Possibly not. If this was the case wouldn’t everybody suffer neurodegeneration at the same rate? Yet some people live to over 100 and remain sharp as a pin. So it’s reasonable to conclude that it affects different people at different rates.

Well good news – there is a way to dramatically decrease your rate of neurodegeneration, and decrease your risk of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or dementia by up to 80%. No – it is not doing Sudoko or Nintendo brain training! (Do they honestly think we’d believe that would work!?)

It is drinking good wine! A painless form of medicine, in fact a positively pleasurable one. Here is a piece taken from Dr Phil Norrie’s paper on the health benefits of drinking good wine:

“Antioxidants, especially resveratrol in wine, stimulate a nerve enzyme called Mitogen Activated Protein (MAP) kinase which stimulates nerve cells and helps them regenerate their dendrites or nerve interconnections. Thus Dr. Alberto Bertelli from University of Milan, the world authority on the subject states “By daily reinforcing these contacts we can prevent neurodegeneration” (Such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease).”

Dr Phil goes on to conclude the benefit could be as much as an 80% reduction. But this is just one benefit of drinking good wine. There are over a dozen others including reducing the risk of blindness, cancer, heart disease, stroke, kidney stones, gall stones…..etc. Read Dr Phil Norrie’s article it is fascinating!

Both wines are completely natural, packed full of natural anti oxidants and made without the use of any oenological products whatsoever – the Aurum does have a tiny dash of sulphites added at bottling which is needed to retain the wine’s natural acidity, but this is less than 5% of the permitted level and at this level is completely harmless even to people with a severe sulphite allergy.

There is no other chemical intervention anywhere from the initial plantings of the vineyards right through the winemaking to the bottling of the wine.

Natural wines are gaining in popularity at the moment but the big downfall of the vast majority of the whites is a lack of acidity which is a direct result of the complex chemical relationship between acidity and sulphur.

Without wishing to bore anybody, sulphites are added to wine as an anti oxidant. Some of these sulphites react with oxygen (and other substances) immediately and become “bound” and are then inert. More sulphites are added to remain free to protect the wine. But this “free” sulphur splits into two different forms – molecular SO2 and the bi-sulphite, and it is only the molecular SO2 which is effective as an anti oxidant, and this is by far the lesser of the two forms. The exact split between molecular SO2 and the bi-sulphite is determined by the acidity of a wine (and it’s temperature). A certain amount of sulphites is produced naturally during the fermentation process too. This effectively means that you cannot have a sulphite free wine with anywhere near decent acidity levels – it is a chemical impossibility. This lack of acidity in natural wines makes them “flabby” and an acquired taste!

So Solo set out with the aim of producing a natural white wine with all the flavour and acidity of a mainstream white wine, to give it a crisp dry finish. For this they had to add some sulphites but were able to keep this to an absolute minimum through using only perfect organically grown fruit, and the genius winemaking of Philippe Viret.

Philippe has been making excellent sulphite free wines for years at his unique winery (Domain Viret) in the Rhone Valley. So he was able to use his expertise and unique methods to produce this wine for Solo.

It is a blend of 65% Chardonnay, 30% Marsanne and 5% Viognier. All three varietals were fermented separately in concrete vats, then blended to achieve the required style and taste then further aged in tank prior to bottling. The wine is full of fruit flavour, yet clean and fresh with that all important crisp finish.

The best thing is that being a completely natural product it is actively good for you! The natural anti oxidants neutralise free radicals in the body, actively significantly reducing the risks of cancer. This natural wine is also beneficial for reducing the likelihood of dementia, stroke, heart disease and a whole host of other ailments.

Read this piece here for the facts about drinking good healthy wine.

Solo Aurum Natura is available from sulphite free wine specialist www.goodwineonline.co.uk

Their vineyards are on the Te Muna terraces, a beautiful setting. Te Muna means “secret place” in Maori, and the whole valley was formed by the Huangarua river thousands of years ago. As the river retreated it left these terraces with rich alluvial soils filled with minerals, ideal for viticulture.

The area has a very similar climate to Burgundy so no wonder it is producing some of New Zealand’s best Pinot Noir.

Wim built the winery right next to his vineyards. All grapes are hand picked into small 18kg boxes then taken immediately into the winery. These methods ensure the grapes are in excellent condition, and they eliminate the need to add sodium metabisulphite powder at harvest. They are accredited Sustainable Winegrowing vineyard.

Wim employs a winemaker callet Outi (originally from Helsinki) who settled in the area after working her way around the wine world. Between them they produce some exceptional wines. Other than Wim, Sue and Outa there are two vineyard hands and that’s the full team. At present they produce only 4,500 cases a year.

Julicher wines have received some very high praise and although their first vintage was only 2003 they have already amassed an impressive array of awards. Their whites are very good, full of fruit expression with clean unaldulterated flavours. Their Chardonnay, Reisling and Sauvignon Blanc have all won awards. Their Julicher Pinot Gris is fantastic but very limited so hasn’t been entered for any yet! They also make a delicious fresh Pinot Noir Rose.

But most impressive is their Pinot Noir. Julicher Pinot Noir 2009 won Gold at the New Zealand International Wine Show 2011. Julicher “99 Rows” Pinot Noir 2009 also won Gold at the New Zealand International Wine Show 2010 and Gold at the Hong Kong International Wine Show 2010. Not bad for a new boutique winery built and run by one man (and Sue of course!).

Their wines are available to buy retail from boutique specialist online retailer www.goodwineonline.co.uk

Well, no. Not when you study exactly what he said and what remains unchanged – it is not the excise duty rates but the excise duty rate escalator as put in place by the previous Labour government. That means duty on all alcohol is set to increase by 2% above the rate of inflation (currently 3.3%).

So what does this mean in real terms?

The current excise duty on a bottle of wine is £1.81, so this will increase to £1.90.

On wine above 15% abv it is £2.41 increasing to £2.53.

On sparkling wine current duty is  £2.32 increasing to £2.43.

On a standard pint of 4% beer current duty is 42 pence increasing to 44 pence.

On a 70cl bottle of 40% spirit such as whisky or gin current duty is £7.15, increasing to £7.50.

Remember though excise duty is also subject to another tax – VAT, so we need to add another 20% to all these prices!

So what does this mean when we buy a bottle of wine?

The average price of a bottle of wine sold in the UK off-trade (supermarket, convenience store, off licence) is expected to increase to £5 after this duty hike. So let’s take a look at the figures.

At £5 per 75cl bottle, 83p is VAT and £1.90 is duty. So £2.73 goes direct to the Treasury in taxes. That leaves £2.27 for all the costs – supermarket margin (normally 35% =£1.40), production, bottle, labelling, cardboard case, winery margin and shipping from country of origin and internally in the UK.

So the Treasury is taking a whopping 55%!

And a pint of beer?

The average price of a pint of beer in the pub is expected to be £3.17.

So that is 53p VAT. Add 44p duty and the Treasury are getting 97 pence per pint. Basically every time you buy a pint in the pub at £3ish the Treasury gets £1 of it! And these are just the direct taxes of course. Remember the pub has to pay a raft of different licences, and then pay tax on any profits it makes too!

Was it a good idea to raise alcohol duties yet again?

Tax on beer in the UK has increased by 60% since 2004. Have tax receipts increased by 60% then? No, in fact they have risen by only 10% which in real terms means that volumes have shrunk. This has hit UK manufacturing of course as much of the beer, cider and spirits we drink are produced here. So these companies have made less, sold less, employed fewer people and paid less tax and VAT.

The pub and hospitality industry employs nearly 1 million people in the UK with a wage bill of over £13 billion a year.  These tax increases have forced pubs to close with the loss of thousands of jobs every year – employees who would have paid taxes into the system but who are now claiming benefits from it. Pubs who would have paid VAT and tax are closed paying nothing into the Treasury.

In fact every time the alcohol duty has been increased it has cost the UK significantly in real terms. Cheap alcohol and tobacco are widely available, whether smuggled into the UK or manufactured illegally over here. And every time the taxes increase the black market gets stronger. Is it any wonder the vast majority of youngsters do drugs rather than drink these days? It’s cheaper, and because it’s illegal it isn’t subject to tax rises every year!

The Uk now pays a massive 60% of all alcohol duties in Europe! And consumes only 13% of the booze!

There is a combination of factors behind the government’s thinking of course. They want to reduce the amount many of us drink. They want to prevent the supermarkets selling alcohol at pocket money prices but have legal issues with competition laws in the EU to contend with.

I think they know the damage these taxes are causing to the pub industry but unfortunately this isn’t a priority for them at the moment as there are so many problems left by the previous Labour government that it is impossible to tackle them all in one go. They know smuggling will increase and more pubs will close, but they also know their revenue will increase directly from the extra duty to cover this.

Sadly going for a pint – that great British tradition – has become an expensive luxury. It seems it is no longer the right of our hard working population to enjoy a few beers on a Friday night. Beer sales across the country have been in steep decline since the smoking ban came into force at about the same time as the ill thought out duty escalator was introduced.

With our expensive excise duty and VAT on wine we’re seeing more European companies selling direct to the UK consumer as it can actually be cheaper to buy from the continent  and pay poor FX rates and international shipping charges than it is to buy the wine in the UK. If this latest strategy takes hold the Treasury won’t make anything in excise duty or VAT.

Within the EU we pay local excise duty and local VAT so if we order from a French company we pay French taxes. UK taxes are only levied on imported wines which are brought in for commercial purposes, not for those brought in for personal consumption! So your local wine merchant would have to pay these taxes when he imports wine but you as the consumer could import the wine and  wouldn’t have to pay it!

For those of you looking out for the Natural Wine Fair 2012, you’ll be delighted to know that this year there are two simultaneous events instead – The Real Wine Fair, and RAW Natural Wine Fair. They are both open to the public on Sunday May 20th at £20 per head. So assuming you can’t get to both, which should you go to?

Click here to view and buy some of the best natural wines available in the UK from under £10 per bottle.

The Real Wine Fair.

B1 Victoria House, Holburn, London, WC1B 4DA, ( Sunday May 20th,10am – 6pm)

The Real Wine Fair is being organised by a group of importers/wholesalers/retailers led by Les Caves de Pyrene who led the consortium of importers who organised last year’s fair with Isabelle Legeron MW. Isabelle has set up her own independent fair this year called RAW – see below.

There are over 100 growers exhibiting, showing organic, biodynamic and natural wines. There will also be artisan foods available including pastries, cheese and even beers from Camden Town brewery. There are a couple of award winning niche restaurants involved too so you’re bound to find something delicious to eat.

There will be a “pop up” shop on site so you can buy some of the wines to take away if you like. Tickets are available from the website.
http://therealwinefair.com/

RAW Natural Wine Fair

RAW is Isabelle Legeron’s (Master of Wine) vision of the successor to last year’s natural wine fair. She split from last year’s consortium of importers and retailers to focus on independent winemakers (not just the ones imported by the consortium), to give the public a wider spread of wines and producers, and to give independent winemakers the opportunity to display their wines in the UK.

There are now over 200 producers listed for RAW, and most of them have their wines available to buy in the UK already. As there are also around 30 to 40 unrepresented winemakers as well, it’s likely to contain more unique wines made in tiny batches which were not deemed commercially viable by importers. Far more of a display of what can be achieved, wine made for it’s own sake regardless of financial viability as a business.

Like The Real Wine Fair there will be a pop up shop on site to buy the wine from, and also various artisan food stalls. It is being held at the Old Truman Brewery which is itself an area full of independent quality food outlets, famous for it’s fusion of cuisines.

http://www.rawfair.com/

Both fairs are likely to be very good with a roughly equal number of exhibitors and visitors. Both will have broadly similar facilities with great food, wine shop, guest speakers and various other arts and crafts stalls.

If you can only make it to one, which one then?

Well if you favour supporting the independent winemaker then RAW would probably be the best bet. It is more of an independent fair, open to all who wish to display. The venues aren’t too far apart so why not make the effort and go to both?

Well I then saw their prices – very very expensive! And ten working days for delivery- who would put up with that these days? So how have they got so big in such a competitive market?

I also checked out their product range. As far as I could tell the wineries they list are represented by agencies in the UK so they wouldn’t be dealing direct. This made me think immediately of Everywine.co.uk who have now gone out of business – it is exactly the same business model. Advertise thousands of wines they don’t actually stock, at very high prices, then if somebody orders something try to source it in the UK and allow yourself ten working days to find it and sell it on!

As a business model in itself that’s fair enough so long as you are transparent and honest about what you’re doing. But claiming to be a “leader” and having gone “global” and “buying direct from wineries” implying that you have their support and you’re cutting out any middle men, is plain dishonest and therefor technically illegal.

Sadly for the customer there is no real protection. We tend to believe whatever is written on these flashy websites, and the Advertising Standards Agency and Trading Standards are not much help at forcing them to take down these lies. So if you’re planning on buying your wine online do a little bit of research while on the retailer’s website. Just check the address and Google it for streetview, see if they have genuine photos of their operation and look like a real business. There are plenty of people trading wines online like this so be very careful!

If you check the address of Simply Wines Direct you get a convenience store in Reading! The Global headquarters of a leading pioneering wine importer!

Then if you check the company records for Simply Wines Direct Ltd at Companies House (which is registered to this address) you’ll find no trading accounts filed – a technically active but dormant company. Presumably any sales are processed through Mr Mukhtar’s sole trader shop?

There was a similar operation a while back which has also gone out of business called “Wines Buy the Case”. Exactly the same modus operandum only run from the proprietor’s house!

So if you want to buy wine online – which is definitely the best option offering the widest choice and best prices – do a little bit of googling to make sure you’re dealing with a reputable business. Simply Wines Direct is anything but direct – in fact the wine is about as indirect as it is possible to be, shipped to Reading first to then be shipped back out again! Mr Mukhtar is presumably just buying these wines from the same place you could buy them from yourself, saving yourself a lot of time and money.

It’s open to the public on the Sunday at £20 a head, and the Monday is a trade only day. It’s being organised by Isabelle Legeron, Master of Wine and co-founder of last year’s fair. It is billed as an artisan fair showcasing individual distinctive producers making wines with minimal intervention.

Isabelle has set out to make this year’s fair truly independent and open to everybody, which is a welcome relief from last year’s somewhat restricted offerings. There will be winemakers from all the main regions plus lesser known ones like Croatia and Georgia, and there will likely be a much better representation of quality and styles.

Highlight of the show – Monsieur Amphora!

A major highlight of the show will be the attendance of Philippe Viret “Mr Amphora”. Philippe and his father Alain are famous for their unique system of Cosmoculture of course, which is a blend of biodynamic farming principles with the harnessing of telluric energies which they feed into the vineyard. This helps them produce perfect fruit which has enabled them to produce completely chemical free wines of the highest quality which are not only delicious and actively good for you, but will keep in good condition for years. Many natural wines are highly prone to oxidation, but Philippe’s unique methods enable him to avoid this problem.

Their Domain Viret wines are sulphite free and vegan friendly – everything that goes into the vines (and wine) is completely natural and Philippe does not use any additional oenological products whatsoever. They have patented their Cosmoculture system as a certifying body as a welcome alternative to “organic” or Demeter’s biodynamic. EU certified organic wines are open to manipulation in the winery (including the addition of chemicals including sulphites), and so are biodynamic to a lesser degree.

Cosmoculture is far stricter and doesn’t allow any artificial additives whatsoever. We hope that other wineries decide this is the certification they would like to use as it means a lot more than biodynamic and is a guarantee of “naturalness”.

But Philippe Viret doesn’t stop there! He has been pioneering the rejuvenation of an old Roman technique of fermenting individual batches of wine in small clay amphoras, each roughly the size of a large man. The wines are quite amazing, and it is still early days. All Philippe’s wines seem to get better each vintage so his amphora wines will no doubt become something very special very quickly.

Perhaps the best news is that Domain Viret wines are available to purchase online in the UK through sulphite free and boutique wine specialist www.goodwineonline.co.uk . And they’re at affordable prices starting at under £10 per bottle! If you’re attending the fair make a point of searching out Philippe and trying his wines – they really are something special.

On the surface this has nothing to do with wine of course, so why did I write this? Because it is all linked to the great sulphite cover up. I like to think I’m a rational logical person, but I’m becoming paranoid that there must be a conspiracy at the top of government and industry. I appreciate that many of our politicians aren’t scientifically qualified, but between all the politicians, medical professionals, research scientists and global manufacturing companies there has to be somebody with some intelligence and common sense, doesn’t there? Somewhere? Well it appears not.

I watched the Doctor Rosemary interview on BBC TV on the subject of child asthma having climbed to around 35% in developed countries while it’s still around 2% in undeveloped countries. There is plenty of research which says sulphites are to blame. And as sulphites aren’t used in undeveloped countries it certainly stacks up, but what did she say “I think it may be something to do with bacteria”. Well done doctor! It reminds me of that classic Stephen Fry line in Blackadder IV, which went something like ”when all else fails a pig headed reluctance to look stark facts in the face will see us through”. Now instead of examining this latest survey from a medical perspective which is presumably why she is invited on the show (BBC Breakfast), she’s simply telling us to restrict ourselves to two rashers of bacon a week! Let’s at least have some thought and discussion, not just a knee jerk reaction.

Fantastic headline on the BBC this morning “Eating red meat gives you cancer” then they add “according to a new report from the USA”.Then they don’t add that this report is completely flawed and not worth the paper it’s written on! In fact who did write it? Do we know? What were the criteria used?

They qualify the headline by then saying “processed meat is particularly bad for you and causes cancer”. Yes BECAUSE IT CONTAINS SULPHITES! Has the penny not dropped with any of these so called researchers yet? In the report “2 glasses of wine a day causes cancer” they didn’t differentiate between alcoholic drinks containing masses of artificial preservatives (sulphites) and preservative free drinks. Exactly as they didn’t differentiate between types of food in this survey - processed and packed full of chemicals, or fresh natural and healthy.

If red meat gives everybody cancer how has mankind survived on a diet of predominantly meat for millions of years? Possibly because it wasn’t processed and pumped full of harmful chemicals? Heaven forbid somebody might ask that question at the right level – they would be quickly hushed up!

Why does the “French paradox” exist? With all the research about fatty foods and alcohol, the French who eat a higher amount of suturated fat in their diet and drink well over the weekly recommended alcohol units, are healthier than the rest of us!  - Because they eat real food, fresh and local, not the processed rubbish we get inundated with. The local naturally made wines they’ve been drinking for decades are actively good for them as they contain natural anti oxidants and actively prevent cancer.

I had an email exchange with these Change 4 Life people last week too. I asked them why they used these sensationalist headlines rather than the truth, and why they recommended such ridiculous alcohol limits. I pointed out that drinking the right healthy wines in moderation was actively beneficial healthwise and a preventor of heart disease, cancer and stroke. I got a flimsy reply based on complete untruth again, and they focussed on liver disease choosing not to argue the point on the other diseases. They insisted that all alcohol was bad for you even in moderation. Where the actual truth is that people who drink in moderation have healthier livers than people who abstain completely. Many French, Italians and other Mediteranean races have consumed several pints of wine every day for their entire lives with no ill effects. Yet if we go by the UK recommended alcohol limits, two ladies having a gin and tonic before dinner then sharing a bottle of wine with their meal are officially classed as binge drinkers and at high risk of developing cancer! What kind of message is this sending out to the concerned British populace who want to know where a healthy balance lies?

I’m at the point of just giving up. Has common sense gone completely out of the window? The government permit these toxins to be added to virtually everything we eat and drink, then tell us to avoid eating or drinking anything!

Personally we eat only natural fresh foods and drink only good wines, many completely chemical free, others just very low in chemicals. I haven’t had a hangover in years. I’m not going to pay any more attention to this complete nonsensical health advice the government keep publishing. When I was in school doing experiments in chemistry we had to prove the results of these experiments or we wouldn’t get marks. It seems these days that anybody can do a (flawed) survey, draw any random conclusion and it gets stated as fact on the national news – assuming it’s scary and hard hitting enough. Drinking natural wines is extremely beneficial for your health and actively substantially reduces the risks of cancer, heart diesease, diabetes, dementia, Parkinsons and many other diseases. But do they announce that on TV? No – because it’s not bad news, it’s good news and it seems that’s well out of vogue these days!

There are people in our society who sit around all day consuming cheap booze then make a nuisance of themselves to innocent members of the public with violent aggressive behaviour often resulting in police intervention. And consecutive governments have failed to do anything about it.

Well this time we’re not talking about a Wetherspoons day centre for the long term unemployed, it has finally kicked off in the House of Commons with Labour MP Eric Joyce planting a “glasgow kiss” on a Tory MP!

 Apparently Mr Joyce had spent the day drinking in the Stranger’s Bar in the House of Commons, open to MPs and guests only, selling cheap TAX FREE alcoholic drinks.

We all used to enjoy an “all dayer” once in a while when we were younger, but at 51 you would have thought ex soldier Mr Joyce would not only know better, but also have passed that stage of life by now. During the fracas he is alleged to have hit a Labour whip as well, and was finally subdued when other MPs sat on him!

Mr Joyce is likely to face severe consequences including losing his job as an MP. He’ll be kicking himself – if only he had left it till the kebab house or Indian like the rest of us, then it would have gone unnoticed by the authorities!

The not so good news though is that they’re both on at the same time, a few miles apart in London, and both charge the public £20 a head. While some lucky ones amongst us will get to go to both, the likelihood is many people will have to choose just one.  They’re both open to the general public on the Sunday (20th May). For those of us in the trade, RAW has a trade only day on the Monday and The Real Wine Fair has trade only days on the Monday and Tuesday. Each show is reportedly bigger than last year’s fair so getting round both of them in one day (and getting across London in the middle) will not be easy. So which should you go to?

Why have the organisers of last year’s fair gone their separate ways?

The 2011 natural wine fair was organised by Isabelle Legeron, Master of Wine, and self proclaimed champion of natural wines and their producers, together with a small consortium of UK importers. I’ve already written a piece on my opinion of the fair, that the wines on show were neither the best available nor competitively priced. In fact as all 5 importers stood to benefit from showing only the wines they imported, there was no representation from any independent producer, importer or retailer.

(The organisers of the Real Wine Fair have been in touch since I originally wrote this post, to update me and correct a few misapprehensions, so I’ve now made some ammendments).

I suspect that is why Isabelle has organised her own independent fair this year called RAW, to give her more flexibility and ensure a range of better quality more affordable wines are on show. Ive been told that the two parties couldn’t agree on the best way forward to move on from last year’s Natural Wine Fair so they amicably decided to hold separate fairs this year. While I’m naturally cynical about financial motivation, the organisers of the Real Wine Fair have explained that last year’s fair was not financially motivated and that it actually cost the consortium of importers tens of thousands of pounds each to put on the show.

Coordinating the Real Wine Fare is one of the major members of last year’s consortium, Les Caves de Pyrene, together with another 6 importers/retailers including Vine Trail, Indigo Wines and Roberson. This suggests to me that one or two of last year’s consortium have also dropped out and gone their separate ways this year, perhaps because the majority of wines on show last year came from one or two major members of the consortium and the cost of tens of thousands of pounds was a bit high for promoting natural wines with no financial gain for themselves? These are tough times in the UK and it is a lucky company who can afford to invest this kind of money to support a principle.

RAW is being held at The Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane, London E1 6QL. The Real Wine Fair is at B1, 6 Victoria House, Southampton Row, London WC1B 4DA. Both are open to the public on Sunday 20th May, both open to trade on the Monday, and the Real Wine Fair open to trade again on the Tuesday.

It’s great to see the movement gathering momentum with two shows this year. That can only be good for natural wines as a whole, and it is clear that the public are becoming more aware and more accepting of them. I just hope that they lift the quality this year. Yes, there were some very good wines there last year, but they were very few and far between. There was also an awful lot of “cider” and “soup”.

I’m a massive fan of natural wines but only the ones that taste like wine! I sat in a natural wine shop in Macon called PUR with the owner Cyril while he ploughed me with several of his wines which were frankly awful, as he waxed lyrical about the time and work that went into them - and that the oxidation of the whites was deliberate! What could I say? They tasted like vegetable soup, but at 15 to 20 Euros a bottle trade, they were a lot more expensive than a tin of Campbells.

Yet you buy a bottle of “cosmic nectar” (according to Oz Clarke) from Domaine Viret in the Rhone, they are completely natural, and beautiful wines in their own right. In fact Philippe Viret has several wines rated in the Rhone Top 100, and his white La Coudee D’Or was voted Best White Wine in the Rhone by food and wine critic Michel Breton. Why can’t we have these wines at one of these two shows? – now we do, Philippe Viret is showing these wines at RAW!

I would like to see a completely open fair where every producer, importer and retailer of natural wines was invited to take part, not fairs organised by importers with only their own wines on show. But in this modern commercial world the chances of that are very slim indeed!

I will be attending both shows as I hope to find an improvement this year as more quality producers will hopefully be attracted as the natural wine movement gathers momentum in the UK. For a wine to be “natural” it doesn’t have to be flabby or semi oxidised, but I fear that was the image generated by last year’s show, as many of the wines were poorly made. This isn’t a phenomena of natural wine, it is a lack of skill and expertise by the winemaker. Let’s show off the good stuff this year and give the general public a genuine reason to switch to drinking great tasting healthy wine.