Must-Have Wines for 2020 and Where To Find Them

6 min readJun 9, 2020

There’s nothing better than a chilled glass of wine by your side and some good tunes to enjoy alongside it on a hot summers day, right? Natural wine and summer go hand in hand together, a match made in heaven!

That’s why today I’m giving you a stacked out list of must-have wines to try this summer.

Five different types of wine will be listed, specially. recommended by the team here at Natural Swill. From funky thought-provoking wines to a certain rosé that’s grapes are produced on the side of a volcano, I have no doubt that at least one of these natural wines will strike a chord with you.

To save you the confusion ahead with names and cities, I will explain in numbers what each section represents, The first recommendation will display these numbers.

Producers name
Name of the wine
Region and country where it’s from
The respective grapes used in the production process
Wine type I.e Pét-Nat
The aromatic profiles
A brief description on the characteristics of the wine
A short background on the producer

1.Frank Cornelissen. 2.’Susucaru Rosato Terre’

3.Mount Etna, Sicily

4. Malvasía, Incrocio Manzoni, Black Muscat, Nerello Mascalese

5. Rosé

6. Wild Strawberries | Rhubarb | Hibiscus flower

7. Medium-bodied well-defined rosé. Fruit flavours as described are very evident, with the wine intensifying in flavour every minute it’s exposed to air.

8. Frank Cornelissen is a highly regarded producer in the natural wine world whose wines are consistently in demand for all the right reasons. His wines are sophisticated, well-crafted works of art that embrace all of their surrounding elements of the graceful Mout Etna. The Susucaru is one of the most sought-after wines on the market nowadays thanks to great publicity from celebrity advocates like Action Bronson and such, so if you can find yourself a bottle online or at a local shop…100% buy it.

WHERE TO BUY : MoreNaturalWine.com based in Germany or Waywardwines.co.uk which is based here in the UK.

Patrick Bouju, Action Bronson & Ochin Clovis. ’A La Natural Rouge’

Auvergne, France

Gamay & Chardonnay

Red & White blend

Blueberries | Cranberries | Red Peppercorn

This red wine sounds like it doesn’t suit the summertime but believe me, you’ll LOVE this stunning red blend especially after an hour or so in the fridge, just wow. Pure alcoholic cranberry juice that’s extremely well balanced in all aspects! The elements work harmoniously together in the mouth, not too acidic, not too much tannins either but a long-lasting, gripping flavour lingering in the mouth. A true joy I must say.

Much like Frank Cornelissen above, Patrick Bouju is a cult winemaker when it comes to natural wine. He’s been in the game for some time now gaining more popularity each year, his wines are made with pure love and intent. What more could you ask for? Now add a chefs touch to the process with Action Bronson’s knowledge and a natural wine shamans passion like Ochin Clovis and you’ve got yourself a certified banger.

WHERE TO BUY : MoreNaturalWine.com

Valentina Passalacqua. ’OrangePuglia CALCARIUS’

Puglia, Italy

Falanghina

Orange Wine

Ripe Grapefruits | Minerality | Lemons

This Italian wonder is a delightful skin-contact wine apart of Valentinas ’CALCARIUS’ collection, to be drunk on a hot summers day, chilled of course. Rich in fruity citrusy aromas that are just mesmerizing. The flavours are so well balanced, it’s great and has a lovely light body! the acidity is quite present but very palatable. The ‘CALCARIUS OrangePuglia’ is a flavour-packed wine that’s pure glou glou!! That’s right its only 11%, now you can have a glass at lunch too…

I felt the need to isolate inside our vineyards some parcels characterized by exclusively calcareous soil of the kimmeridgian type. Thus, was born Calcarius: wines of mineral terroirs, thesis and without compromises.

Valentina Passalacqua is a current rockstar in the industry, she’s well known for her low alcoholic yet very enjoyable natural wines. Valentina produces several different wines that are all quite opposite to your standardised big and bold red wines from the Cotes du Rhone. Valentina is a trailblazer and has been getting a lot of recent (well deserved) attention for her minimal intervention, fun wines. Having had a big influence on her childhood, Valentinas Grandpa is her inspiration behind the 1litre. bottling method, “Indeed, I was inspired by my grandfather mineral water bottles, where he used to put inside his wine.”

WHERE TO BUY : lecaveau.ie based in Ireland.

Patrick Sullivan. ‘JUMPIN JUICE Sunset’

Gippsland VIC, Australia

Sauvignon Blanc & Cabernet Sauvignon

Red & White blend

Cooked Plums| Ripe Raspberries | Crisp Green Apples

Much like the A La Natural listed above, this one’s alcoholic fruit juice. A lovely blended flavour of apples and raspberries that lingers for some time in the mouth, a very well made natural wine that’s A1 for sipping on by the pool.

’Sunset’ is apart of the ‘JUMPIN JUICE’ range of artisan wines by the young God of the natty wines Patrick Sullivan, it is an absolute must.. much like the rest of Patrick’s wines Sunset is really hard to get ahold of in the UK at the moment, it comes in waves throughout the year. The Ozzies like to keep the best of their wine on Australian waters (which is fair enough, it’s outstanding wine!) so if you ever see a bottle of Sunset by Pat or any of his other wines you should definitely grab it, they’re hard to come by and worth the investment of around £25-£40.

After quickly realising a dream job as a paediatrician in London was not for him, Sullivan made his way back to the East coast of Australia around Victoria where he then decided to make wine was the life for him. A humble decision to make after two years of drinking great and terrible wines from Selfridges. Now fasts forward 5+ years and Patrick is producing some of the most impressive Australian natural wines on the market adding his own funky twist to each batch.

I want to make wines that are voluptuous and beautiful but grounded, there’s a core to them, that’s what I aspire to.

WHERE TO BUY : hopburnsblack.co.uk

Anton Von Koppler. ‘Lucy Margaux 3 Colours Red 2018’

Adelaide Hills, South Australia

Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc

Rosé

Strawberry Yogurt | Watermelon | Wet Stones

The ‘3 colours red‘ isn’t just your standard rosé, the unconditional blending of savoury red grapes and musky fragrant white grapes creates a natural work of art you just can’t say no to. Australian Pinot Noirs are notoriously elegant, especially when used for rosé so needless to say the ’3 colours red’ is very gentle and elegant, with a stunning ruby red appearance to it. A rosé that carries a sophisticated punch with every other mouthful you take, this is definitely on of the best still rosés I have had in a long time!

Very much advocates of the natural selection theory, Anton, his wife (Sally) and daughter (Lucy Margaux) are big believers of the minimal intervention movement. So much so having gone completely natural in recent years, no additional sulphites, no fining or filtering and nothing but passion and love. Based in the ’Basket Range’ of the Adelaide Hills this area is a winemakers dream, even with just 10acres of Pinot Noir Anton and his family have access to their neighbour’s grapes too, there’s a real community spirit in the air over in the Adelaide Hills and everybody works for each other, an honourable system.