Natural wine has tended to be thought of as something you find in a specialist shop or a small wine bar, chalked up on a board. Its arrival on a big supermarket shelf, at a familiar price, says a fair amount about where the category is heading. Santa Julia, the organic producer from Mendoza in Argentina, has launched three natural wines at Sainsbury’s, each at £12, in time for the festive season.
The timing is not accidental. In its note to press, Santa Julia’s UK press office points to Soil Association figures showing organic sales in supermarkets grew by 7% in 2025 to £2.6 billion, with organic continuing to run ahead of the total market this year. Wine is part of that, and a supermarket listing is the point at which a style stops being a niche and starts being a choice people make with the weekly shop.
Three wines, three styles
What makes the trio interesting is its range: a white, an orange and a light red, all made the same low-intervention way.
La Oveja is a 100% Torrontés, hand harvested in Maipú and given 15 days of maceration. The producer describes white fruit and peach, rose petal, jasmine and geranium, and a citrus finish. It is 12% ABV.
El Zorrito is an orange wine: a 100% Chardonnay fermented in contact with its skins, followed by 45 days of maceration after fermentation. The result is golden yellow with orange tones, with tropical white fruit, orange peel and bold acidity. It is 13% ABV, and for some shoppers it may be a first taste of orange wine.
La Vaquita is a clarete, a co-fermentation of 80% Malbec and 20% Torrontés with a short 15-day maceration. It is pale red with pink highlights, with strawberry, raspberry and cherry, soft Malbec tannins and a floral lift from the Torrontés. It is 13% ABV.
Santa Julia suggests roast chicken or butternut squash and sage with La Oveja, smoked cheese or roasted cauliflower with El Zorrito, and slow-cooked lamb or a wild mushroom risotto with La Vaquita. All three sit comfortably alongside the kind of cooking that gets planned around Stir-up Sunday and the weeks that follow.
How they are made
The grapes come from Finca Maipú, where Santa Julia has 175 hectares of certified organic vineyards. The wines are fermented with indigenous yeasts, with no sulphites added, and bottled unfiltered. Across its winery and vineyards, the producer says it recycles 80% of its waste, makes 10,000 tonnes of compost a year and uses no agrochemicals. Every bottle also supports social projects in Mendoza, including sewing centres, secondary school programmes and kindergartens.
The labels are illustrated by Mendoza artist Emiliano Pierro and named after animals from the Zuccardi family farm. La Oveja recalls a sheep the family raised, El Zorrito the small foxes seen among the vines, and La Vaquita a cow called Olivia, given to Julia Zuccardi’s niece. Santa Julia is part of Familia Zuccardi and is named after José Alberto Zuccardi’s only daughter, Julia.
Why it matters
Supermarkets have been leaning on specialist names to add interest to their ranges, as Waitrose did with Rick Stein’s first supermarket seafood range. A natural wine trio at £12 a bottle is a smaller move, but it puts skin contact and clarete in front of people who would not have gone looking for them, and that is how a style moves into the mainstream. For anyone hosting this Christmas who wants something for the non-drinkers too, our alcohol-free Christmas punch serves eight.
La Oveja, El Zorrito and La Vaquita are available now from Sainsbury’s at £12 each. Details and image via Santa Julia.