OUR WINE SERVICE IS A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD
With every service, 12-14 wines are sampled in 12-14 small pours (about 1/4 to 1/3 of a glass of each). Most are very intentionally paired with a bite or a dish or a series of bites. We take you AROUND THE WORLD with wine, literally. Usually, we’re trying out a new one. Always, we’re fiddling, tweaking and learning.
OUR WAY IS DRIVEN BY OUR SPACE AND MODEL
The size of our space, how hidden it is and the fact that we have very very little storage space all drive how we handle the wine service. Also, our business model for a room that only seats 12 limits our ability to do the standard / traditional wine thing. Good news is, we’ve found that it actually liberated us, and our guests. It created all kinds of new opportunities. The benefits far out weight the limitations. It’s less, “we cant do that” and more, “look what we get to do!”
HOW IT WORKS - JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD
We feature lesser know grapes and natural processes from all 6 wine producing continents. Wines from Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia or New Zealand, N. America and S. America are all sampled. We’ll get weird with Pet Nats and grapes many have never heard of or tried. We’ll travel through time and space with wines from The Republic of Georgia (the birthplace of viticulture), The Canary Islands (an Volcanic African Archipelago) and onward to Chile, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany and New York!
We enjoy busing myths and telling stories about wine just as much as we do with seafood. Our tiny space and intimate setting leads to discussions about all things and often we have guests who have amazing perspectives on wine. So, we ALL learn from their experience and observations. We didn’t design for that or even anticipate it but it is truly magical to see how our guests can add value to the experience.
GAIN IN EQUAL PROPORTION TO WHAT YOU GIVE UP
Our model allows our guests to try things many of them have never heard of. Join us and GET WEIRD together…you will find something you are surprised by in the the process. We promise. Like an Orange Pet Nat? How about a Diego Seco from a Volcanic African Archipelago? A fizzy Chilean Rose?
Put your palate on “Discovery Mode” like you might your ears when streaming music, and we’ll find some new favorites, together. Let’s juxtapose a traditional Spanish Albarino with a bubbly version of the same grape, grown in CA. Drink Txacoli from the Porron like a Basque! We challenge you to experience wines in fun new way. If you fall in love with one of these wines, great. Now you know. We’ve just expanded your wine universe and that’ll bring you joy in the future. Also, if you want to take some bottles home, great. We can do that too. This way you don’t have to go wine hunting to find it at retail.
THE STANDARD / TRADITIONAL WAY DOES NOT FIT OUR MODEL
Wines by the glass or bottle don’t work with RAW LAB. Or, to say it better, its not the best way to do it. Also, a few other things:
You can get that EVERYWHERE ELSE, every day of the year
The “go to” varieties (Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio) will be there, elsewhere, everywhere, forever.
A full glass of wine would last for several bites or courses, in some cases. We’d like to mix up the pairings for you more since we have the time, space and attention to share with each other. We are able to compare impressions, explore preferences more deeply and learn much more in the process.
RED WINE DRINKERS
Those who drink red wine exclusively can be hesitant to join us. We can certainly appreciate the dedication to fine red wine (and we can accommodate you, if you like). But more often than not, red wine drinkers come away from this saying: “ Wow, I had no idea I could enjoy white, rose and orange wines so much!”.