For the last five years, natural wine has been the trendy thing to drink.

While no legal definition exists, the concept of natural wine is generally accepted to be wine made with as little intervention as possible. Rejecting modern winemaking aids such as cultured yeast and preservatives in favour of letting the juice ferment into its own expression. 

Sounds romantic doesn’t it? Not jumping into control, but letting nature play its part and enjoying wine in its purest expression.

Natural wines are generally sold from boutique wineries or in niche bars frequented by industry folk; winos deep in the category looking for something more, sick of clean and polished wines produced to taste exactly as directed. 

An almost cult-following has built around this trend, people who condemn the demon that is sulphites and would never touch a “commercial” wine again.

It’s wine for winos; alternative, artisanal. It’s wine made in small quantities with heart and soul for the select few who are in the club. And for those few, they like it that way. 

Or, that’s the way it was, until Dan Murphy’s released a brand called ‘Bonkers’, in their stores last year.

According to my local Dan Murphy’s Wine Merchant, the Bonkers launch in their store was a hit. Whether it was the huge display at the entrance, the alluring price tag of $20, playful label, or the distinctive natural wine vibes from the off-beat colours and cloudy appearance… something has hit the mark with the Dan’s shopper.

I tasted the Bonkers wines, and folks, it’s a winner. It’s fun and funky, doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s like a “gateway” natural wine.

It looks like the chain is planning to champion this category going forwards based on the success of Bonkers, and the fact that Dan’s ranks highly on the google search for “what is natural wine.”

So what will this mean for the future natural wine of the natural wine trend?

Category lines will start to blur

An unspoken rule of natural wine since its inception as a modern trend has been small production, by small producers. If you picked up one of these wines you would know it’s one of only few and presumably has been made as hands-on as possible.

In this case, not only is Bonkers selling nationwide nation-wide through Australia’s largest retailer, but it’s hard to figure out by the label what Bonkers actually is and where it comes from. The address on the back is for offices in Collingwood, and the minimalistic design isn’t saying much about varieties or region. We’re offered a dotted line back to Jumping Juice, one of the OG natural wine trend-setters, but little do most know the original creator of Jumping Juice no longer has a hands-on role in the business.

Dan’s has the market power to redefine categories, and on their website, they claim the core values of natural wine to be sustainability, organic farming and minimal intervention. Obviously, if they claimed small production, they wouldn’t be able to stock it – especially at attractive prices.

It looks like regionality and small production will no longer be non-negotiables. The OG natural wine gang will huff and puff, but it’s going to make the category more accessible for everyone.

Natural wine will lose niche appeal

We’ve seen it all before in the beer category. Craft beer was the cool kid until it become so mainstream that we went full circle and now VB is the trendiest thing to be drinking.

Cult-followers of the style are likely to retreat as more pallets hit the floors in stores across the country, and the style goes “mainstream.”

Instead of a philosophy or way of life, we may see it becoming just another wine category. Consumers may grab a nice Italian wine to pair with dinner, some cheaper shiraz for during the week, and a “natural” wine for the Sunday picnic. 

Dan’s will want the real deal

If this works, Dan’s will want to bring in some credibility – the producers currently renowned in this style. This will present serious challenges for smaller wineries. Can they scale up? Can they bear the tough negotiations? Will it be like “selling out?”

Change is hard and smaller producers may need to adapt if they want to play the game with the big boys. But whether values align with that of the country’s biggest alcohol chain, there is some good that can come of this.

Further education for wine drinkers about sustainable growing and minimal winemaking is inevitable if takes off; and if wineries can adapt, new potential retail opportunities and a much larger consumer base. This could be an opportunity to open up this style beyond inner-city wine bars and industry circles and share it with Australia.