Organizers
Speakers
Isabelle Legeron MW
Isabelle Legeron MW is France’s first female Master of Wine and a pioneer in promoting transparency in the wine industry. Raised in a Cognac-producing family, Isabelle grew up immersed in wine culture. After receiving accolades such as the Madame Bollinger Award for Excellence in Tasting and being named Paris’ Wine Woman of the Year, she shifted her focus to natural wines, founding RAW WINE in 2012.
RAW WINE is now the largest global community of low-intervention, organic, biodynamic, and natural wine producers, with fairs held across major cities like New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, and Tokyo. Its online wine shop offers the UK’s largest selection of natural wines. Isabelle’s efforts have earned RAW WINE recognition as a leader in sustainable wine.
Isabelle is a fierce advocate for organic farming, and her work has been internationally acclaimed. She was awarded the Legion d’Honneur in 2019 for her over 25 years of contributions to oenology and has been named one of Fortune’s “Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink” and Vanity Fair’s “50 Most Influential French People in the World.”
Her book “Natural Wine: an introduction to organic and biodynamic wines made naturally” was shortlisted for the Fortnum & Mason Best Drinks Book award. She is also an experienced media personality, having appeared on shows like MasterChef and BBC Newsnight, and curated wine offerings for a variety of prestigious restaurants and eco-luxury resorts.
Robert Joseph
Robert Joseph is an associate editor of Meininger’s Wine Business International, which he helped to launch in 2006. In 1983, after living in Burgundy for five years, he launched the Wine International magazine; set up the International Wine Challenge; became a wine writer for the Sunday Telegraph, and wrote The Wine Lists, the first of his 25 books. He has chaired and launched over 50 wine competitions in Asia, Europe and the UK. Robert has been in Who’s Who since 2013, and the awards he has received include the Jacob’s Creek ‘Golden Vine’; ‘the Best Wine Guide in the World’; the Glenfiddich (twice); The Wine Guild of the United Kingdom Premier; the Marques de Caceres. He regularly appears on television and radio and has lectured at the Wine & Spirits Educational Trust, Burgundy and Sonoma Wine Business Schools. Joseph is one of the trio behind Hugh Kevin & Robert Wines whose le Grand Noir range now sell over 3.8m bottles per year in over 60 countries. His website is winethinker.com. He recently-launched his own Georgian wine venture: K’AVSHIRI.
official event
A blind tasting journey exploring the nature of natural wine with Isabelle Legeron MW
Description
PLEASE NOTE: to attend this session, registration is required and is only available to users who already hold an access pass for the wine2wine Business Forum 2024. After purchasing your ticket, click the "Register to attend" button on this page and follow the simple step-by-step instructions. Please note that seats are limited: registration guarantees your spot until all seats are filled.
This 45-minute blind tasting, led by Isabelle Legeron MW, a globally recognized expert in natural wine, will guide participants through an immersive experience designed to demystify natural wines and help tasters get to grips not only with the subtle differences between conventional organic/biodynamic wines and those that are made naturally, but also help them gain an insight into the distinct flavor profiles that make wines that are made naturally so unique.
Moderated by the permanent wine2wine Business Forum speaker Robert Joseph, the session will feature three (blind) wines, specifically designed to guide and educate participants using their palates allowing them to focus on sensory evaluation and understanding without preconceived biases. Through structured tasting steps, attendees will learn to differentiate between natural versus conventional wine styles, whether produced organically or biodynamically, and to understand more about what aficionados of wine made naturally are looking for in their drink.
Beyond tasting, the session will address common misconceptions about natural wines (particularly among traditional wine producers and audiences), and provide insight into the different meanings of terminology commonly used in the natural wine space, including “living”, “organic”, “biodynamic”, “permaculture”, “low-intervention”, “sustainable” and “regenerative”. The discussion will cover how natural wines often challenge conventional expectations, showcasing a more expressive and dynamic approach to winemaking. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of this contentious wine category, enhanced tasting skills, and an appreciation for the environmental and philosophical aspects of modern-day viticulture and winemaking.