Trumans Brewery, Brick Lane
9 days to go. The countdown has begun...
You know you're nearly there when spittoons
start arriving and you sign off on catalogue proofs. We
are now officially excited.
Speaker's
Corner
Our 2013 talks' pages are up on the site.
We are not taking bookings for the talks & tastings this year, instead
places will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis so please make sure
you arrive promptly to avoid disappointment.
Sunday
features the likes of...
Fiona Beckett in Montlouis during 2010 harvest
the Guardian's Fiona Beckett, who will be
leading a tasting on matching 'RAW Cheese & RAW Wine', followed by...
the FT's Jancis Robinson MW together with
her co-authors Julia Harding MW and Dr José Vouillamoz who will be leading a
tasting on unsual grape varieties, and will be signing copies of their new book
Wine Grapes, which will be for sale at the Pages of Hackney stand at the fair
for a discounted rate. This is only the second time that the trio have come
together to co-present a tasting!
Dr José Vouillamoz
After the huge success of last year's
appearance, the reknowned chocolatier paul.a.young is back for another
chocolate & wine pairing with our crazy French woman, Isabelle Legeron MW.
Isabelle Legeron MW
Monday
is awash with fascinating talks that are already causing a bit of a stir in
wine circles.
First off, we have a talk by Europe's only
importer of pure rice sake, explaining the ins and outs of this grossly
misunderstood drink. Come & explore to find out what constitutes pure sake
and why it is so rare.
Second, there's a fascinating talk about
the relationship between biodiversity and quality in wine. Hans-Pieter Schmidt,
founder of the experimental vineyard Mythopia, is giving the talk and will even
be releasing exciting new research into vineyard yeast populations, including
extraordinary insights into where they come from...
Third, there's "Clay Pots"! A
talk/tasting on the wonders of producing wine in clay - be it kvevri (or
'qvevri'), amphorae or tinajas. This tasting will feature some of the world's
clay pot maestros, including Foradori, Bannwarth, Mathier and Barisashvili, and
will be chaired by Steffen Hansen, founder of kvevri.org. (This tasting is
kindly sponsored by the Georgian National Wine Agency, part of the Ministry of
Agriculture).
Finally, last but not least, the
much-talked about 'No-added SO2', myth-busting talk/tasting, featuring world
authorities on the subject as well as mature examples of wines produced without
the use of SO2, including one from 1983... As you will find out, no-added SO2
wines are stable, they do age and do travel.
As well as the Wine Grapes trio who will be
signing copies of their magnum opus at stand 2, there will also be an exclusive
booksigning
by reknowned British artist Hannah Collins at the Large Glass stand.
The space will feature examples of Hannah's work that resulted from her
explorations into the art of cooking, as well as copies of her book The Fragile
Feast - Routes to Ferran Adrià. Hannah will even be making an appearance
herself at 3 pm.
The Fragile Feast is a behind-the-scenes
portrait that traces thirty emblematic elBulli ingredients back to their
source. The project saw Hannah journey through Europe, Latin America and Japan,
photographing still lives of RAW produce such as Japanese kudzu, Italian honey
from nomadic bees and Pyrenean pines. As Ferran Adrià says “looking at the
astonishing and powerful images Hannah took of the anemones, I ask myself: are
they really so bizarre? But I don't think there is anything strange about food,
more that people have become estranged from it”. Hannah's images reconnect
place and dish by illustrating the provenance of products, each "with its
own specific area, or people who ahve worked with it for a long time, very
often following techniques and processes handed down from generation to
generation" (Adrià).
We have also announced the artisan food
producers from around London, who will be part of RAW this year. Jamie Oliver’s
favourite cakemaker Claire Ptak & her Violet Cakes are back again this
year, as well as Stokey's smoked salmon by Hansen & Lydersen and the Spa
road & Maltby Street favourites: Coleman Coffee and Neal’s Yard Dairy, the
British cheese specialist. New additions this year are Mons Cheese from Spa
Road, Antidote - London's oldest natural wine bar & Soho stalwart, and
Wapping's Victualler, who will be shucking British oysters.
This year the Elliot's team is moving onto
the outdoor patio and are hosting their very own pop-up wood-fired grill, complete
with single species wood & Lord Logs too...
RAW 'Offs'
Given that nearly 170 of the world's best
growers are descending on the capital, it is somewhat inevitable that mini
RAWs, or rather RAW Events, featuring the growers in various ways, are taking place
around the capital.
On our side, we are ourselves involved in
two (see below), and we are delighted to announce that early next week we will
be publishing a blog post that lists all the 'offs' that we know are taking
place around the capital either side of RAW. So if you are a
shop/importer/restaurant/grower/or general wine aficionado hosting a RAW
related event - perhaps you are throwing a grower's dinner, or featuring
particular wines on your list or are just generally having a party - let us
know and we will include you on the blog. You have until Tuesday to send us
your event.
Our new blog posts are announced on our
twitter and facebook feeds, so if you want to know what RAW-ness is taking
place around London, make sure you 'like' or 'follow' us on social media.
Falling
Leaves
Award-winning film screening at the
Institut Français, with guest appearance by legendary director.
We are delighted to present a
screening-cum-wine-tasting, of the Georgian classic 'Falling Leaves' (Winner of
the FIPRESCI critics award at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival), which tells the
story of young idealist winemaker and his first job at the local state winery.
This charming, humoristic coming-of-age film is extraordinary not just as
commentary on Soviet bureaucracy, or as an ode to those who stick by
their convictions, but because it is unbelievably avant-garde for being far
ahead of its time in questioning production practices that are all to familiar
to wine around the world today.
The screening will be accompanied by a
glass of Georgian wine and most importantly, by a Q&A with the film’s
award-winning Director, Otar Iosseliani, who is travelling from Paris
specifically for the occasion. For further information & tickets, visit the
Ciné Lumière website, part of l'Institut Français.
Don't forget to buy your tickets to RAW in
advance. They're cheaper online & you can WIN a set of fine, crystal,
mouth-blown, Zalto glasses worth £250...
If you are trade, please do not forget to
pre-register online, otherwise you will have to fill out your details on the
day, and if last year is anything to go by, there are likely to be
queues.
