Natty Chatties

Simonne Mitchelson, Founder Of Natural Action

About Simonne

Simonne Mitchelson is a winemaker and hospitality professional living and working in California by way of New Zealand by way of Michigan by way of South Africa. She’s one of the founders of Natural Action (@naturalactionwc), a non-profit organization and low-intervention wine club devoted to facilitating change in a predominantly white industry by supporting and educating BIPOC interested in pursuing wine careers. Along with fellow Californian winemaker Justin Trabue, Simonne also founded the Cal Poly Scholarship for Black, Indigenous, People of Color in Wine and Viticulture. Simonne’s own label is in the works, too - you can follow her on Instagram (@simonneandsoforth) for the latest.

 The CHat

How many grapes, give or take, have you personally harvested throughout your career so far? 30,000? 2.5 million? This question isn't asked nearly enough of winemakers, and we need to know.

Simonne: A ton of grapes yields about 2 barrels (50ish cases or 600ish bottles). In the cellars I've worked in combined? I've made over 192,000 cases worth of wine; equating to over a billion grapes crushed.

If every natural wine that exists today temporarily transformed into human beings (a la the hit 2000 film Life Size starring Lindsay Lohan and Tyra Banks), which bottle are you inviting over for dinner and why?

Simonne: Hmmmm. Perhaps some Stolpman's So Fresh GDG Gamay. I like them a little lowkey bougie and unassuming, but then BAM. A bitch has ATTITUDE. The underdog that has this confidence because they know who they are. Also, I bet Gamay incarnate has badass playlists.

In another, separate alternate universe I just made up, you can only listen to one musical artist anytime you drink a glass of wine for the rest of your days. Who'll it be?

Simonne: Joao Gilberto made one of my favorite albums of all time with Stan Getz. I listen to it on repeat. It's smooth and sultry and spicy and you can dance or cry to it. It's just perfect. There's a little Astrud Gilberto and Antonio Jobim peppered in there for that salty compliment.

You've lived in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and California, which are all fantastic wine-growing regions. If you dropped everything right now and moved to another one that's not on this list, where would you choose?

Simonne: I'd hop on a plane and move to Austria if I had the opportunity. I've always wanted to go, not just because their wine is incredible but the music, art, fashion that has come out of Vienna is everything.

What bottle would you pair with a camping trip where all of your friends accidentally brought the same thing, which ended up being s'mores supplies and jalapeño kettle chips?

Simonne: Mmmmmm Cab Franc. Tried and true. CF has great fruit, savory elements, and tannins that will compliment that melty chocolate but also can have pyrazines (vegetal bell pepper character) that i think could be a match with that capsaicin quality. Or honestly an orange wine. it's not a natural wine, but Groundwork does a carbonic Picpoul that smells like fruit loops and green tea. It sounds like a weird combo but there's a sultry component to the wine that could compliment both foods. But whatever’s clever.

OK - now, let's get down to business. You are a founder of Natural Action, a nonprofit organization committed to diversity and inclusion in the wine industry - I'd love to hear the elevator pitch, and how our readers can get involved to help facilitate change.

Simonne: In short, we're making wine more approachable by relaying what our whole team believes in:

Inclusion - wine is for everyone.

Diversity/Equity - getting more POC into the wine biz through job opportunities, internships, scholarships but making sure they're getting PAID.

Sustainability - the human element being the most important but this trickles into environmental sustainability hence natural wine. We work with producers who have committed to farming (or source from) vineyards organically, regeneratively, biodynamically. Basically people who treat the Earth right. There are of course conventional winemakers who use these farming methods as well, but we all have a mutual interest in creating culture through the natural wine stratosphere.

Readers can:

1. Donate directly to the cause through our website. Any amount is appreciated more than you know!

2. Sign up for the wine club! It is a quarterly club with 1 allocation of 4 bottles for $150 per shipment.

3. Spread the word! Visibility is key and the more people know and get behind our cause? The more impact can be made.

Lastly, I heard that what's next for you is your own wine label, which is very exciting - can you give us any sneak peeks about it?

Simonne: My label is a reflection of who I am but also an unconventional American dream. I am excited to share but will resist further temptation at this stage. Watch this space!