D-I Wine

About French Natural Wine

The natural wine of France, working forwards.

A reference to the law, the people, the regions, and the producers — by the importer that ships these wines.

What «vin nature» actually means.

For most of the 20th century, “natural wine” had no legal definition in France. A bottle described as «vin naturel» could mean almost anything — including, at the worst end, wine made under existing AOC framework with no organic certification at all. The 30 March 2020 DGCCRF opinion validating the Vin Méthode Nature charter changed that, but only partly. The frameworks are still private, the boundaries are still contested, and the producer movement still does most of the definitional work. This page maps that work.

AVN · founded 2001

Association des Vins Naturels

The original producer body. The framework most members of the natural-wine community grew up under.

  • 100% organic or biodynamic certified grapes, hand-harvested
  • Indigenous yeast only
  • No oenological inputs except SO₂
  • SO₂ ≤ 30 mg/L total at bottling
  • No filtration tighter than tangential
Charter →

SAINS · founded 2012

Sans Aucun Intrant Ni Sulfites

The strictest tier. Zero sulfite addition at any stage, including bottling.

  • 100% organic or biodynamic certified grapes
  • Indigenous yeast only
  • Zero added SO₂ — full stop
  • No oenological inputs
  • ~30 producer members as of 2024
Charter →

VMN · founded 2020

Vin Méthode Nature

DGCCRF-validated charter. The first government-acknowledged definition of natural wine.

  • 100% organic/biodynamic, hand-harvested grapes
  • Indigenous yeast only
  • No flash pasteurization, thermovinification, reverse osmosis, or cross-flow filtration
  • White badge: zero added SO₂
  • Orange badge: < 30 mg/L SO₂ total at bottling
Charter →

History — 1951 → present

From a 1951 OIV paper to a 2020 government opinion.

  1. 1951

    Chauvet publishes.

    Beaujolais merchant Jules Chauvet (1907–1989), trained in chemistry, publishes research at the OIV on temperature-controlled semi-carbonic maceration. Cold soaking, whole-cluster, native yeast — clean fermentation without SO₂ correction. The foundational document of modern natural wine, written before the term existed.

  2. 1981

    Néauport meets Lapierre.

    Chauvet's apprentice Jacques Néauport begins advising Marcel Lapierre, then a 31-year-old grower in Villié-Morgon struggling with the chaptalised, sulfited Beaujolais market. The first Chauvet-protocol Lapierre Morgon vintage is 1985.

  3. 1985

    Pierre Overnoy converts.

    Pupillin, Jura. Overnoy meets Chauvet through Néauport. Over the next decade he converts to fully sans-soufre Savagnin (sous voile and ouillé) and Ploussard. By the 1990s his wines are reference points for the entire Jura.

  4. 1980s

    The Gang of Four forms.

    Marcel Lapierre, Jean-Paul Thévenet, Guy Breton, Jean Foillard — all in Villié-Morgon, all under Néauport tutelage, all making Chauvet-protocol Morgon. Kermit Lynch coins the term and imports the wines to the United States, giving the cohort a category in a market that didn't yet have one.

  5. 1990s

    The Loire wave.

    Marc Pesnot reforms Muscadet from sur-lie commodity to natural reference. Olivier Cousin renounces AOC certification publicly in Anjou. René Mosse establishes Domaine Mosse in Saumur — Cabernet Franc benchmark. The protocol travels north and west.

  6. 2001

    AVN founded.

    Association des Vins Naturels formally constituted by Lapierre, Overnoy, Pierre Breton and others. First producer body with explicit natural-wine specifications. Membership grows from a few dozen to several hundred over the decade.

  7. 2004

    Pacalet opens in Beaune.

    Marcel Lapierre's nephew Philippe Pacalet establishes a Burgundy négociant operation. The Lapierre protocol applied to purchased Burgundy fruit. Pacalet becomes the bridge between Beaujolais and Côte d'Or; mentors a generation of younger Burgundy naturals.

  8. 2010

    Marcel Lapierre dies.

    October 11, age 60. The post-Lapierre era begins. Mathieu and Camille Lapierre carry the domaine forward. The natural-wine community — by then international — recognises a generational pivot.

  9. 2012

    SAINS founded.

    Sans Aucun Intrant Ni Sulfites. The strictest tier — zero added SO₂. Frédéric Cossard, Jean-Pierre Robinot, Cathie & Pierre Breton, Vincent Marie among founders. SAINS sets the terminal point of the natural-wine spectrum.

  10. 2017

    VMN charter drafting.

    Under AVN sponsorship, Jacques Carroget, Sébastien David, Christelle Pineau, Antony Tortul, Gilles Vergé and others draft a producer charter for state recognition. Three years of negotiation with INAO and DGCCRF.

  11. 2020

    VMN validated.

    On 30 March 2020 the DGCCRF issues a non-binding opinion validating the Vin Méthode Nature charter. The first government-acknowledged definition of natural wine on French soil. Two badges: zero-SO₂ (white) and < 30 mg/L (orange).

  12. 2024 –

    The post-VMN generation.

    A cohort that came of age after 2020 — Le Nadir, La Voluta, Petite Nature, Vins Mercuriales, L'Egrappille, L'Oiseau Rôdeur — treats SAINS-level discipline as default while questioning the movement's orthodoxies. The category language is unresolved. The wines, increasingly, are remarkable.

Figures

Seven people who shaped what's in the bottle.

Jules Chauvet

1907 – 1989 · Beaujolais

The chemist.

Beaujolais merchant family, chemistry training at the University of Lyon, research at INRA Beaune. His 1951 OIV paper on temperature-controlled semi-carbonic maceration is the foundational document of modern natural wine. Mentored Néauport, Lapierre, Breton, Joly. Did not see himself as a natural-wine activist — a winemaker who measured.

Jacques Néauport

b. 1944 · Beaujolais → Loire → Jura

The connector.

Chauvet's apprentice. Travels Loire, Jura, Beaujolais, Languedoc as an itinerant advisor through the 1980s and 1990s. Less famous than the producers he advised; without his shoe-leather work the protocol stays in Beaujolais and never reaches Pupillin or Anjou.

Marcel Lapierre

1950 – 2010 · Beaujolais — Villié-Morgon

The popularizer.

Inherited Domaine Lapierre in Villié-Morgon in 1973. Met Néauport in 1981; first Chauvet-protocol Morgon vintage 1985. Co-founded AVN in 2001. With Thévenet, Foillard and Breton: the Gang of Four. Kermit Lynch's commercial advocacy from the late 1980s opened the US market for the entire cohort.

Pierre Overnoy

b. 1928 · Jura — Pupillin

The patriarch.

Took over the family domaine in Pupillin in 1965. Converted to fully sans-soufre Savagnin (ouillé and sous voile) and Ploussard by the early 1990s after Chauvet/Néauport contact. Retired 2000; Emmanuel Houillon now makes the wine. Overnoy still walks the Pupillin parcels at 96.

Philippe Pacalet

b. 1959 · Burgundy — Beaune

The bridge.

Marcel Lapierre's nephew. Trained under his uncle in Beaujolais, opened a Beaune négociant operation in 2001. Proof that natural-wine method works at Burgundy quality and price. Mentored a generation of younger Burgundy producers.

Marie-Thérèse Chappaz

b. 1960 · Switzerland — Valais

The Swiss bridge.

Domaine La Liaudisaz in Fully, Valais. Biodynamic since the early 1990s; the first Swiss natural-wine reference. Trained Léo Dirringer of Alsace (in our portfolio). Cross-Alps friendships with Ganevat connect the Jura cohort to the Valais cohort.

The Gang of Four

1980s – present · Beaujolais — Villié-Morgon

The cohort.

Marcel Lapierre, Jean-Paul Thévenet (b. 1950), Guy Breton (b. 1953), Jean Foillard (b. 1956). All Villié-Morgon, all Néauport-trained, all Chauvet-protocol. Kermit Lynch named the cohort and imported the wines. The four were and are individuals; the cohort is the cultural unit.

In our cellar — 15 producers

The natural wines we import. A working list, not a canon.

Browse our full France portfolio →

Read alongside

Producers we don't import, but you'd recognize.

These are the names a sommelier exam expects you to know. We don't ship most of them — but the natural-wine map of France isn't legible without them on the page.

  • Marcel Lapierre — Beaujolais — Villié-Morgon
  • Jean Foillard — Beaujolais — Villié-Morgon
  • Guy Breton — Beaujolais — Villié-Morgon
  • Jean-Paul Thévenet — Beaujolais — Villié-Morgon
  • Yvon Métras — Beaujolais
  • Pierre Overnoy / Emmanuel Houillon — Jura — Pupillin
  • Jean-François Ganevat — Jura — Rotalier
  • Domaine de la Tournelle — Jura — Arbois
  • Marc Pesnot — Domaine de la Sénéchalière — Loire — Pays Nantais
  • Olivier Cousin — Loire — Anjou
  • Domaine Mosse — Loire — Anjou
  • Catherine & Pierre Breton — Loire — Bourgueil
  • Jean-Pierre Robinot — Loire — Coteaux du Loir
  • Sébastien Riffault — Loire — Sancerre
  • Philippe Pacalet — Burgundy — Beaune
  • Frédéric Cossard — Burgundy
  • Maxime Magnon — Languedoc — Corbières
  • Domaine Léon Barral — Languedoc — Faugères
  • Antony Tortul — La Sorga — Languedoc
  • Andréa Calek — Ardèche
  • Domaine du Mazel — Ardèche
  • Patrick Bouju — La Bohème — Auvergne
  • François Dhumes — Auvergne
  • Marc Tempé — Alsace
  • Domaine Christian Binner — Alsace

Glossary

The vocabulary, briefly.

Vin nature / vin naturelnatural wine
No legal definition in France until DGCCRF validation of the VMN charter on 30 March 2020. Producer-defined throughout the 20th century.
Vin sans soufrewine without sulfites
Wine with no SO₂ added at any stage. SAINS standard. Distinguish from "low SO₂" (≤30 mg/L total — VMN orange badge).
Pur juspure juice
A producer self-description meaning wine made from grape juice with nothing added. Commonly used by SAINS-tier producers.
Méthode ancestrale / Pet-natpétillant naturel
Single fermentation in bottle; no liqueur de tirage. Distinct from méthode traditionnelle (Champagne method). Loire renaissance from ~2008.
Macération carboniquecarbonic maceration
Whole-cluster fermentation in CO₂-saturated vat. Beaujolais default since Chauvet.
Semi-carboniquesemi-carbonic
Chauvet's Beaujolais variant — partial whole-cluster, with juice fermenting normally beneath. The protocol that defines modern Morgon.
Sous voileunder the veil
Jura. Savagnin or Chardonnay aged under a flor yeast veil, not topped up. Up to six years for AOC Vin Jaune.
Ouillétopped up
Jura non-oxidative style — Savagnin and Chardonnay matured with topping. The "modern" Jura white tradition.
Élevageraising
Aging stage between fermentation and bottling. The post-fermentation choices (vessel, duration, racking) shape the wine as much as the grapes.
Vin de soifwine of thirst
Light, juicy, low-alcohol. A compliment, not a condescension. The natural-wine community's rebuttal to the over-extracted, over-oaked 1990s.
Étiquette naturenatural label
The VMN charter logo. White: zero added SO₂. Orange: < 30 mg/L total at bottling. Optional — many natural producers don't carry the charter logo.
AVNAssociation des Vins Naturels
Founded 2001. The original natural-wine producer body. Permits SO₂ ≤ 30 mg/L total at bottling.
SAINSSans Aucun Intrant Ni Sulfites
Founded 2012. Strictest tier — zero added SO₂. ~30 producers as of 2024.
VMNVin Méthode Nature
DGCCRF-validated charter, 30 March 2020. First government-acknowledged definition of natural wine in France.
Sulfites résiduelsresidual sulfites
Sulfites occurring naturally during fermentation (1–10 mg/L). Different from added SO₂. Even SAINS-tier wines test positive at this level.
Bonnes pratiques œnologiquesgood oenological practices
EU register of permitted additives — over 60 entries. Natural winemaking rejects all but SO₂ (and even SO₂ at SAINS tier).

Sources

Cited and consulted.

  1. 1. DGCCRF opinion on Vin Méthode Nature charter, 30 March 2020 (PDF available via Direction générale).
  2. 2. Vin Méthode Nature — official charter and badge specifications. vinmethodenature.org/
  3. 3. SAINS — Sans Aucun Intrant Ni Sulfites — official producer list. sains-wine.org/
  4. 4. AVN — Association des Vins Naturels — founding documents. lesvinsnaturels.org/
  5. 5. Chauvet, J. "Études sur la macération carbonique." Bulletin OIV (1951). Archived at IFV Beaune.
  6. 6. Goode, J. The Science of Wine. University of California Press, 2014. ISBN 978-0520276895.
  7. 7. Feiring, A. Naked Wine. Da Capo Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0306820045.
  8. 8. Legeron, I. Natural Wine. CICO Books, 2014 (revised 2020). ISBN 978-1782494645.
  9. 9. Lynch, K. Adventures on the Wine Route. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1988. ISBN 978-0865471566.
  10. 10. Lepeltier, P. Multiple essays on natural wine, La Revue du Vin de France, 2018–2024.

Last reviewed 27 April 2026.

D-I Wine Editorial

See also our peer pillar: Japanese Wine — A Field Guide.