In June, some of the KERB team went to tour the natural wine scene in California, visiting some of the vineyards that have been pioneering natural wine since the 70’s. Before heading to the valleys, we made a pit stop in San Francisco, which has become the natural juice slinging party capital of the world.
The San Francisco natural wine scene
From late night bars & clubs, indie restaurants and wine festivals, this is a city we can get behind, and with plenty of natural wine to be enjoyed, we had plenty to check out.
First up we checked out the Women in Natural Wine Fair.
It's truly inspiring to see a community of winemakers supporting opportunities for other women and LGBTQ+ in such a positive space. We met so many amazing producers doing some truly great things - particularly to meet the women behind Vai e Vem - a Brazilian born, California raised winemaker.
Truly experimental in her approach to small scale winemaking. All the wines tasted incredible and with low ABV (8%), the easy to drink orange “Peasant’s Tears” was a highlight.
Next we met Akari Yamamura of Yamachan Wine, who ferments with all native yeast. The grapes are all sourced from vineyards practising organic processes. The wines have become an unconventional way for Akari to connect with her Japanese roots, and she produces some truly incredible wine. The skin contact Chenin Blanc was super juicy and there was also a seriously drinkable Pinot Blanc.
Later on we checked out a new addition to the scene, Buddy. It's a friendly neighbourhood bar, famous for its crispy mortadella sandwiches and its natural wine. We drank through their full range of Pet Nats (obvs) and ended on a juicy carbonic red (Pinot Noir & Chardonnay) with the sandwich, which was as good as everyone said it would be.
The night wasn’t over yet though, in San Francisco you can go clubbing and still drink natural wine. Yes, that’s right, natural wine in a club. We headed to the now already legendary Bar Part Time - we drank something great here (several times), but by now we were jet lagged and too drunk to remember. Big shout out to DJ’s Xica Soul & Sonrisita who were amazing before Lyft took us home.
We will be back with another KERB on tour blog soon, to stay tuned, keep your eyes on our site!
