can use.
In writing her book, Honey sought people with unique stories on her many travels to vineyard regions around the world, as well as through her persistent dedication to attending all the best natural wine salons. I don’t know how Honey does it all but when I asked her about this she humbly replied, I can ask the same of you!
It’s just energy — some people can direct it with a lot of passion.
Check out my conversation with Honey below and grab a copy of Natural Wine No Drama, which should be widely available at major and indie booksellers across North America, Australia, and the UK. If you’re not in one of these places, hold tight, I’m sure it will eventually make it there, too. The book’s photos are by Honey herself and a long-time friend (and Pipette contributor) Ania Smelskaya.
I’ve also recorded a podcast ep in which I read aloud an excerpt from Natural Wine No Drama. Check it out here.
LA MESCITA: Honey, congrats on your book! How are you?
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to LA MESCITA: All about natural wine - from Pipette Magazine to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.