THE ENTHUSIASM IS CONTAGIOUS. In the case of Jen and Sarah, maybe that’s because they are natural partners, they have a great idea, they understand their market, and, most importantly, everything in their lives seems to have led up to this moment. They’re starting something that Santa Fe doesn’t have: a natural wine shop with weirdly curated coffee, an eclectic grocery, in-house courses on food and wine, and numerous spots to store the kids while the adults read, drink, or eat. The shop also happens to be on the spot where the historic Josie’s turned out the “best enchiladas of the century.” So they have a lot to live up to. But they know this, and somehow, as they say, it might be just what Santa Fe needs.
You both moved here from Brooklyn?
Jen: Separately. We actually met here and discovered that we had probably been around each other in Brooklyn because I used to go to the restaurant where Sarah tended bar. It was literally my favorite restaurant. We also found out we lived on the same street! So we both came here and immediately felt like there was something missing, something that didn’t exist in Santa Fe. We felt like if we wanted it, other people must want it too.
What was it?
Jen: LaMama. A place to buy and drink natural wine.
See, there are two parts of the wine-making process. First, there’s growing and harvesting the grapes. Natural wine producers tend to be organic, biodynamic, or sustainable – basically, they employ some form of responsible grape growing. Usually, it means no pesticides. In the EU, they’re not allowed to use pesticides. But in America, you still can.
The second part is making the wine. In the United States, you are allowed to add up to seventy-six different chemicals during the wine-making process. But with natural wine, there are none other than what’s naturally occurring in the yeast. Some producers will add a tiny bit of sulfites towards the end of the process, but others are religious about not adding anything.
We believe that this natural growing and processing of the grapes is important not only for people but also for the earth, the soil. It also ends up being very different-tasting wine – super interesting and exciting. Natural wine has actually been around for about twenty years. Of course, before the ’50s and pesticides, it was all that way.
How did you learn all of this?
Sarah: Marlowe and Sons and Diner are the two restaurants I worked at in New York. My wine and food education came from there. That’s where I learned to understand the taste difference of beautiful natural wine. We want to bring that here. The natural wine movement is happening in New Mexico!
Jen: And it’s not just wine. LaMama has a European kind of feeling where you can go and get food or flowers, have an espresso at the bar, or meet a friend for a cheese plate and glass of wine.
Sarah: And you’re drinking wine that’s doing the earth good and doing your body good.
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Photo SFM
