Natural wine lovers, we are only a few days away from Raw Wine hitting New York on November 6th and 7th. An exciting collection of fine, natural, organic and biodynamic wine artisans will be at the fair. Make sure you say hi to Andrew Krell, our NYC Representative who will be hanging out with Charlie Prymaka, our U.K. Representative.
Feeling in need of some sunshine? A change of scene? An adventure? Hop on board, Raisin is heading to Sydney for the third Rootstock festival (November 26-27 at Sydney’s Carriageworks) showcasing many of Australia’s best producers of sustainable food and wines. Some 60 grower-producers will be presenting their wines, mostly from Australia but also New Zealand, Georgia, Italy, Austria and France. The food markets will be highlighting local native foods and produce alongside ethnic-Australian foods, all produced through organic, biodynamic and natural growing.
The natural scene is buzzing in the New World, and we can’t resist sharing this quotation with you, from winemakers Jasper and Sophie from Commune of Buttons, who will be present at the festival: “Natural wine is finding a place very quickly through many folks because it makes sense It’s about letting the fruit speak for itself, not the winemaker speaking for the fruit. It makes discussion about what’s in the glass more accessible and therefore more interesting to a wider bunch of people, because fruit speaks to anyone!”
Charles Simpson & Olivia Mann will be representing Raisin at Rootstock which promises to be the most anticipated food and wine festival in the Southern Hemisphere.
In Europe, the same week-end we will also be present at Vini, Birre, Ribelli in Bruxelles, follow this space for more information soon!
Since Raisin was launched launch on April 8th 2016 and thanks to all your contributions to consolidating our amazing database, the number of places (bar, wine shops, restaurants) with a minimum of 30% of natural wine where you can quench your thirst, has grown from 700 to 1500. We now need to find clothes that fit! This is a technical update to increase speed and location display. These major improvements are not visible but we hope they will improve your experience. Next milestone, 2000 locations!
Hot off the press, we have just passed the impressive threshold of 1500 establishments referenced and recommended on the Raisin application. This represents hundreds of hours of work, exchanges and meetings which is perfect because that is exactly what we try to do with our application: amplify and federate a movement which is reputed to be confidential.
OUR NEW ESTABLISHMENTS
IN FRANCE: 754 in total: 278 in Paris, 35 in Lyon, 20 in Angers, 14 in Strasbourg, 14 in Marseille, 9 in Nantes, 7 in Rennes, 6 in Saumur.
IN THE REST OF THE WORLD: 152 in Japan, 152 in the USA (of which 77 in NYC), 146 in Belgium, 69 in Italy, 48 in Spain, 41 in Canada, 31 in Switzerland, 22 in Amsterdam, 10 in Australie, 5 in Georgia (Tbilissi), 6 in Poland, and we also have places in Taipei City, Bangkok, Moscow, Hong-Kong and in Luxembourg.
AS A REMINDER, THESE ESTABLISHMENTS ALL OFFER AT LEAST 30% OF NATURAL WINES.
What next? Our current priorities are Italy, Great Britain, Australia (where there are more than 60 natural winemakers!) and the Nordic countries. We should soon have an global image of the influence of natural wines. Its big, really big, and far more important than you might think.
A huge thank you to the team: Nathalie Alves, Andrew Krell, Charlie Simpson, Charlie Prymaka, Clément Thomasson, Tom Vandevenne and very especially Olivia Mann for all her hours of hard work. an ENORMOUS THANK YOU to you, our users, who contact us daily to help us keep the map as complete as possible. Without you, this project would be nothing.
A natural wine will be made from the Solidarity Grape Harvest: 100% xarel.lo from old biodynamic vines will be fermented in amphora!If you will be close to the Penedès area this weekend, why not join the 1st edition of the Verema Solidària – Solidarity Grape Harvest – which will raise funds for two local, non-profit social projects.
The first provides extra lessons for disadvantaged children in primary education, and the other runs a therapeutic garden program teaching social-labour skills to people with mental disorders. The activity is suitable for all, no special fitness required: individuals, families, groups of friends or workmates, … everyone is welcome! Harvesting with people from different cultures and backgrounds is part of the fun. Join in, get your grape harvesting kit and CUT OFF POVERTY! Full info: www.veremasolidaria.org (in Catalan and Spanish).
Belgium takes the stand! Some of you may be surprised to discover that Belgium is a majorplayer in the natural wine world, as important as the U.S.A and Japan. We already knew that Belgians love crafted beers, but a country where you can find 120 bars, restaurants and wine shops, they definitely love natural wine just as much.
We’d like to especially thank Stijn Pans (IG stijn_pans) Sommelier of restaurant Het Land aan & Tom Vandevenne (@vennevine) for the amazing list they sent and which was are starting point. Also hats off to Patrick Bottcher from Vini, Birre, Ribelli for his help and support. Last but not least, our Facebook friends Kim Mathé & Raphaël Akili provided great establishments too.
