World of Natural Wine

Aaron Ayscough is a British American writer based in Paris. Since 2010, he has written a blog and newsletter about natural wine called Not Drinking Poison. His writing about wine and restaurants has appeared in the Financial Times, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Eater, and Meininger’s Wine Business International, among other publications. He is the English translator of two works by the French winemaker-scientist Jules Chauvet: Wine in Question and The Aesthetics of Wine. Ayscough has worked extensively as a sommelier over the past two decades, building wine selections for restaurants including Pizzeria Mozza (Los Angeles), Yard Restaurant (Paris), Chez la Vieille (Paris), Table (Paris), and Supernature (Monaco). He is presently studying viticulture at the Lycée Viticole de Beaune in France.

“The World of Natural Wine represents a new landmark for the understanding of natural wine. If you want to know about natural wine, you have to read this book.”—Levi Dalton, host of the I’ll Drink to That! Wine Talk podcast“From farming to winemaking, its past and its future, Ayscough has produced an essential addition to natural wine literature.”—Alice Feiring, author of To Fall in Love, Drink This  “A must-read for anyone who loves—or hates—natural wines. Ayscough’s very well-researched, highly informative, lucid book gives us the keys to enter the culture and enjoy this galaxy of iconoclastic characters and their wines. Natural wine is much more than no sulfur: it is a hymn to the ever-changing nature of life.”—Pascaline Lepeltier, Meilleur Ouvrier de France  “Ayscough captures an overall snapshot of natural wine, from its inception to where it is now and where it’s heading next. He gives insight into its principles and introduces the vignerons, cavistes, and restaurants whose energetic work behind the bottle has happily brought natural wine to where it is today.”—Jorge Riera, wine director of Frenchette and Le Rock  “Aaron’s book affirms what all lovers of natural wine know instinctively from their first joyous glass—that natural wine is not reducible to a scientific definition or a marketing campaign but is instead the overflowing abundance of humanity itself struggling for solidarity, freedom, and happiness.”—Bradford Taylor, owner of Ordinaire and Diversey Wine

• Contents  Part I: What’s NaturalChapter 1: A Way of Thinking About WineChapter 2: How Grapes Are GrownChapter 3: How Natural Wine Is Made  Part II: A Pantheon of Natural WineThe Wines to KnowChapter 4: The BeaujolaisChapter 5: The LoireChapter 6: The JuraChapter 7: BurgundyChapter 8: AuvergneChapter 9: The RhôneChapter 10: AlsaceChapter 11: Savoie and BugeyChapter 12: The LanguedocChapter 13: The RoussillonChapter 14: Bordeaux and the SouthwestChapter 15: Provence and CorsicaChapter 16: ChampagneChapter 17: Natural Wine in Europe and the Caucasus  Part III: Enjoying Natural WineChapter 18: How to Taste Natural WineChapter 19: How to Serve Natural WineChapter 20: How to Find Natural Wine  AppendicesAcknowledgmentsIndex