The Cow's Horn and the Microscope

In the 1980s, dissident winemakers who opposed the productivist viticultural model and the use of synthetic chemicals transformed their practices to become "natural" winemakers. Well-established in France, this network has continuously attracted new followers. This new, activist, and heterogeneous peasantry bases its common identity on respect for the soil and the environment, favoring preventative actions to strive towards plant and wine autonomy. Each step requires a total commitment from these "researcher-winemakers" who may resort to biodynamics (compost made from cow dung placed in horns, for example) and/or microbiology (observing indigenous yeasts under a microscope). Beyond the boundaries of knowledge categorized either as sensory or esoteric, or intelligible or rational, they forge connections. Seen as a fleeting social phenomenon by some, and as a starting point for redefining ways of making and drinking wine by others, "natural" wines are entering debates on ecology and public health. Between attraction and repulsion, they provoke contrasting reactions, rarely neutral or moderate. Exploring the vineyards of France where these winemakers are mostly concentrated (Anjou, Ardèche, Beaujolais, Jura, Minervois, etc.), Christelle Pineau sought to understand the deep motivations behind their radical and demanding choices that lead them to create these unique and diverse wines.