Natural wine isn't a trend. It's a return to the essentials, the vine, the soil, the winemaker's hand. In Marseille, Paul Defais selects these wines directly from the producers and brings them to you for private tastings and group workshops.
Natural wine is made with no chemical inputs at the vineyard or in the cellar. No herbicides, no pesticides, no industrial yeasts, no acidity correctors, no chaptalization. Hand-harvested grapes, spontaneous fermentation, minimal or zero sulphites.
It's not an official label, it's an ethic shared by independent winemakers who trust the living over the chemical. The result: wines that express their terroir without manipulation, with all the variability that implies.
The Mediterranean, Provence, the Languedoc, Greece, Spain, is one of the richest territories for natural wine production. The sun, poor soils, and the work of committed small producers yield wines of rare precision.
Organic or biodynamic farming. No herbicides, manual or horse-drawn soil work. The vines struggle, the roots dig deep, the terroir expresses itself.
Hand-picked at the moment chosen by the winemaker, not a machine. Whole clusters arrive in the cellar, without oxidation or brutal mechanical sorting.
Spontaneous fermentation using indigenous yeasts, those that live naturally on the grapes. No additions, no corrections. The winemaker guides without forcing.
Little or no sulphites. No filtration that strips the aromas. The wine can evolve, breathe, surprise. A living wine, in the literal sense of the word.
Natural wine isn't strange. It's simply honest. What you feel in the glass is the soil, the season, and the decision of a winemaker who corrected nothing. That's rare. And that's what we explore together in Marseille.
Paul brings 3 natural Mediterranean wines to your Airbnb, villa or terrace anywhere in Marseille. 1h30, guided in English, up to 10 guests. The wines change every session, the selection is a surprise.
A 2h workshop focused on natural wine, what it is, how to recognise it, where it comes from. 5 to 6 wines, small group, Marseille. Perfect for curious beginners and wine lovers alike.