17 May All the fun of the fair: RAW WINE

I joined in the fun at RAW WINE, the independent wine fair created by ‘That Crazy French Woman’, & which was held this year on 15-16 May.

‘That Crazy French Woman’ is none other than Isabelle Legeron MW (Master of Wine). She has created something with a real vibe at RAW WINE, also held in Berlin.

This year it was, as usual, in the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane in London’s East End. (I so want to move East… NorthWest, where I live, is so boring!)

Now, I’m not a wine critic, but I’ve built up a love & appreciation of good wine, at every price range… & usually what I like is natural wine, especially biodynamic wine. As Isabelle describes, we ‘ingest’ wine like food… or at least when we drink natural wine.

The fair this year was attended by more than 200 producers.

Magic of meeting the producers

Meeting the producers, as I have learnt from my trips to Champagne & Burgundy, brings the wine alive, giving it meaning… there are some great personalities & some great stories.

Food & wine

RAW WINE is also a great place to sample good food… I had a delicious late lunch, at 4pm, from Raw & Duck of a courgette, mint & broad bean salad, followed by cheese from Mons Cheesemongers. Just a few of the other great names present included Antidote and the Little Bread Pedlar … & many more!

Vintage teas

A RAW newcomer this year was Postcard Teas. I just loved their 1995 Puerh… heaven on earth. Like wine, tea has vintages.

And my prize for the most photogenic team goes to Taberna do Mercado. At this Portuguese restaurant of Nuno Mendes & head chef Antonio Galapito really know how to  pose for the camera! Thank you guys! UPDATE: The restaurant is no longer, so I hope all these guys are all OK.

You might like to read my other posts on wine. There is a French bias!