In the summer months, nothing tastes quite as sweet as a crisp glass of wine. But what if you could try dozens of top-quality wines, all under one roof, right here in Glasgow? That’s exactly what’s on offer at the brand-new natural wine festival, Vin Vivant, being held next Saturday at The Briggait near Saltmarket.

The inaugural event has been organised by Colin Campbell, co-owner of Sylvan restaurant, a West End favourite that specialises in top-quality organic wines. Alongside his partner Joanna Nethery, who owns Five March (a venue that also boasts an extensive natural wine list), Colin was determined to bring some of Europe’s finest wine producers to Scotland.

It is clear Colin has a genuine passion for natural wine, driving him to organise a major festival despite his demanding schedule. As well as dozens of producers offering wines to taste, the Vin Vivant festival will also feature a Vermouth cocktail bar and food stalls from Scottish brands such as Great Glen Charcuterie, Yonder Bakery and Mellis Cheesemonger. He hopes that the festival will be popular with natural wine enthusiasts, but also among those who are less familiar with this style of wine. So for those not in the know, what is natural wine?

“There is a bit of a debate about the exact definition,” Colin explains. “Some people say it means a wine where nothing is put into it and nothing is taken out. That would mean that when you are farming the grapes you aren’t doing anything to the ground in terms of pesticides and fertilisers, and you are also doing very minimal intervention in terms of the actual winemaking.

“The main strand running through all ‘natural wine’ is winemakers who are working with the land, rather than exploiting it. We are now starting to realise that the industrialisation of farming, trying to feed people as cheaply as possible, turns out to be pretty bad for the environment. So at Vin Vivant festival, on a very basic level, we are saying that the wines have to be at least organically farmed and spontaneously fermented. This cuts out all of the more industrially produced wines.”

Colin hopes people will “learn something” from the festival, but crucially, get to try a range of wines that they perhaps haven’t tasted before. There will be more than 120 minimal intervention wines available to try on the day (though the organisers urge attendees to drink responsibly), with the ticket price including all tastings at no extra cost. Red, white, rosé and even orange wine will be on offer, as well as sparkling varieties. The increasing popularity of orange wine, also known as skin-contact white wine, has come hand-in-hand with the growing interest in natural wine.

“Orange wine is almost the ‘original’ white wine,” Colin explains. “It’s what happens when you make white wine, but you don’t separate the skins straight away. It’s the way you make red wine, where essentially the red colour comes from the skin of the grape. At Sylvan, we have four or five orange wines by the glass, which might seem unusual, but it’s one of our biggest sellers. I think it’s something people are really interested in – there’s so much more to wine than white and red.

“Even if you try a wine at the festival that’s not to your taste, then that’s part of the fun. The best thing about trying all these different wines for me has been the variety. Part of the festival I think is to challenge some of the preconceptions around natural wine, to make it more accessible, and to help get this school of winemaking more into the mainstream. I think ultimately it’s better practice than conventional, industrial winemaking. It’s better for the planet, and it produces potentially a better product.”

Vin Vivant Wine Festival takes place at The Briggait, Glasgow on Saturday, August 10. To find out more, and buy tickets, visit www.vinvivant.wine

 

This article was brought to you in partnership with Vin Vivant