RAW gears up for NYC debut

Natural and artisan wine show RAW is gearing up for its debut in New York after tickets went on sale this week.

The show, which takes place in converted warehouse in Brooklyn’s Bushwick area on 6 – 7 November 2016, is targeting the “untapped” US market where there has been a growing trend for natural wines based around urban hubs on the East and West Coast, primarily in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, RAW founder Isabelle Legerons MW says.

The organisers hope to attract around 1,000 visitors over the course of the two days.

New York is the fourth city to host the trade shows that specializes in natural, organic and biodynamic wines, after London, Vienna (2014) and Berlin (2015). This year the team ran a pop-up wine bar celebrating 100 low-intervention organic, biodynamic and natural wines in the two weeks leading up to the fifth annual RAW London in May, and is set to return to Berlin for a second year at the end of November.

The organisers said the two-day fair would showcase some of the world’s “best” new wine talent and lead the charge for transparency by driving the conversation to know what is in the glass and providing consumers with greater clarity.

Around 115 US suppliers have confirmed attendance, including Californinan producers AmByth Estate, Coturri Winery, Dirty and Rowdy, Hardesty Cellars, 
Hobo Wines, Kelley Fox Wines, Living Wine Collective, Lo­Fi Wines, Donkey & Goat, Old World Winery, Vinca Minor,
 New York’s Bloomer Creek Vineyard, Texas’s La Cruz de Comal Wines and Day Wines,
 Eyrie Vineyards, Montebruno Wine, Swick Wines and Via Vecchia from Ohio.

RAW founder Isabelle Legeron MW, previously told db the untapped potential for natural wine in the USA was “huge”, but there were fears that lack of capacity was holding it back by making it difficult for bars to secure adequate allocations.