Le Jus d’Octobre in Saint-Malo has just reopened with a total refurbishment. This Breton wine shop offers a large selection of natural wines, craft beers, spirits and ciders. The name is derived from the song “Le Vin” written by Georges Brassens in 1956 as an homage to the “juice coming from the harvest of the vine in October.” Their ambition is to democratize wine and share the teams passion with others.

Founded in 2014 by David, a state-qualified oenologist who left the vineyards to return to his native land. The passionate team of the Paramé shop includes Baptiste, Mathieu, Maëva, and Loreley, who love sharing their tips and knowledge with customers.

The shop has a unique way of classifying their wines according to the time they should be consumed; ‘Premières soifs’, ‘Moments d’Emotions’, ‘Instants rares’, roughly translating to ‘Easy going’, ‘Moments of Emotion’, and ‘Rarities’. This is a way of orienting customers according to their taste and the occasion they’d like to drink the wine. This helps keep customers open minded and removes preconceived notions about wine regions.

You can also find two other Le Jus d’Octobre cellars with the same concept and references: a second one in Saint-Malo (near the Aquarium – opened in 2016) and one in Plouër-sur-Rance, in the 22 (Côtes d’Armor – opened in 2019). 

We are delighted to see that there are now over 170 natural wine shops, bars, and restaurants listed on Raisin in New York!

Raisin has a special place in its heart for The Big Apple: In May 2016, our app only listed 60 places that offered natural wine. Since then, we have spent significant time collecting, verifying, and publishing venues that offer at least 30% natural wine in their selection. We’ve also been so excited to see how many new places have been opening.

As a result, New York has become one of the most vibrant cities on Raisin, second only to Paris, where we have over 500 establishments listed. With the natural wine community growing so rapidly, this is just the beginning!

We’d like to give a special mention to some of the pioneers of the natural wine scene in NYC. Chambers Street Wine, 360 Restaurant, Restaurant Ici and Ten Bells. Many others have helped this movement grow but these were some of the first and most important ones.

We look forward to continuing this journey together and supporting the natural wine movement from winemakers to small businesses in New York, the U.S., and worldwide.

We would also like to extend a special thanks to Andrew Krell and Arnaud Delamarre for their countless contributions to our growth in the U.S.

Cheers! 🍷

This past weekend, the Raisin team was delighted to have been invited to the Weinsalon Natürel to Cologne, Germany for the country’s biggest natural wine fair. What a great experience!

The fair welcomed over 70 natural winemakers from all over Europe, including an especially exciting list of well-known and new German winemakers. Every year, Weinsalon Natürel aims to highlight a country that isn’t well-known for winemaking, and this year it was Bulgaria. Tasting the wines from Zagreus Winery was eye opening.

We received such a warm welcome from winemakers and attendees, who took the time to share stories of their travels and how Raisin had helped them find the best food and drinks that cities have to offer. It was also magnificent to hear about how the German natural wine scene is so quickly expanding as well.

We are humbled and inspired to feel so ingrained in the natural wine community that we love, support, and respect. Whenever an establishment owner tells us that we helped their business survive, or a winemaker explains how many visitors they had from the Raisin app, we are grateful for having the chance to make a small difference to the movement we adore.

Thank you to Weinsalon Natürel, everyone who attended, the incredible winemakers, Surk-ki Schrade, and Germany. 🍷

PURA SEDE is Portugal’s first dedicated natural wine fair, and it’s now in its third year. Led by a star-studded list of wine growers, a vibrant community of buyers, restaurateurs, and wine enthusiasts will make their way to Lisbon for the event.

Founded by Clara Higham-Stoianova (Sips Berlin) and Florian Tonello (Ladidadi Wines Lisbon) in 2020, PURA SEDE has quickly gained a reputation for showcasing Europe’s most revered cult natural wine producers and some of the rising talents in the scene.

For its third edition, iconic producers such as Patrick Bouju, Gabrio Bini, Partida Creus, Raphael Monnier Ratapoil, Cantina Furlani, and La Perdida will gather at Pura Sede’s new location in the heart of Lisbon, Carpintarias de São Lázaro. Overlooking the sea, the winemakers will pour their wines and exchange their philosophies with international guests, professionals, and fellow winemakers.

In English, PURA SEDE means ‘pure thirst’, and to founders Clara and Florian, it represents a thirst for purity. To the organizers, natural wine is simply wine with a minimal intervention approach and a deep respect for nature and fermentation. The fair combines the tasting of incredible wines with a number of satellite events from local restaurants, and put simply, a great party!

As more restaurants, bars, and distributors cater to the natural wine community in Lisbon, Pura Sede is able to bring new wines and fresh faces to this dynamic discussion. In 2023, the event will unite pioneering natural wine producers with a European collective in Portugal’s stunning capital.

PURA SEDE takes place the 25th and 26th of March in Lisbon, Portugal. Tickets are limited, and each previous year has been a sold-out, so it is advised to book ahead of time.

See you there!

Have you tried Méli-Mélo? As most natural wine drinkers, you are probably already interested in the mythical wines that come from Jura, France. The special mix of soil, grape varieties and talented winemakers have made this region one of the most sought after across the world.

AMÉLIE VUILLET et SÉBASTIEN JACQUES wines are some of the rarer bottles you can get from Jura, but if you do get a chance to get your hands on a bottle, you won’t be disappointed.

Méli-Mélo put simply, is a juice bomb. As the name suggests it’s a mix, or better yet, a masterful blend of Gamay, Trousseau, Ploussard, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Savagnin. This combination of red and white grapes results in a ruby red colour that smells like fresh raspberries and red currents.

As it hits your palette, Méli-Mélo unleashes a complex yet approachable mix of grapefruit, cranberries, tangerine, rhubarb and the aforementioned raspberries. Hints of forest floor and barnyard are present but not overpowering. Your teeth tingle from the tart sourness, but the acidity is pleasant, and long lasting.

The couple work their 1.5 hectares of vines by animal traction, they leave their grapes in vats with no intervention or additions, they have no pump for vinification, no thermoregulated tanks, and only a manuel press. Their goal is the use the smallest amount of electrical or mechanical energy possible in their winemaking process. There is no wonder that Vanessa Masse, the first female to be awarded ‘Best Sommelier’ by the Michelin Guide in 2021 was recently pictured holding one of their bottles in an article in French newspaper Le Monde. If that isn’t a good endorsement, we don’t know what is.

Due to frost, snow, rain and two hail storms, this vintage only exists in very small quantities. But it is well worth seeking out and sharing with a friend!

You can also taste their wines this weekend at Le Nez dans le Vert wine fair in Arbois.

Country: France Region: Jura

Grapes: Gamay, Trousseau, Ploussard, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Savagnin

Vintage: 2021

Music pairing: BIG – Juicy

ViniPendenti wants to be a place to rediscover values, agricultural practices and joviality that seemed to have disappeared, but it also looks to the future, to new concepts of sustainability, awareness and attention. And this is precisely why Pisa was chosen: a city that has always been avant-garde, ‘rebellious’, open to the world and never closed by territorial or ideological boundaries.

Tastings, round tables and master classes with winemakers will be followed by concerts, DJ sets, informal debates and moments of pure relaxation!

The organisers’ aim is to bring as many people as possible closer to conscious drinking: “We are firmly convinced that natural wines should not be an elitist prerogative, but a daily choice for many. This is why we have decided to call ViniPendenti a festival and not a fair, trying to bring out not only the ‘technical’ elements of natural wine, but also the convivial aspect, the purest aspect of being together” say Matteo Niccolai, Leonello Trivelli and Claudio Benedetti.

The idea stems from the desire to create an enjoyable and fun moment around natural wine.

ViniPendenti – the first natural wine festival in Pisa – will take place on the 18th – 20th of March at the Stazione Leopolda, with tastings each day from 10:30am to 6:30pm, and almost 70 winemakers from all over Italy.