Real flavors beat fake flavors every time.

Long before we opened our wine store in 2006 we were constantly on the lookout for interesting, delicious wines that we could drink that tasted like they came from somewhere specific. We soon learned that finding simple, honest wine is not so simple. It was this persistent thirst for a taste of place that finally drove us to open our shop.

The desire to find these kinds of wines went hand-in-hand with the food we wanted to eat. We don’t eat industrially produced overly processed foods so why would we want to drink wines made that way, which most people don’t realize is the norm -- that most wine, like most food, is made with tons of chemicals primarily to satisfy the bottom line.

Like many of you we choose to eat minimally processed food not just because it tastes better and gives us more pleasure, but also because it makes us feel good once having eaten it. It’s the same with wine and the proof is found in the bottles. A real wine has real flavors that occasionally surprise and challenge us to come to terms with it, to struggle to describe it, because it’s not made with fake flavors. Real flavors beat fake flavors every time.

Of course it would take a lot less effort to sell easily recognized brands but that’s not what we want to do. We don’t want to sell brands. We want to work with people we like that we feel make wines that say something unique in small batches without additives or chemicals that consistently delight and sometimes amaze. Wines that go with food, have a sense of place, and are meant for thirst.

Which is why last month we attended RAW – The Artisan Wine Fair in London. RAW was filled with talented artisanal winemakers from around the world who make, in the words of the organizers, “wines that are pure, kind to the planet, very possibly better for your health, and best of all they’re absolutely delicious.” There we saw a lot of familiar faces and many, many new ones. It was a really exciting two-day event and you’ll be seeing many new things in the store reflecting what struck our fancy. The London food and wine scene at the moment is really exciting.