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The 3rd annual New York City Raw Wine Fair was held on November 4-5. This is the latest stop in an itinerary that has stopped at or will stop at London, Berlin, Montreal and Los Angeles. The New York event was held in a warehouse venue at 99 Scott Avenue in trendy Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Raw Wine is “committed to empowering wine drinkers through real informed choices” with wines that have “emotion and living presence”. The fair was an opportunity to try low intervention organic, natural and biodynamic wines from over 140 wine makers and growers.

According to Beverage Media Group, a trade publication, “green wines” are a small niche in the United States with 1% of wines by volume but has grown by 10% volume growth outpacing total wine growth which is nearly flat. When it comes to natural, organic and biodynamic wines, the rules can be a little fuzzy but basically they are wines made with minimal manipulation. I remember a time when the selection of these wines were pretty limited and the common theme through most of them was “funky”.

I attended on Sunday afternoon which was a beautiful Autumn day and the venue was packed with people. These guys are the mad scientists of the wine world which made for a lot of interesting characters at the fest, most are small producers and I wasn’t familiar with many of the labels except for a couple of California producers. Usually at a mass tasting like this I try to have a focus on what I will try but today I just wandered around the rooms stopping at tables that looked interesting (and not have a mob of people surrounding it).

Some of what I sampled:

Couquelicot Estate (Santa Ynez Valley) 2015 Malbec, 2015 Rose & Son Red, 2016 Rose & Son Red

Lo-Fi Wines (Santa Barbara) 2016 Grenache Noir, 2017 Cabernet Franc Couquelicot Vineyard, 2017 Malbec

Hiyu Winery (Oregon) 2016 Falcon Box, 2016 Columba, 2015 Argo Iris

Swick Winery (Oregon) 2017 Pinot Noir, 2017 Bring It, 2017 Un Oeuf

Domaine de l’Ecu (Loire) 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Rednoz, 2015 Cabernet Franc Mephisto, 2017 Syrah Noblis

La Baronne (Rousillon) 2017 Grenache Gris De Jean, 2017 Les Chemins de Traverse

Chateau Guadet (St-Emillion) 2014 Grand Cru Classe Red

Closerie Saint Roc (Bordeaux) 2015, 2016 Red

Collina del Pernione (Lombardy) 2016 Agnore, 2017 Alma

I Mandorli (Tuscany) 2012 Sangiovese, 2015 Cabernet

Castello Poggiarello (Tuscany) 2012 Collerosso

Amepeleia (Tuscany) 2017 Cabernet Franc, 2017 Carignano

Il Monte (Veneto) 2016 Valpolicella Superiore, 2015 Amarone

Paolo & Lorenzo Marchionni (Tuscany) 2016 Rossovigliano, 2015 L’Erta Poggio della Bruna

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The Raw Wine Fair was held in London and Berlin before coming to New York City on November 5-6. The festival was created and organized by Isabelle Legeron as a forum for wines that reject the industrial and over manipulated big brands for wines that are authentic, low intervention, organic and biodynamic and grown with sustainable agricultural practices.

The fair was held in a warehouse space in the industrial, graffiti-filled hipster neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn at 99 Scott Avenue. There were over 100 growers showcasing their wines.

The grey, misty weather didn’t keep people from the event and it seemed they had more wineries in attendance this year than in last.

Some of what I sampled:

Castagna Winery. Haven’t tried many biodynamic wines from Australia and haven’t tried many Australian wines made from Sangiovese. 2013 “Un Segreto”. a Sangiovese and Syrah blend, medium red, tar notes on the nose, starts chewy and ends with firm acidity. 2013 “La Chiave”, all Sangiovese, medium red, tar and violet notes on the nose, tight, bitter cherry fruit, medium finish.

Clos de Caveau. A winery in Vacqueyras, Rhone Valley. 2014 “Carmen Brillant”: Medium red, closed nose of red berries, concentrated, silky fruit with tobacco notes and roast nuts on the nice balance. 2015 “Fruit Savage“: Medium purple, closed nose of black licorice, chunky, crushed rocks on the fruit, balanced, moderate long finish.

2015 Sine Felle Toscana Bianca: Orange wine from the Malvasia varietal, dark orange with orange peel notes on the nose, earthy with good balance.

2009 Sine Felle  Chianti Riserva: Dark amber, bright red leather on the nose, chewy licorice fruit, nice grip at the end, long finish.

2016 Sine Felle Canaiolo: This varietal used in Chianti is not normally bottled on its own, medium red, sour cherry on the nose, sour, bitter cherry on the fruit ending with some funkiness on the fruit.

2014 Rocca di Carpeneto “Erche”: Dolcetto, dark red, violet, green herbs on the nose chewy slate on the fruit, firm tannins.

2013 Podere Borgaruccio “Rivale”: Medium red, crushed fresh rosemary and some petroleum on the nose with dusty, mouth coating tannins on the moderate finish.

2015 The Scholium Project “The prince in his cave”: An orange wine made from Sauvignon Blanc, dark orange in color, orange peel on the nose, moderate fruit with orange peel fruit, good balance.

2014 The Scholium Project “Sylph”: Chardonnay, light gold in color, damp earth on the nose, ripe fruit.

2015 Pallazzo Tronconi “Mocevo”: Sangiovese and Merlot blend, dark red to black, cooked red berry on the nose, mouth coating tannins, balanced.

2015 Pallazzo Tronconi “Donnico”: Made from indigenous grape varietal Olivella, dark purple, smoky, cooked earth on the nose, bright red fruit.