Meredith Lindemon
Last year, the first Encounter Wine Fair was named one of the Richmond Times-Dispatch's best events of the year and creator Ashley Patino was named an RTD Dining All-Star.
This year, Encounter Wine Fair returns for a second year on Sunday with even more to learn about natural wine.
The event celebrates natural wines, which are made with organic farming practices, and hand harvested grapes with no pesticides.
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Patino, owner of Pizza Bones, spearheaded the event last year and expects 300 people to show up this year at the main event held at Studio Two Three (109 W. 15th St.), with satellite events held throughout town in locations like Second Bottle Wine and Snack Shop (324 N. 27th St.) or Afterglow Coffee Cooperative (1719 Summit Ave.). These satellite locations will be holding tastings of their own, in partnership with the Encounter Wine Fair. While the main event is sold out, guests don't need to have a ticket to attend the satellite events. The list of satellite events is on the Encounter Wine Fair's website.
Of her inspiration to bring an event like this to Richmond, Patino said, "I had a stint in California where I was mostly a baker. I was also interested in the wine scene that was happening around San Francisco, in the Bay Area. I would get off work and drink wine.
"I also went to a fair out there, Brumaire [a natural wine fair in Oakland], that would happen annually and it was always fun to experience that side of the wine world. When I moved back to Virginia, it was my intention to open Pizza Bones, but I wanted to bring some of that natural wine culture back with me. That's why we have Friend Bar."
Friend Bar is one side of Pizza Bones that carries specialty wines for retail and tastings. Encounter is the culmination of Patino's work to date in the Richmond food and wine scene. She said, "We would annually have a smaller tasting fair called Bones Giving for the first two years we were open. Then by the time year three rolled around, I approached some friends in the neighborhood and said, 'I want to get ahead on this and I want more producers to come to Virginia.' That's what turned into Encounter."
Evrim Dogu, owner of Sub Rosa and a member of the Encounter Wine Fair's advisory board, worked with Patino on getting her idea off the ground. He acted as organizer for the event, connecting people to wine makers. He said, "A producer fair focusing on natural wines is exciting for Richmond, exciting for the people in the industry and also for people who haven't had access or any connection with natural wine."
"The satellite events are smaller tastings and dinners or talks of various kinds depending on the venue," Patino said. "Sunday is the actual tasting and the first couple hours are for industry professionals only, and then it opens up to the ticketed public."
The main event is being held at Studio Two Three. Last year it was held at the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU. She said that her group is organizing events throughout the city to drum up excitement for the diverse and inclusive event. Proceeds from ticket sales ($45) go to support Studio Two Three, a nonprofit arts space.
"This event is important to me because it's drawn from my experiences of not being in the wine world, but wanting to be," Patino said. "Wine fairs are meant for industry folk, distributors looking for new wine makers. But, often times, [participants from the general public] get lost. You'll taste a bunch of wines you might never see again. You'll taste wines you'll forget about and that can be a frustrating experience."
She explained that the industry wine events can be a bit cliquey, may be over-crowded and difficult to navigate. "I'm taking the things I like about other fairs and putting them together to create something approachable and meant for people who want to learn more about wine," she said.
If people have a ticket to the fair itself, they have an opportunity to taste wines and purchase merchandise from the satellite events on Saturday, learning about natural wine along the way. The first few hours of the main event are for industry professionals only (Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.), the second portion of the event is open to the ticketed public (Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.). The event is already sold-out.
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Meredith Lindemon (804) 649-6029
mlindemon@timesdispatch.com
More info:
Encounter Wine Fair: encounterwinerva.com
Meredith Lindemon
Food and Drink Reporter
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