Natural wine is already a reality: Isabelle Legeron MW teaches us how to listen to it
In the increasingly complex panorama of contemporary wine, Master of Wine Isabelle Legeron offers a return to the origins. With this immersive tasting, presented at wine2wine Business Forum 2024, she offered the public not only an educational moment, but an invitation to overcome communicative superstructures and let themselves be guided by the senses. No technical sheets, no scores: just the wine and listening to what it has to say. A deliberately instinctive, almost meditative approach, designed to re-establish an authentic connection between wine and taster.
Wine cannot be explained, it must be lived
During the session, Legeron criticized the excessive coding of tasting, pointing out how analytical grids risk making the experience sterile. For her, wine cannot be explained, it should be lived. Participants were guided through blind tastings in which the goal was not to recognize a grape variety or a vintage, but to grasp vibrations, energy, identity. An approach that opened up a new perspective for many, that of wine as a cultural object, to be perceived and not just analyzed.
Behind the scenes of natural wine
Natural wine, according to Legeron, is not a trend, but a consistent and conscious agricultural practice. It is a matter of intervening as little as possible in the vineyard and in the cellar, restoring centrality to the winemaker and the link with the territory. Biodiversity is a value, not a problem. Spontaneous fermentation is a choice of authenticity, not a lack of control. The result? Lively, iridescent wines, capable of telling stories that speak of places, seasons, hands.
Identity, authenticity and change
This session was a rare opportunity to explore the deeper meanings of natural wine, away from labels and brands. Legeron has shown that these wines can be powerful tools to redefine our winemaking imagination. They communicate values of sustainability, transparency and respect for nature, but also the courage to change the narrative. A fundamental reflection in a historical moment in which the sector is called upon to rethink its languages to involve new generations of consumers.
Isabelle Legeron MW
Isabelle Legeron MW is the first French woman Master of Wine and founder of RAW WINE, the largest global community of natural wines. She is the author of the book Natural Wine and a promoter of organic and sustainable agricultural practices. She received the Legion of Honor for her 25+ years of contributions to winemaking. Recognized by Fortune and Vanity Fair, she is also a well-known media expert in the wine industry.
Robert Joseph
Robert Joseph is associate editor of Meininger’s Wine Business International, a magazine he co-founded in 2006. He launched Wine International in 1983 and created the International Wine Challenge. He is the author of 25 books on wine and a lecturer at institutions such as WSET, Burgundy and Sonoma Wine Business School. He founded the Georgian winery K’AVSHIRI and co-manages the Grand Noir brand.