Glou

“Spirits are changing,” says Jack Jacob, founder of GLOU, speaking about people’s attitudes towards the natural wines he privately imports to Montreal from around the world. “Opening a bottle of natural wine is a little like a birth," according to Jack.

Defining natural wine has become a notorious wine world discussion. Natural wine is an international community, an agricultural, artistic, and gastronomic movement with a strong sense of independence, solidarity, and discovery.

The natural winemaker is a servant of the taste and essences of the earth, of its mysterious history and its cycles. Natural wine purveyors like Jack convey bottles of the nectar, with minimal or no sulphites (preservatives) added, to people who are thirsty for the unpredictable.

“Also, natural wines can travel badly,” says Jack, factoring in another influence that can dramatically transform the character of the wine. Almost all of the natural wines on GLOU’s list come from overseas except one remarkable ice cider producer from Quebec, Clos Saragnat.

“Natural wines attracted me through the emotions they brought me,” says Jack, who has a background in literature. He got into natural wine while working at Montreal restaurants like La Montée de lait, before partnering with Martin Labelle and launching GLOU in 2011. Drinking natural wines demands adventurousness and an open-mind, a pallet and imagination waiting to be titillated by unexpected or bizarre perfumes and sensations.