Natural wine-crafting in Switzerland: nature and autonomy in the bottle

Abstract Agricultural industrialization has continued along the tracks of technological progress with its attendant socioecological damages. The values of industrialism have remained dominant in agriculture: efficiency, quantity, speed, control, and standardization. Nevertheless, committed wine-crafters worldwide, dedicated to natural wines, have questioned these industrial values. Their daily lives reflect a countercultural way of life that aligns their actions with their values. This article focuses on wine-crafters in Switzerland who have embarked on this path. We are interested in their techniques in the vineyard and in the cellar, as well as in the values they advocate and share among themselves. We analyze their personal experiences through the lenses of political ecology and agrarian studies. The interviews and participant observation from our fieldwork in Switzerland support the idea that, despite various contradictions, these vineyard peasants strive to an alternative peasant economy, as they defend nature and struggle for autonomy.