A Philosophy of Natural Wine

This book examines whether wine can be natural and explores what this means and why it matters.

Natural wine is one of the most contested notions in contemporary food and drink culture. Its defenders celebrate it as a return to authenticity; its critics dismiss it as a conceptual contradiction. This book argues that both sides have missed the deeper philosophical significance of the debate. Drawing on metaphysics, aesthetics, and ethics, A Philosophy of Natural Wine develops a rigorous account of what it would mean for a human-made object to also be natural. It introduces the concept of naturefactual artifacts—objects intentionally produced so that natural properties become central to their appreciation—and shows that natural wine is a paradigm instance of this broader category. The book examines how such objects ought to be appreciated, what excellences their making requires, and why they represent a genuinely new kind of aesthetic value. Written to be accessible to non-specialists, this book brings much-needed clarity around the topic of natural wine and offers a new and rigorous conceptual toolbox to consumers, producers, and experts to better describe, and ultimately make sense of, their practices.

This book will appeal to philosophers working in aesthetics, metaphysics, and the philosophy of food and drink, as well as to researchers in food studies, cultural history, and wine studies. Winemakers, critics, and engaged wine enthusiasts will find in it a precise and illuminating framework for thinking about a practice they care deeply about.