ez wellbeing ~ 4
the natural wine (aka natty wine) issue + a healthy cracker recipe
Natty Wines 101 + Why I Love Them
I love wellness. And I love wine. I can’t help it, I’ve been lucky enough to have had parents and godparents who know an incredible amount about fermented grape juice therefore exposing me to the butteriness of a Californian Chardonnay and the mouth watering juiciness of a Montepulciano red, from a young age. I kind of forgot about wine, if thats even possible, throughout my university years. Sadly, my budget wouldn’t allow for the wines I’d been allowed sample at the dinner table throughout my teens and I couldn’t quite bring myself to drink the £2 bottles that my peers were consuming en masse.
I then went through a T-Total phase where I didn’t drink any alcohol after experiencing a major burnout while living in New York. When I emerged, feeling healthy and balanced, I had committed myself to a more wellness focused lifestyle. I took my herbs. Swapped milks & food for vegan/GF alternatives. Went to my spin and yoga classes. Unfortunately the result was actually a less than balanced lifestyle and I found myself feeling guilty whenever I had a bowl of pasta, a freshly baked cookie or even a glass of incredible wine. My friend Hannah used to always moan that whenever we met up for dinner I would end up ordering the most boring thing on the menu, barely touching my wine. I hated being that person, and realised over time that life was about a balance of the “good” and the “naughty”. What good was taking Ashwagandha everyday to help balance my stress levels if I worked myself into a frenzy every time I went out for a nice meal about what to order or if I should drink. Slowly but surely I started to adopt more balance in my life. If I went to an incredible Italian restaurant which fresh hand cut pasta on the menu, I’d order it. A visit to City Bakery (RIP) meant a ridiculous hot chocolate with the largest fluffiest marshmallows on earth. And dinner with my parents or godparents meant excellent wine without guilt.
Unfortunately I encountered a massive problem. Years of abstaining myself from this delicious drink meant that I woke up every morning with a massive headache, no matter if I’d had one glass or three. Every delicious sip came with a little feeling of dread about the next morning, until a few years ago when someone said to me “Hey have you heard about natural wine? It’s wine but without the hangover!”. I found this a little hard to believe. What on earth was natural wine, why would it allow me to avoid the dreaded headache, and would it even be good?! Everyone who knows me knows that I am a research fiend, and so research I did. I discovered that yes natural wine was a real thing, yes in theory it would avoid a hangover, and finally when I managed to get my hands on a bottle I discovered that it was yes delicious. I’ve since become a massive fan of the stuff, I love that the producers are generally small and independent. I love that they have weird wacky labels on the bottles. I love that they typically don’t break the bank without sacrificing on taste. And I love that I rarely get a hangover when I imbibe due to the way it’s been processed. I truly believe it is the wellness product of wine, finally showing me a way to combine my two loves without feeling dread or guilt or any kind of negative emotion. So in my attempt to share said love, I’ve done a few bullet points below on what natural wine is /how it’s processed and shared a few of my fave bottles.
Natural wine ( aka Natty wine) means wine thats farmed organically or biodynamically and with minimal intervention .
Organic means the grapes have not been sprayed with pesticides and herbicides and contains a low amount of sulphites - a preservative added to wines that is largely responsible for hangovers (organic wines contain low levels of sulphites as they do naturally occur during the winemaking process or they use a really tiny amount).
Biodynamic farming is the woo woo, spiritual and moon focused sister of traditional farming. All things that I love! It’s quite hard for me to put into my own words but basically it’s super cool, pretty old school, quite fun and you can read about it here!
Low intervention means everything is done by hand, especially the grape picking! This is very different from most conventional wines where everything is done en masse with machinery.
Natural wine is not new, in fact it’s really the original wine making method. Modern living and technology evolved how we produced wine. However, now with more people looking to consume things in their “purest” form many wine producers have gone back to basics.
Natural wine relies on naturally occurring yeast in the air and on the grapes for the fermentation process. I genuinely did not know that conventional wine had added yeast to it!
Natural wine also does not have any added flavourings or additives added. Most of the good conventional wine also follows this process but the 2 quid plonk my mates were drinking at Uni was 100% filled with absolute rubbish.
Natural wine is sometimes cloudy, this means that it’s unfiltered and generally has a slightly funkier taste. Don’t let that put you off though it’s still super yummy!
Natural wine has a little bit more fizz than conventional wine, this is because gas is a natural byproduct of fermentation. If you hopped on the sourdough bandwagon over the first lockdown you will have seen this happen with your starter! Conventional wine makers remove the natural fizz.
If you want a natural wine alternative to a prosecco or champagne look for something called a Pet Nat. It’s fizzier than natural wine as the fermentation process interrupted while the gas is at a high and it’s bottled then. It is therefore naturally a bit lower in alcohol.
So basically natural wine is delicious, chemical / additive free wine farmed with good practices. Hence my decision that it’s wine but wellness and deserves all of my love.
Here are some of my fave bottles:
Healthy But Yummy Cracker Recipe To Eat When You Drink Natty Wines
Because I know once you all run out to buy a delicious bottle of natty wine you’re also going to be loading up on cheese I felt I should share my go-to cracker recipe. I love this cracker recipe so much so that we use it for almost every catering event we do at Glow Bar. It’s incredibly easy and is genuinely really healthy but at the same time really delicious. It’s flour free and has no animal products in it making it super shelf stable - basically it lasts for ages! In the past I’ve made up a double batch and kept the crackers in airtight boxes for over 3 months. The only kicker with this recipe is that the actual cooking of it takes time so make this when you’re having a lazy day at home or follow my overnight or quick bake methods at the end of the recipe.
Ingredients
1 cup mixed seeds (I like to use a combination of pumpkin, sunflower and sesame - however if you only have pumpkin this is fine. Seeds are amazing for you as they are filled with good fiber and high in Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3’s are so good for your wellbeing that I won’t be able to list them all but my fave benefits are - assists with sleep patterns, helps to combat the blues, great for bone& joint health, reduces fatty liver syndrome & fights inflammation.)
1/4 cup chia seeds (I’m generally not the biggest fan of chia seeds, they tend to spill everywhere and make homes for themselves in every crevice of my mouth. However they are excellent in these crackers and their ability to absorb liquid really helps to bind everything together. They are also incredibly high in fiber and therefore a great way to aid digestion.)
1 cup ground flaxseeds (Ground flaxseeds are the main binder in this cracker recipe and therefore you can’t really omit it. Also I just think ground flaxseeds are the best thing since sliced bread. They taste amazing, are filled with Omega-3s, high in fiber, and are packed with antioxidants)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper or dried oregano depending on if you want them spicy or herby
1.5 cups water
Method
Preheat oven to 100C, we are essentially dehydrating this mixture vs cooking it so we want a low temp for the process.
Blitz your mixed seeds in a blender or food processor until it resembles gravel .
Add to a bowl with the ground flaxseeds, chia seeds, salt & cayenne/oregano.
Add the water, give a good stir, and leave to sit for five minutes so that the chia seeds and flaxseeds can absorb the water and start to bind the mixture together.
It will look like this..
And then will become this..
Roll mixture between two sheets of parchment paper until about 1/2 cm thick. You can definitely roll it thicker but just note it will take longer to bake.
Remove the top sheet and then transfer the bottom sheet with the mixture on it onto a baking sheet.
Bake in the oven for 2-3 hours until crispy. Alternatively heat your oven to about 180C. Pop the mixture in, turn the oven off and go to bed. It should slowly dehydrate overnight.
Eat with all the unhealthy cheese that you’ve bought to go with your healthier natural wine.
NOTE: If you happen to have a dehydrator at home you can always pop it in that overnight. I’m totally aware I am likely the only person I know who owns one.
NOTE 2: If you are suppppperrrr short on time, you can roll this out even thinner pop it in the oven at 180C and bake it for about 20 mins but keep a close eye on it as it will burn if left unattended.
That’s all for this issue! Thanks so much for reading, I really hope that you didn’t find it too boring. If you were sent this and want to subscribe you can do so below :)