Adventures in Drinking Naturally - an intro to our world of wine - a six bottle box set

If you're curious about natural wine but don't know where to start, or are looking for wines to convert sceptical friends or family, this mixed six is perfect for you.

This case features wines made from grapes grown by farmers working in harmony with the environment & the rhythms of the planet & with minimal manipulation in the winery. No secret ingredients. No funny business.

Wines that express the place that made them, not manufactured to fit a product specification.

For us 'natural' wine is less about classification & certification, more about intentions & passion: love and respect for the planet; a desire to make wines which are fixed in a particular time & place, a vintage & a vineyard, not made to a recipe; to make wines that while they're sometimes a little unexpected, maybe a little hazy, they're always, always delicious to drink. 

Better tasting. Better for you. Better for the planet.

Sparkling:

Loxarel, Ancestral a Pel, Pet Nat, Catalunya, Spain - Josep Mitjans made his first 1000 bottles of Cava at just 16 years old and while he is the fourth generation of his family to farm the vineyards he is the first to turn away from using the grapes to produce bulk wine and to focus on quality. 

He created name of the winery, Loxarel, to honour the local grape variety Xarel-Lo and has developed a range of wines which champion the grape, the region and the spirit of this part of Catalunya. Working following Biodynamic principles and with minimal manipulation in the winery to produce wines that are truly expressive of the land and also delicious to drink.

Ancestral a Pel is a Pet Nat style sparkling made using 100% Xarel-Lo. The fermentation starts with the skins in 1000 litre amphora and finishes in bottle and has no added sulphites. 

Slightly cloudy, lemon-yellow with light golden hues. Very fine and well-integrated bubbles. A bouquet of white flowers, almond blossom, and quince peel on the nose and after a few minutes in an open glass, notes of fennel and tangerine peel emerge.
Silky, broad, harmonious, with a salty aftertaste in the mouth. White fruit, like pear and green apple. It is beautifully long and refreshing.

Producer - Loxarel
Country - Spain
Region - Catalunya    
Sub-Region - Penedes
Variety / Blend - Xarel-Lo
Wine Style - Sparkling Wine
Farming - Organic / Biodynamic
Vegan         
No added Sulphates

White wines

Vigneti Tardis, Fratelli Felix Bianco, Campania, Italy - Jack Lewins, former sommelier and now the co-owner of Leroy in Shoreditch, and Bruno (Mr Aglianico) de Concillis are the two driving forces behind Vigneti Tardis. Cilento is a region of Campania around two hours drive south of Naples. While quite mountainous inland there is a strong coastal influence on the wines, particularly in the case of may of Vigneti Tardis wines which come mainly from a steeply sloping vineyard a few metres from the Mediterranean. While it may share the same varietals as nearby Taurasi and Avellino as a territory it differs greatly and in a region famed for its big, powerful wines Vigneti Tardis are offering a much more delicate alternatives.

The Fratelli Felix is a fresh blend of Fiano and Falanghina that's had a couple of days of skin contact giving it a yellow rather than orange colour and providing a little grip. Tropical fruit aromas of lychee and peach alongside citrus and honeysuckle. Bone dry with a chalky texture and a little salty. 

Producer - Vigneti Tardis
Country - Italy
Region - Campagnia
Sub-Region - Cilento
Variety / Blend - Fiano, Falanghina
Wine Style - White Wine
Farming - Organic / Biodynamic
Vegan

Orange

Azul y Garanza, Naturaleza Salvaje Blanco, Navarra, Spain - Navarra is the region directly east of Rioja in Northern Spain. It is drier and tends to have higher diurnal temperature range than it's more famous neighbour so while often the grape varieties grown are similar, the wines produced are quite different and there is much less use of oak.

Azul y Garanza's vineyards are located in the influence area of the Bardenas Reales desert, the biggest desert in Europe. The very poor and arid clay- calcareous soil, the dry weather and the big contrast of temperature between the day and the night provide the grapes with high concentration and a perfect balance. 

As well as wine, Navarra produces fantastic vegetables and salad crops so try drinking this with some simply prepared veg or, in the spring, some green or white asparagus.

This is Garnacha Blanca fermented on skins in open fermenters for ten days before being pressed and the juice transferred to amphora to finish fermentation and for 6 months on fine lees before bottling without fining or filtration and a tiny dash of sulphites. Beautifully complex and textural, pretty easy going though and approachable. Peach skin, herbal and long.

Producer - Azul y Garanza
Country - Spain
Region - Navarra
Variety / Blend - Garnacha Blanca
Wine Style - Orange Wine   
Farming - Organic
Vegan      
Low Sulphates

Pink

Heinrich, Naked Rose, Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, Burgenland, Austria - Gernot and Heike Henrich are life long innovators. Since taking over the family estate in 1985 they have constantly sought to improve and explore. Now farming biodynamically, which they see as being right for the planet and better for the wines, they were among the first to move to focus on quality and champion local grape varieties.

Naked wines are made with minimal intervention, nothing to hide behind.

After hand-picking the grapes are kept partial whole-bunch, crushed and left on skins for a few hours maceration. Fermentation is with indigenous yeast, and is allowed to undergo malolactic fermentation. The wine is aged for five months on lees in amphorae, before bottling without filtration and with minimal sulphur.

Bright red berries, pure fruit, good concentration and a long dry finish.

Producer - Heinrich
Country - Austria
Region - Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, Burgenland
Variety / Blend - Blaufrankisch
Wine Style - Pink Wine
Farming - Biodynamic
Vegan

Red

Artisans Partisans, Lo Petit Fantet d’Hippolyte Rouge, Languedoc, France -  This has become a firm favourite at Iron & Rose, the one with the tractor. Bags of character from a beautiful, organically farmed vineyard in the south of France. Mainly Carignan with a dollop of Grenache and Syrah and no added sulphur, it's got garrigue herbs and ripe red fruit flavours. You could even say ebullient in character, an underused word in our opinion.

Producer - Les Artisans Partisans
Country - France
Region - Languedoc    
Sub-Region - Corbieres
Variety / Blend - Carignan, Grenache Noir, Syrah
Wine Style - Red Wine
Farming - Organic   
Vegan    
No added Sulphates

Karri Vineyard, Carbernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, Australia - Australia has a reputation for big farms and big brands but look closely and you'll find growers with great wine and great values making wines on an altogether different scale, often in unexpected corners of the country. They aren't always that affordable though which makes wines like this even more remarkable.

Made from fruit sourced from biodynamcially managed vineyards in Western Australia's Margaret River region it is naturally farmed, naturally made and naturally delicious - not funky or murky, just super easy drinking. 

Margaret River's relatively maritime climate is ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon and this is minty and juicy with fine grained tannins. Perfect with some lamb or roasted veg.

Producer - Continental Platter
Country - Australia
Region - Margaret River, Western Australia
Variety / Blend - Cabernet Sauvignon
Wine Style - Red Wine
Farming -  Organic / Biodynamic
Vegan

This case contains one bottle of each of these wines. If any is out of stock or becomes unavailable it will be replaced by one of equal or greater value and deliciousness.