The world is happy to wave the flag for natural wines lately. Stories about the stuff lurk everywhere. Festival, tasting, weeks and celebrations are like morels in the spring, but there is also a lot of misinformation. Wines being called natural that are not. This is a little bit like serving real pig in a blankets at a kosher bar mitzvah. Simple.

I've recently emerged from a bit of a "red wine stand-still." I've wanted to branch out some more. Not merely for the sake of branching out - I wish there was more red wine that I really like. Lately I've been exploring and enjoying the reds of Provence, a select group of Northern Rhone wines, and also the Poulsards of the Jura. Is that so wrong?