Disadvantages of natural wine
The disadvantages of natural wine fall mostly on those selling or importing it. This is why you won't find it in your local supermarket.
Consistency
A natural wine is different each year.
Different bottles from the same year may also differ slightly, according to which of several foudres (large containers) the wine has been matured in.
This is not something that many large buyers are prepared to accept. Supermarkets in particular will only take large numbers of bottles of identical wine.
Without the preservatives and sterilisation techniques used in conventional wine, natural wine is also more at risk from spoilage. This risk is drastically reduced by careful handling.
Availability
Natural wine cannot be mass-produced.
Natural winemakers will never be able to churn out the number of bottles needed to supply a chain of supermarkets or high street off-licenses, for example.
There are currently very few people able to make wine in this way. If it became too popular, there wouldn't be enough.
Serving
Some natural wines need to be opened several hours before they are served.
They can smell unappealing at first or contain gas, making them slightly fizzy. They are also likely to contain sediment.
A little bit of patience and a decanter are all that is needed. Not many people possess either.
Storage
Natural wine needs to be stored more carefully than conventional wine.
It is a living thing and, as such, extremely sensitive to temperature. A customer who takes a bottle home and leaves it out in the sun can ruin it very quickly.
He may not then believe that it was in perfect condition when he bought it. It's a risk that shops don't want to take.
Transport
Natural wine needs careful transportation.
It must be kept below 14 degrees at all times from its bottling to the moment it is drunk. This means shipping it in refrigerated containers, which is costly for the importer.