Wales bids for world’s first natural wine appellation
Britain could become home to the world’s first appellation dedicated to natural wine, with Welsh producers seeking protected status for wines made without synthetic chemicals, additives or industrial yeasts. The proposed Natural Wine of Wales PGI would also require grapes to be grown and spontaneously fermented in Wales.
Britain could soon become home to the world’s first natural wine appellation, with Welsh winemakers pushing for an innovative protected geographical indication scheme that would recognise and protect terroir-led Welsh wine.
The proposed Natural Wine of Wales PGI rules would exclude the use of synthetic chemicals, processing aids, additives and industrial yeasts in wine production.
Sulphur inputs would be limited in quantity and permitted only at bottling. Wines would be made in Wales from spontaneously fermented grapes grown in Wales under organic practices on certified organic, regenerative or biodynamic estates.
Paul Rolt, winemaker and owner of Hebron Vineyard in Carmarthenshire, said Welsh natural winemakers wanted to set environmental standards as part of their battle against greenwashing and ultra-processed wine.
“For consumers, enjoying a Natural Wine of Wales will mean they know they are drinking a raw, fermented grape product, providing an honest and healthy representation of each vineyard, a taste of that place, unadulterated by synthetic chemicals either in the vineyard or in the winery.”
Calls for ingredient labelling
“We would like to see wine ingredients listed via QR codes or directly on labels. It is important that consumers know the nature of their product. They have a right to know,” Rolt continued.
“In Britain, producers can currently make wine using 60 products, but consumers are unaware of this. Current labelling rules mean there is no obligation to list ingredients or processing aids.”
Unlike their EU counterparts, UK wine producers are not obliged to list wine ingredients.
Rolt heads a producers’ group backing the Natural Wine of Wales PGI application. It includes Richard Morris and Jean de Plessis, the owner and winemaker respectively at Ancre Hill Estate in Monmouth, Wales’s largest vineyard, and David Morris, producer of Mountain People Wines.
Future-proofing Welsh viticulture
Rolt said the Natural Wine of Wales PGI would provide Welsh producers working in a changing climate with greater choice over where to register their vineyards and production. It would also give consumers greater transparency over how the grapes were grown and the wines made.
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“We are climatically on the margins of viticulture in Wales. The growing of grape varieties is particularly site-specific here due to our geographical location and average rainfall levels, so we would like to establish a Natural Wine of Wales PGI that includes PIWI grape varieties to help future-proof viticulture here in a changing climate,” Rolt said.
“Getting consistent yields each harvest is difficult in Wales. We need varieties that work here.”
Defra considers application
Rolt said he had received “positive feedback” this year from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, having submitted the PGI application in August 2025.
It is understood that Defra’s Geographical Indication Scrutiny Panel of Experts has made several observations after assessing the application.
A Defra spokesperson told the drinks business that the Natural Wine of Wales PGI remained subject to the applicants providing further information.
Inspired by France’s natural wine rules
Rolt said the Natural Wine of Wales PGI application had been partly inspired by the Raw Wine Charter and France’s Vin Méthode Nature label, both of which exclude machine harvesting.
France introduced the Vin Méthode Nature label in 2020 and prohibited the words “vin nature” from appearing on wine labels.
French VMN winemakers can use one of two logos on bottles: one stating VMN and another stating VMN with less than 30mg of added sulphur.
Challenging the existing Welsh wine rules
The existing Welsh wine PGI allows up to 15% of a wine to be made from grapes grown in England.
Much Welsh wine is also produced at English wineries, including Halfpenny Green in Staffordshire and Three Choirs in Gloucestershire. Rolt, however, challenged the idea that such wines could be considered terroir-led.
“How can a wine be terroir-led if it is not made in the country? Rules that allow Welsh wine to be made in England have stifled winery investment in Wales,” he said.
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