So what exactly IS natural wine?

How to define it - or is that even possible? What does it taste like? Why are we seeing so many natural wine bars, shops and events springing up? Natural wine remains niche yet it seems to be influencing mainstream wine - but how exactly? And why does natural wine get everyone so darn hot under the collar..?!

Join us as we tackle all these burning questions and more with natural wine luminary and RAW WINE founder Isabelle Legeron MW, plus Mel Xenaki from natural Greek wine producer Tetramythos. We find time to taste and recommend a couple of natural wines (though Susie does ask if one wine, 'really is safe to drink?!')

Isabelle talks about receiving hate mail, the difference between a 'living wine' and 'a lifeless product', why 'only natural wine can be great', plus why natural wine means, 'we have to re-frame our expectation of wine.' She calls for more transparency in wine, including ingredient labelling, so people can have the choice, 'to decide: this is what I want to put in my body, or this is not what I want to be drinking.'

Mel admits, 'it's hard to introduce yourself as a natural winemaker - because it can be offensive to the mainstream.' She describes her approach as, 'ethical', and calls for legislation to define and regulate natural wine.

We hope you enjoy the programme! Do let us know your thoughts on natural wine or beyond - contact us via our website or over on Instagram or Twitter.

As ever, all wine details, links and more are on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S3 E18: Natural Wine.

Check out RAW WINE - the global community for natural wine producers and lovers. They have upcoming events in LA and London, among others. You can also find more details about Isabelle's book on natural wine and their new subscription wine club in the US (plus a cheeky discount code).

Tetramythos in Greece has some delicious natural wines we recommend in the show.

Here's the link we mention in the show to the Decanter piece on how wine lovers can help with the crisis in Ukraine.