About Vi Natural

Although natural wine does not yet have European certification and does not offer the credibility necessary to gain consumer confidence, we have reached a point of maturity where very high quality products are available on the market. We therefore need coordinated and collaborative action to promote, enhance and popularise natural wine. We need to begin a whole process of communication and education, build a reputation and influence the entire profession.

Three objectives

A guarantee for the winemaker to receive a fair price and for the consumer to drink a good and healthy wine.
An enhancement of conscious and sustainable viticulture.
An active promotion of natural wine on the internet and at fairs near and far.

The ambassador

Jérôme Chesnot

Jérôme Chesnot is the ambassador of the vinatural.org project, the person to contact to arrange a tasting or to buy wines from the Alicante region. Present in the Marina Alta in the world of natural wine since 2017, he is also the voice of the podcast Va de Vi on Ràdio Pego.

We reflect, we plan, we exchange and we discuss, then, surely in a moment of clarity, we make decisions that are bigger than us, driven by an irrational energy that some call faith. The consideration shown to me over the years by all those involved in viticulture and winemaking in the Valencian Country goes beyond anything I could have hoped for when becoming the natural wine ambassador in the Marina Alta. Such generosity obliges me to continue and to create a new dynamic around wine, and around natural wine in particular. Here we are.

Quality, transparency, exclusivity and the legacy of a forgotten craft are the elements of a formula I have decided to bring to the Marina, to the region and beyond our natural borders. An incorruptible and relentless champion in the service of conscious winegrowers.

Natural wine ambassador since 2017

The guarantee mark

Raïm i au!

Currently, only France has an official certification for natural wines: the "vin méthode nature", established in September 2019 by the Syndicat de défense des vins naturels. Its objectives are to defend natural wine before public institutions, to communicate around the charter and logo, and to build a community of oenologists, wine professionals and consumers. Two certifications exist: one for wines with no added sulphites, another for wines with less than 30 mg per litre. In Spain, no equivalent exists. Only organic and Demeter labels are available, but neither guarantees a natural wine, meaning a wine produced without chemicals or industrial techniques, from hand-harvested grapes grown using agroecological methods.

To identify genuinely healthy wines, the Vi Natural project created a visual mark, Raïm i au!, which means "nothing but grapes" in Valencian. It guarantees our definition of natural wine. Simple, clear and effective. A recognisable mark that gives an identity to the concept, materialised as a sticker for wine bottles, with three objectives:

to give visibility to the mark and to the winegrowers who use it,
to inform the consumer,
to offer an ecological and affordable alternative to plastic or aluminium capsules on corks.

We intend to register Raïm i au! as a guarantee mark, making it available to winegrowers who respect these conditions. A guarantee mark certifies the common characteristics of products under the control and authorisation of the mark holder. It is regulated by Spanish law. We began promoting Raïm i au! in the Alicante and Valencia areas, but winegrowers from Catalonia have already expressed their wish to join. And why not throughout Spain or in France? It is also a way to promote our language and our culture. A great deal of work and investment lies ahead, but we have succeeded in everything we have undertaken so far, and we trust in the benevolence of Dionysus. Nothing seems impossible.

Jérôme Chesnot

Raïm i au!

Natural wine references