What the Funk?
We talk a lot about “funky” wines at Cork. It’s kind of our entire vibe, you know? But our other vibe is being totally transparent, approachable, open and excited to reach out and let people know anything and everything they want to know about the wide world of natural wine. And using potentially obfuscating terms like “funky” might leave a few of you feeling a little left out. So let’s dig a little deeper and reveal the bass-slapping origins of some of these unexpected flavors in wine.
First of all, what one defines as a “funk” is largely subjective, with a few guideposts. Normally wines have characteristics adopted from the fruit and farm itself (primary notes, like lemon, strawberry, blackcurrant, oregano, gardenia...etc), along with secondary notes from winemaking processes, like oak-barrel ageing (toast, vanilla, dill) and tertiary notes which form as the bottle ages over time, (cigar box, chocolate, leather.) Some wines may exhibit a range of primary and secondary flavors which are a little more savory, musty, sour, ferment-y, earthy, or raw. These can be “barnyard” smells and flavors like wet hay, saddle, onion, soil, or a touch of manure. Sounds gross, but it really isn’t. Such “farmy” notes are often the result of natural yeast fermentation, where Brettanomyces and oxygen interplay to lend rustic, charred flavors to wine.
Moreover, some winemaking methods, such as open-vat fermentation, avoiding temperature control, extended maceration times for white grapes, different ageing vessels (clay amphorae, cement tanks) and of course, non-intervention, no-added-preservative methods, lead to a huge array of potential off-piste flavors. Unfiltered orange wines may showcase more texture, acidity, and structure than expected, having cider-y and sulphur-adjacent notes. Sometimes wines which have a touch of extinguished match smell to them have experienced reduction whereby the lack of oxygen in the winemaking process has led to the formation of certain mercaptans and hydrogen sulfide. Conventional winemaking adds sulfur dioxide to wines to encourage a reaction between oxygen particles and SO2 which prevents the wine from oxidizing or reducing---the oxygen gets “eaten up” by the other compound and keeps wine from “spoiling.” Without S02, reduction in wines is possible. Often this smell “blows off” the wine when opened and allowed to mix with air. Nevertheless, it creates a “funk” which many see as a hallmark of careful, anaerobic (not letting air in) natural winemaking.
Some wines also display a certain “mousiness” or what the French call “gout de souris” (breath of the mouse) which can have a wood shaving/ corn chip nose and aftertaste. This is another perfectly natural byproduct of wines which have not been adulterated by any addition of S02. Some people think it blends harmoniously with the palate of a wine, some think...otherwise. But when you smell Fritos in your French red, you can call it “mousy” like a real pro.
And of course, other aforementioned flavors from ageing processes or lack of filtration and fining often occur in natural wine. A more mature and distinct palate with savory tones, saltiness, complex fruit and mineral notes, and other distinct characteristics are all part and parcel of winemaking which is conducted with minimal fussing-about in the cellar. The true character of the fruit, the whole fruit, and its natural environment -- through use of only spontaneous, natural yeast fermentation -- is present in natural wines. Winemakers employ traditional methods like the use of qveri (large earthenware pots) to age wine and careful attention to the fruit’s own inherent qualities (i.e. ensuring maximum phenological expression instead of sugar content) along with minimal filtration and fining (which can “strip” a wine of sediment, particulates which carry flavor and texture) produce a unique expression of land, farmer, history, and especially vintage. “Funky” wine is just real wine -- a living product, a fermented farm good, a result of natural processes and low-intervention winemaking which leads to unpredictable and often delicious results.
Or other funky wines to try:
Partida Creus “SM”
Jeremy Questana “Buena Onda”
La Jaras “Nouveau”
Poderi Sassi “Coraggio”
Vini Rabasco “Lu Cuntuden”