3 Reasons Why We Make Low Intervention Wines

1. Low intervention wines embody the ancient way of making wine 

We love our history here at Más Allá Wines. If you’ve read a bit about the history of our name, you can get a sense that we have a respect for the past. 

We knew little about the wine-making process–let alone about low intervention wines–when my husband and I first began dipping our toes into the wine world. 

We valued wine and appreciated learning about different regions, but it was not until we stepped into the world of natural and low intervention wine-making that our undying love for wine really developed. 

Our education began at our favorite natural wine shop, Vino Carta, in Little Italy, San Diego and our understanding of what wine was shifted forever. Their knowledgable staff taught us so much about some of the best low-intervention wines

It did not take long for us to see the value in the ancient way of wine-making. It came as no surprise that wine began by humbly collecting grapes, foot-crushing them (or not in some cases), and allowing that juice to ferment in its own time. 

After tasting many low intervention wines, our love for wine and natural wine-making deepened.

Not much has changed for low intervention wine-making. Sure, we have more updated equipment and may use a de-stemmer and can add our stamp by deciding whether the wine ages in stainless steel, American oak, French oak, neutral oak barrels, and so on. 

We could choose to be as hands-on or off as we wanted with this style of wine-making. We quickly learned from other natural winemakers that when the vineyard was treated well, good wine was sure to come.

2. We get a deeper connection to nature with low intervention wines 

A major reason why I decided to shift from the world of education to the world of wine-making was to establish a deeper connection to nature. Low intervention wines were a window into that world. 

I recall a colleague trying to convince me to stick with education and avoid harvesting grapes in 2020 because, given the frenzy of the time, “the grapes could get infected.” I quickly responded with, “nature always knows what it’s doing.” 

I chose to follow my gut and pursued harvesting wine that year.

You can see our full 2020 line up *here*. Or you can get a natural wine subscription by joining our  *wine club* to get the full range of what we offer at a better price. 

The keyword is “low” in low intervention wines. This style of wine-making draws us closer to nature and its power. 

We strive to showcase that power and the beauty that takes place in the vineyard over the growing season. 

Was it a rainy year? The grapes will tell us. 

Was it an abnormally hot May? The grapes will tell us. 

Was it humid in August? The grapes will tell us. 

That is the beauty of low intervention wines. They are like a map that displays where we were, and with each vintage, we can get a little bit better at reading that map to help us learn where we want to go.

It will take time, but my hope is to one day read grapes as fluidly as I read a book. 

3. There’s nowhere to hide with low intervention wines

At Más Allá Wines, we embrace the changes each year brings and we aim to capture that change in a bottle. We do not want our wine to taste the same year after year.

Our approach with this more humble approach to low intervention wines is on full display with our 2020 vintage. Wines like our Chenin Blancs and organic Cabernet Francs were deliberately harvested to be single vineyard, single varietal wines. 

That means that we did not blend our wines or manipulate them with additional ingredients to achieve a desired taste.

While blending wine is often the marker of a seasoned vintner, we like to take a step back and put nature on display. In our defense, we are not seasoned vintners! (yet) 

We like that there is nowhere to hide. Similar to a fine pilsner or a plate of cacio e pepe, we want the ingredients to speak for themselves. 

In our case, we want the farming and the weather to do most of the talking. 

We stand humbled by our growing knowledge of low intervention wines and how to make them. We do not mind letting nature take the lead in this dance.

The resulting wines are balanced, approachable, and truly delightful to drink. We knew that if we employed these low intervention techniques that we would get a product we would be proud to share.

About the Author

Cleo de la Torre is the owner of Más Allá Wines. She is also a mother and former high school English teacher. She taught for several years before she and her husband, Jordan, took a wild leap into the wine world. She loves wine and its rich history, and much of her love is explored and explained through her blog.