Isabelle Legeron MW
Isabelle Legeron MW
(Image credit: Isabelle Legeron MW)

Natural wine remains 'marginal' in the UK, but organisers of the UK's first artisan wine fair still aim to attract 1500 people to the inaugural event.

More than 150 natural wine producers have already signed up for RAW including the Loire’s Nicolas Joly and Alsace’s Josmeyer.

However, the UK’s natural wine scene is embryonic, with London-based natural wine specialist Artisan & Vine recently closing its doors. Legeron admits, ‘It’s not become widespread in the UK yet. It is still marginal.”

‘But for me, calling a wine biodynamic or organic is not enough because the control in the cellar is not great. You can have a biodynamic wine and add aromatic yeasts in some countries. Reverse osmosis and cryoextraction are allowed in organic which is why there is the need to have this category,’ she explained.

‘I’m not campaigning for all wines to be natural. I want people to be aware of what’s going on so they can choose knowingly.’

RAW takes place at the Old Truman Brewery on 20 and 21 May.

Written by Rebecca Gibb

Rebecca Gibb MW
Rebecca Gibb MW
Decanter Magazine & DWWA Judge

Rebecca Gibb MW is a wine journalist and editor who has also founded Bamboozled games, ‘the world’s first wine and spirit puzzle makers’. Having spent six years living in New Zealand, she has recently returned to her native north-east England. While in New Zealand, she became a Master of Wine, graduating top of her class and winning the Madame Bollinger medal for excellence in tasting. A former winner of both the UK’s young wine writer of the year and the Louis Roederer Emerging Wine Writer, her first book The Wines of New Zealand was published in 2018. She also runs wine events and has her own consultancy business The Drinks Project. She was a judge at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).