Karaterre moves into the Arts.
This is going to cause zero controversy …
Buckle the Fuck up , Karakterre announced yesterday that they are dumping the term "natural wine," as they are not sure what it means anymore. Fair enough—it is a contentious issue, though there are so many questions.
Karakterre Abandons "Natural Wine": Is the Movement Dead or Just Growing Up?
This is going to cause zero controversy…
Yesterday, Karakterre—the influential platform that has shaped one of the planet's largest natural wine markets, particularly in the USA—announced they are dumping the term "natural wine." Their reason? They’re no longer sure what it means. And honestly, fair enough.
"We thought we knew," they stated across their social channels. "We don't. And the community itself did not help define it more closely. So we thought we better skip."
It’s a move that feels both inevitable and explosive. For years, the natural wine world has been cannibalizing itself with semantic arguments—policing who is "zero-zero" enough, debating production scales, and engaging in the kind of bitchy, infantile bickering that ultimately kills subcultures rather than sustaining them. As I’ve argued repeatedly: until there is a universal international accreditation and standard approved by an appropriate body, there is no firm definition. Without that framework, the term has become less a descriptor and more a battleground.
And the data suggests the battle is being lost. The term "natural wine" has devolved into a PR and marketing disaster. Producers and commenters spend more time defending the label than making the wine. If you have to spend that much energy justifying your category, guess what—it’s dead in the water. It’s just a word. Yet we’re still churning out articles asking "What is natural wine?" which serve nobody; the algorithm doesn’t let casual drinkers stumble upon those pieces accidentally. The only people reading them are already in the church, preaching to the converted.
However, I have no clout in this matter. Karakterre, on the other hand, most certainly does.
The Pivot No One Read Past
Here’s what most commentators missed while rage-scrolling the comments section (which, by the way, proves my point about the toxicity of this debate): Karakterre isn’t just changing their vocabulary. They’re changing their entire model.
Read beyond the first few slides and it becomes clear—they’re moving away from being a "natural wine" event and evolving into an arts fair that happens to showcase wine and food. They’re incorporating contemporary dance, music, and fashion alongside the bottles, explicitly stating: "We believe these arts are as much craft as wine itself. They belong together and expand each others worlds."
This isn’t just a rebranding; it’s a strategic retreat from a sinking ship. They’re expanding who they’re talking to because the "natural wine" audience has become too small, too insular, and too hostile to sustain a business.
The California Context
The timing isn’t accidental. Karakterre has been instrumental in building the US natural wine scene, yet in recent months, we’ve seen natural winemakers in California close or propose closing their businesses due to falling demand. If the trendsetters are bailing on the terminology that once defined them, what does that signal for the smaller producers still clinging to the label?
The big question remains: Is that it? Is "natural wine" dead forever? Or is this simply the moment the movement either professionalizes—with actual standards and accreditation—or dissolves into the broader category of simply "(good) wine"?
The Statement
Karakterre’s full announcement outlines a new direction focused on "families of growers of Central-Eastern Europe that leave the land healthier than they found it," regardless of whether they fit the increasingly meaningless "natural" tag. They’re prioritizing organic and biodynamic farming, low-intervention cellar practices, and transparency over terminology.
Their priority list now includes:
- Farmers who work their own land organically or biodynamically
- Family-run or hands-on operations
- Producers committed to respect and transparency
There you have it, lets wish them good luck ..
