How Did Our Ancestors Make Wine?
The wine workshops we can find in Anatolia and surrounding geographies such as Georgia, Armenia and Iran allow us to get an idea about the wine-making methods of our ancestors. We have a very good knowledge of the chambers where the collected grapes were thrown and crushed, the pools and earthenware jars where the flowing grape must accumulated and fermentation took place, the storage jars where the wine was later stored, and the smaller amphorae used for transportation.
We also know that our ancestors used additives to both extend the life of their wines and change their taste. Resin is one of them. Retsina wine, which is also admired by many of our Greek neighbors, still exists as the descendant of this practice. Homeric epics tell us in various sections that ancient wines were not drunk pure, but diluted.
How Do Today's Producers Produce Wine?
The priority of today's manufacturers is to obtain the standard product that today's consumers are accustomed to and expect. To obtain this standard product, the controlled production process starting from the vine seedling and vineyard requires the use of industrial yeast that facilitates control during the fermentation phase, the equipment to manage heat and environmental conditions using today's technological possibilities, and the widespread use of filtration and band production. In terms of the risks they carry, manufacturers use today's technological possibilities to the fullest in the production steps, each of which is a separate area of expertise. But there is also a maestro who manages how all this equipment will produce wine. With this golden touch, the product reaches its final identity.
Is today's Natural Wine made like our ancestors'?
In principle, yes, natural wine does not use a significant portion of the tools that today's producers use. But since there is no regulated process control, some of the producers use chrome tanks in fermentation. In the production of natural wine, yeast is used as it is found on the grape skins, industrial yeast is not used. No additives other than sulfur are used as preservatives, and sulfur is used in trace amounts. There are those who leave the temperature control in fermentation to the natural flow of ambient temperature, and those who make limited use of this opportunity when using tanks. The overwhelming majority of today's wine consumers do not want sediment in their wine, so filtration is an essential part of standard wine production. In natural wine, filtration is used to a minimum.
