(Eater) - The rules of natural wine are unclear

When something becomes a trend (or a thing, as is increasingly the term), we, humans, like to name this thing—to categorize and quantify it. And that’s exactly the case with "natural wine," a vague winemaking style that has exploded in popularity across the U.S. in the past year or so. In France, where the current natural wine movement began during the 1980s, bureaucratic organization INAO (France's National Institute of Origin and Quality)—which governs the country's creation of wine appellations—is making serious efforts to turn "natural wine" into a regulated category, potentially verified by a third-party, as are labels "organic" and "biodynamic."

The natural wine movement is reaching new heights, both in terms of production and consumption. Young, upstart natural winemakers have made their careers in the last ten years throughout France, Italy, and the U.S., thanks in part to high-profile restaurants and bars focusing bottle lists on less manipulated juice. All of which begs the question: Is it time to define these wines so consumers know that what they're drinking is to—some extent—natural?

Presently, France recognizes wine as organic (Agriculture Biologique, Nature&Progrès) and biodynamic (Demeter—two levels, and Biodyvin). While here in the U.S. we have our own organic (USDA Organic, Made With Organic Grapes, Organic Vineyards) and biodynamic (Biodynamic Wines, Biodynamic Vineyard) wine tags.

"Three or four years ago I would have used this term, 'natural wine,' very easily," says Martin Texier of forthcoming wine label L'indigène, and whose father, Eric Texier, makes low-intervention wine in the Rhône Valley on an eponymous label. "It just meant thoughtful, crafty winemaking, mostly organic, but not necessarily ... Natural wine was the opposite of industrial wine, that was it." Now, Texier says that as the chatter around natural wine gets louder, and the style continues to grow, "everybody has his own idea" about defining the style, and sometimes it’s extreme. By some interpretations, "[s]ome of the founders of the movement wouldn’t even be considered natural wine" producers, he adds, in reference to the "Gang of Four" winemakers from Beaujolais.