Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Bar Serving Only Natural Wines to Open in Cobble Hill

By Nikhita Venugopal | January 21, 2015 8:20am

COBBLE HILL — A new "natural wine" bar in Cobble Hill is foregoing commercial brands for smaller vineyards that steer clear of chemicals and give patrons a "farm-to-table" drinking experience, owners said.

June, opening Thursday at 231 Court St., will be one of the few natural wine bars in Brooklyn, said co-owner Tom Kearney, who also runs The Farm on Adderley

Natural wines are primarily made in small-scale wineries with the least possible use of chemicals, additives or “technological manipulation" — a seemingly old-school process that is attracting the interest of wine enthusiasts, Kearney said.

"It’s more compelling for people to know that there’s less manipulation,” he said. “We just live in a time where people are a bit more interested in traceability.”

The natural wine movement, which began in France, is fairly widespread in Europe — particularly France's Loire Valley — but is still small in the United States. 

“You’re growing grapes with minimal to no intervention in the vineyard,” he said.

Natural wines are often made with indigenous yeast and little to no additional sulfur, which is used as a preservative in commercial wines "to protect the wine from oxidizing or possibly re-fermenting in the bottle, and to kill off bacteria," according to reports

"People want a wine that’s alive and not dead,” Kearney said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires that wine bottles carry a warning label for sulfites because of allergic reactions that the chemical could cause, especially for asthmatics. However, only a very small population of people have such reactions to sulfites.

June will serve wines from countries like France, Italy, Spain and the United States as well as a curated cocktail list with a focus on vermouths, aromatized wines, aperitifs and digestifs.

Even though natural wines have been criticized for being "funky" — due, in part, to the lack of preservatives and filtration — newcomers won’t take long to appreciate natural wines over commercial ones, Kearney added.

“There’s a really obvious difference when you get to taste them side by side,” said Kearney, who is opening the space with Henry Rich, the managing partner of Rucola.

The new bar will take over the space that previously housed Van Horn, which closed last year.

Wine consultant Nick Gorevic, who helped curate June's selection, said the menu is very approachable for novice natural wine drinkers.

For patrons looking for a familiar white wine, Gorevic recommended the Grange Tiphaine Trinq'ames, a Sauvignon Blanc from France's Loire Valley. He also suggested the Poggiosecco Chianti from Tuscany in Italy for a simple red. 

"I don't think anyone will be disappointed in drinking it," he said.

Wines will be poured by the glass or carafe with prices per glass ranging from $8 to $14 and carafes going for between $11 and $22. Some wines will only be served by the bottle. 

The bar will open on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and will close at about midnight.