One event in April, one in May–expect a separate email invitation to each, with a few details and RSVP.

Explore the World of Natural Wines, Thursday April 27, 5:30pm, at Nico Wines (1710 ‘R’ Street). “Natural” wines are very hot and trendy in the world of wine, and Nico Wines is a super-cool, newish wine shop and bar in Midtown. Basically “natural” as a descriptor of wine is sort of like “organic” as a descriptor of food–it can mean a lot of different things. The basic idea is winemaking with minimal technical interventions on the part of the winemaker, and maximal trust in the grapes and natural process of fermentation. Natural wines are less technically controlled than conventionally made wines, and the results are a bit less predictable, too. One common thread of the vast majority of wines at Nico is fermentation with wild yeast, rather than industrially-produced yeast strains. The format of this event is pretty simple: order a pre-arranged, tasting flight of three natural wines ($20), then you are on your own to explore the menu. Talented Amateur will host a cheese tray, but all the wine is no-host. The tasting flight will include:

• A pettilant naturel or “pet-nat” sparkling wine–these wines are basically the ancient pre-cursors to champagne, with the wine fermenting in the bottle and generating a bit of fizz. The yeast is not disgorged from the bottle, like it is in champagne, so the wine is often a bit hazy. I have tried a couple of these wines, and they can be delightful and refreshing–great for the warm weather theoretically coming at us.
• An orange wine–again, an ancient method of wine making, orange wine is made with white wine grapes, but with more time on the grape skins, resulting in the orange hue and a bit more tannin than the white wines we are used to. The colors of some of these wines can be utterly gorgeous, though unexpected, and the flavors are much stronger and nuttier than most white wines.
• A chill-able red wine–chillable reds are a bit higher in acidity, and lower in tannin and alcohol, and are a specialty at Nico. Again, a great wine style to explore now that warmer days are coming.

Nicholas Corich, owner of Nico Wine, will be around to answer questions–he is really knowledgeable about natural wines. I am really excited about this event, and hope as many subscribers as possible can make it.

Blind Tasting #2, Sunday May 21, 4:00pm at TA Headquarters. Details of this tasting will go out to all subscribers via email. Participants in the TABT #1 suggested some themes, those will be part of a later poll of likely participants for TABT #2. TA will supply a couple of the wines, but participating subscribers will be invited to put a wine into the flights being tasted.