5 Natural Wines For £25.00 or Less in the UK - Vol. 3
Happy February!
It’s a new day, in the first week of a new month, which guarantees one thing - a new wineletter, so welcome back my pals.
Sometimes I struggle with content ideas for this wineletter, then I look deeper into the constantly growing beast that is the natural wine movement and I give me head a shake.
This week is a roundup post to break apart one of the undeniable stigmas surrounding natural wine - the price. If price bothers you, then this one is for you - my favourite natural wines available across the UK for £25.00 or less…volume 3!
‘PAPERMAN CABERNET FRANC’, BINK WINES - £20.00
Begian-born winemaker Koen Janssens travelled to Australia back in 2012 to learn his trade in natural wine production, big-named lo-fi winemakers such as James Erskine from Jauma and Wildman of Lucy Marguax thought him the ways before he went on to start his own project - Bink Wines. This is Janssens Cabernet Franc, and a scrumptious Cabernet Franc at that! Fermented in two separate ways; carbonic maceration and destemming, aged for one year in old oak barrels before being blended back together one month before bottling. A very structured, berry-crunch type red wine with a bit of funkiness, but nothing too crazy.
‘MOZ 2021’, COSTADILÁ - £23.00
Next up is a sparkling orange wine that comes from the well-know Italian prosecco producing region - Conegliano, Treviso. Although don’t let the word prosecco mistake you, Ernesto Cattel of Costadilá had no interest in conforming to the region’s status quo when he started the project back in 2006. Ernesto’s entire sparkling wine range has so much more going for it than any bottle of prosecco, mainly for the fact that they’re made naturally and all posses an incredible aspect of freshness and drinkability. The Moz - his deep orange coloured bubbly delight is no different; the Moscato grapes provide pleasant floral aromas, with the skin-contact maceration giving the wine a proper sturdy back bone, I would say £23.00 for a wine like this is a bargain!!
‘ORIENTAL 2019’, ORIOL ARTIGAS - £19.95
We’ve already had a semi-serious bottle of red wine so with this next recommendation I wanted to go with something a little more crazy, with an exciting flavour profile. Born and raised 100% naturally in Penedes of Catalunya, the Oriental is produced from Ull de Llebre, Catalunya’s native version of Tempernillio which provides a fascinating aspect of vibrant, acidic stewed strawberries, garnished with a touch of maldon salt. An interesting natural red wine that’s bound to split opinions, defintely worth the try!
‘STAY BRAVE 2020’, TESTALONGA - £19.00
I’ve been drinking Testalonga’s wines for years now, they always hit the mark when it comes to pricepoint as well as being an enjoyable table wine for you and your friends to enjoy. The 2020 vintage of ‘Stay Brave’ is definitely one of my favourite cuvees, it’s got a pleasantly bright, aromatic nose. On the taste there’s a nice line of acidity throughout the entire experience, mellowed out by this interesting herbacious element, I never know how to explain that herbacious experience, so I guess you’ll just have to find out yourself.
‘DANS LE PIF 2020’, ANNE LAURE LAENGEL
A refreshing, thirst-quenching white wine with all the stone fruit vibes. Produced in the winemaking wonderland Alsace from two-thirds of the aromatic, native Sylvaner variety alongside one-third of Auxerrois grapes for that added feel of crispness. This is Anne Laure Laengel’s first vintage as she only took over her 1ha of vineyards in the north of Alsace back in 2019, but she’s been touted to be one to look out for in the future - this one could be worth buying two of and holding onto the second one for another few years!
Purchase (webshop goes live on Feb 14th)
Are you familiar with any of these wines from today’s wineletter? If so, join the conversation and let me know your thoughts, I’m always open to counter-reviews or sharing of recomendations.
Also, before I leave you for another longing week, I want to put the feelers out there for collaborative, featured posts here on the Natural Swill wineletter. Would be open to most ideas and I believe if there’s people out there who too enjoy speaking about the many different nuances of natural wine as much as I do, they should have a place to speak their mind.
For featured posts and collaboration enquriys, get in touch and let’s get chatting;
Email - Neburagho1@gmail.com
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