©SLP ISSUE 005

TAN NATURAL COMO EL VINO,
A talk with Rafa Camps.

Rafa Camps, a philosopher by profession and a wine lover by nature, left Barcelona to move to a more rural environment. Now he has been living in the Empordà for 20 years and we met him to talk about his project on wines, people and pure hedonism.

THE SHEETS

That Rafa's project is called LA NATURAL is no coincidence. Beyond the obviousness of the wine itself (natural), the first thing that strikes you when you meet Rafa is his naturalness. Five minutes with him and it seems as if you have known each other all your lives. That's Rafa, that's LA NATURAL.

The fact that the bottle caps and glasses bear his face is not just another coincidence. Brand and person merge into one, with naturalness always as a flag. And what started as a joke, "Rafa gives you the badge", ended up becoming something real. There came a time when the idea of putting Rafa's face on the product worked so well that they decided to turn it into a logo. It works because it gives the brand a personality, he says.

"I've taken a distance. There is one thing that is him and another that is me. Obviously the character is exaggerated, I don't go around my house like that. But it's not too far from who I really am."

THE WINES

LA NATURAL was born as a natural wine distribution project to give visibility to producers from the Empordà region. But, as a good creative, Rafa was bitten by the bug and wanted to start experimenting with his own wines. Today they already have more than 18 types.

We tried to get him to confess which is his favorite, but he tells us that "that would be like choosing between his children". Although he assures us that La Figa, his first creation, is surely the most emblematic.

We asked him to summarize in one sentence the difference between a conventional wine -technified, he points out- and a natural one. He laughs, "asking a philosopher to summarize something is complicated". But after a few minutes he comes up with a good answer:

"With natural wine you will feel like investigating, because you perceive many more things". In natural wines there is almost no human intervention, it is more of an accompaniment. The spontaneous part makes it flow in its own way".

He explains that there are technified wines that are very well made. But normally people who taste a natural wine do not usually go back to a technified one that is very well disguised. He compares it to tasting a jam or an artisanal cheese for the first time: the flavors, the processes, the work behind it... People are returning to value those details, he explains.

There are sommeliers who think that natural wine is not good because it has "flaws" but Rafa believes that is exactly where its grace lies. People have flaws too, he says. There are some milder ones that you can tolerate but there are others that you can't get past, the same goes for wine. For there to be no serious flaws it is important to be very careful.

TASTING

"The world of wine generally seems very intellectual. It is good that there is a certain care, but we must not forget the other side of the coin, that part of hedonism and amusement". If you are lucky enough to participate in one of his tastings, chances are that it will be quite different from others you have done: relaxed, close and, above all, very enjoyable.

We want to know what wine you usually recommend to someone who has never tasted a natural wine.

"It depends on where you want to go. If you are looking for something calmer and more classic, I recommend La Figa. But if you'd rather take a risk with something head-scratching, then I suggest a Very Fragile."

He gives us to taste "Mandarins", from the orange category. A light and fruity wine that left us wanting more. Rafa, you were right.

THE LABELS

Wine labels also play a fundamental role in LA NATURAL. To create them they collaborate with different artists, design students... Every year they decide according to the wines they produce. Everything is very organic in the process.

THE MOONS

When we talk about future projects, Rafa explains that he would have liked to be a writer. However, he has never felt it was the right time to get fully into that field. "Although, he confesses, "Maybe in a new moon I'll get around to it.

The moon, in fact, is a key element in LA NATURAL, since some processes are affected by its cycles, so they always try to keep in mind the lunar calendar when deciding when to harvest the grapes, among other things. So we wouldn't be surprised if she was also responsible for such a radical change in her life.

"I'm a long couple. My first project lasted 14 years and was related to contemporary art. Now I've been working with natural wines for 7 years; I'm in the middle of this relationship".

RAFA AND PEPE

What the hell are you talking about? That was the first thing I said to Pepe, co-founder and Creative Director of Thinking MU, when I saw him for the first time.

I was in a bar in town and Pepe was sitting a bit further away, with his back to me. It caught my attention that he was talking about spontaneous fermentations and stuff. As I have no shame, I approached him and asked him what they were talking about. And he, who is very open and friendly, explained to me that he had a vineyard and that he used to give his grapes to others, but as we connected very quickly, he ended up asking me if I wanted to vinify it myself.

This was in 2019, after the pandemic hit and thanks to that connection, LA NATURAL was reborn in 2021: with Pepe's aesthetic contribution, the investment of another partner and me as the visible face and in charge of the product and the essence of the brand.