3 Of The Best Natural Wine Subscription Services
Did you know that over the last 12 months (June 2020 - May 2021) there have been on average 5,400 searches every month for “natural wine” in the UK alone?
This is a year-on-year increase of 86% from the monthly average of 2,900 searches during the 12 months before (June 2019 - May 2020), which demonstrates the growing interest and popularity in natural wines.
As of March 2021, sales of natural wine in the UK had increased by over 30% over the previous 18 months. So if you're a wine lover in search of a regular delivery of new natural wines, now's the time to get involved.
Here's our carefully selected picks for 3 Of The Best Natural Wine Subscription Services:
What Is Natural Wine?
There can be some confusion, and certainly some issues amongst winemakers, sommeliers, wine writers, and buyers, about what “natural wine” is.
The difficulty comes from natural wine being considered more of a concept than a well-defined category. Whereas most conventional winemakers will utilise additional products during the winemaking process such as sugar, fake oak flavour, egg white, etc, natural wine refers to a generalised movement among winemakers for the production of wine using simple or traditional methods.
Some prefer terms such as “low-intervention”, “naked” or “raw” wine, but ultimately it is mostly agreed that natural wine is unadulterated fermented grape juice - that’s it.
"The way that we sum it up is that its wine made without industrial agriculture and without any extreme uses of pesticides or chemicals in the vineyard," says Brodie Meah, owner of the restaurant, wine shop and bar Top Cuvée, who rebranded as Shop Cuvée at the start of lockdown in order to offer takeaway and delivery on bottles. "It's wine made with as little manipulation or intervention in the winery as possible so in a natural way."
They’re generally viewed as an environmentally friendly option and by avoiding adding preservatives like sulphites and unnecessary chemicals, winemakers are making wines that are aligned with their consumer's values.
A Growing Trend - That’s Not Ending Anytime Soon
Discussing the “boom” in natural wine Esquire.com said, “The natural wine boom is not ending any time soon, with last year's enforced isolation meaning that the bottles of funky orange and fizzing pét-nat were all over your Instagram feed. Just like the clean eating vogue has seen us shun foods full of additives and ingredients you can't pronounce, the natural wine movement is all about virtuoso quaffing of fermented grape juices which are made with as little meddling as possible.”
Why Is Natural Wine Suddenly So Cool?
Similar to the meteoric rise and global phenomenon of craft beers in the mid-2010s, discovering a natural wine that was different to anything you were used to, encouraging individuality whilst focusing on heritage and tradition plus taste and smell, captured the imagination of wine drinkers.
Natural wine is made by small, often independent, growers, meaning that there is a limited production and a scarcity of bottles on offer, creating exclusivity and scarcity that adds to the excitement of discovering a natural wine you love.
Bear in mind that like craft beer tasting vastly different to a “normal lager”, natural wine taste can be unique with big, bold surprising flavours which can vary from bottle to bottle. Natural wines can also often be cloudy and hazy due to the making process and lack of filtration and clarification.
Natural Wine Subscription Boxes To Investigate
We love a good wine subscription service and here are a few of the best natural wine subscriptions to check out:
Hop Burns & Black
Website:
https://www.hopburnsblack.co.uk/collections/natural-wine-killers-wine-subscription-box
Price:
Subscriptions start at £59.95 per month
Notes:
- Each box is sent monthly, but you can easily skip a box at any time by logging into your account if you’re going away or have ended up with too much beer wine or sauce on your hands.
- Hop Burns & Black only stocks products from independent, ethical suppliers.
- They offer delivery throughout mainland UK but their local delivery option lets you select your preferred delivery day, and they’ll hand-deliver your order in their 100% electric, zero-emissions van to keep their environmental footprint as low as possible.
Shop Cuvée
Website:​
https://www.shopcuvee.com/products/the-natural-wine-subscription
Price:
Subscriptions start at £55 per month (for 3 bottles) and go up to £110 (for 6 bottles)
Notes:
- Unique natural wines, chosen by experts and delivered with care to your door each month.
- As described by The Independent (https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/food-drink/wine), “Sign up to the wonderfully curated offering of spectacular but unpretentious natural wines from the pivoted arm of critically-acclaimed Highbury restaurant Top Cuvee and enjoy box after box of fresh and seasonal wines.”
- Same-day local London delivery by bike. UK-wide next day delivery.
Monty Wines
Website:​
https://www.montywines.co.uk/products/natural-and-organic-wine-subscription-box
Price:
Subscriptions start at £75 per month (for 4-6 bottles) and go up to £150 (for 8-12 bottles)
Notes:
- “Why Natural wine? - It is how nature intended, a true representation of the terroir of where the wine comes from. Natural wines are fresh and alive from the vineyard through to the glass, wholesome and full of naturally occurring microbiology.”
- What do you get?
- Amazing Natural and Organic wines. Why? Because we think wine tastes better without chemicals and additives!
- Information so you know what wines we’ve chosen and why we love them
- Tasting Notes
- Food pairings
Until Next Time...
We’ll be bringing you more of the Best Natural Wine Clubs and Subscription services over the next few months, but until next time, chin-chin.