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SiG MT 21 SiG MT 21 TEXT BY BRITTANY EDGREN WINE STORY A simple guide to navigating your local wine shop. How to Find Natural Wine www.pizazzmt.com 401/403 Central Ave • Great Falls, MT 406.452.6724 Sip and Shop Enjoy $5 drinks Put the back into the HAPPY HOLIDAYS Navigating the world of natural wine can be incredibly challenging. With an ever-growing number of wine bars, shops, and online retailers advertising natural wine and no legal definition of the term, how do we know who is legit and who is just jumping on the latest marketing bandwagon? Here are a few tips and tricks on how to find an honest natural wine. Get to know your natural wine importers and distributors. e front label on a wine bole is great for catching your eye on the shelf, BUT flip that bole around and take a peek at the not-so-beautiful label on the back. is is where you will find information on who imports the wine and occasionally who distributes the wine if it is made domestically (I say occasionally because this varies from state to state). ere are several notable importers and distributors who focus solely on natural wine – MY HEROES! ese wine gods and goddesses, in my humble opinion, meet the wine makers, study the vineyards, and familiarize themselves with how wine is made. rough this process, they can assure you, firsthand, that these wines are made with minimal intervention and with the highest integrity. In other words, these guys do their research so you don't have to – how great is that? Next time you are browsing the wine aisle look out for some of these notable importers on the back of the bole (or just ask, "Which of your wines come from Tess Bryant?" for example): • Tess Bryant Selections • Jose Pastor • Jenny & Francois • Louis/Dressner • Zev Rovine • Amy Atwood Selections • Bent Frenchman Selection (Montana distributor) Don't be fooled by big box brands. We've all seen it. e cringe worthy advertisements for "keto-wine" or "clean-wine" flashing across your Instagram. Okay, yes, they are kind of right. Natural wine can be a healthier alternative than a conventional wine, but let's get real… it's still alcohol, folks! ese terms, unfortunately, are the latest marketing ploys aimed at catching the eye of the uneducated buyer. In fact, an honest natural wine producer will rarely ever associate these buzz words with their wine. ese fad wines may be grown with organic grapes, but what kind of ingredients did they add to the wine to make it taste that way? What are the vineyard conditions where the grapes were grown? Did they hand-pick the grapes or use heavy machinery? All of this information that is imperative for defining a natural wine - seems to be conveniently le out of the conversation. My recommendation is to stay clear of these buzz brands and always remember that a natural wine probably won't have the label "natural wine". KA A NS UF M E N S W E A R C E N T R E 411 Central Avenue, Great Falls 406.761.5010 kaufmansmenswear.com Your Men's Apparel Headquarters Your Men's Apparel Headquarters FIND US ON FACEBOOK