Long live natural wine

Did you know that Marcellin Albert might just be the founding father of natural wine? Not in the sense we know it today, but as a wine made purely from grapes, with no added sugar. In 1906–1907, a severe crisis hit the vineyards hard. Market prices collapsed. Legislation, notably the law of 28 January 1903, granted tax exemptions on sugar. Widespread abuses followed, with some producing wine from water, sugar, and various colourings or additives. Marcellin, a winegrower and café owner, took up the crusade and rallied countless angry winegrowers behind him. On 9 June 1907, 600,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Montpellier. The Republic lost control of the situation. In the years that followed, this crisis forced the State to step in to legislate and more drastically regulate wine production. Successive laws would ultimately lead to the creation of the AOC system in 1935. And as for Marcellin, all he was calling for was a more natural wine and an end to fraud! For the record, Clemenceau, a seasoned politician, managed to quell the rebellion by meeting Marcellin Albert, handing him 100 francs for his return ticket, and, as soon as he left, leaking his own version to the press—specifically highlighting the fact that he had accepted the money. Back home, he was seen as a sell-out. Rendered persona non grata, he eventually went into exile in Algeria and died in poverty.