Spontaneous fermentation & naturalness: method, not proof

The standard

The process-wide consideration judges naturalness by the whole handling of the wine, not by a single method such as the choice of yeast.

Criteria

• The choice of yeast is one step among many
• Spontaneous fermentation does not rule out later interventions
• Naturalness is not a regulated, measurable term
• A method proves a fact, not a judgment

Distinction

Spontaneous fermentation ≠ naturalness: spontaneous fermentation is a method, naturalness an attribution about the whole process. Spontaneous fermentation ≠ cultured yeast: both are ways of conducting fermentation, and only process-wide consideration shows that neither on its own establishes naturalness.