Bar Brava's James Beard Nod is Already a Win, And Not Just For The Midwest

What a Minneapolis wine bar's nomination for Outstanding Wine Program says about the future of natural wine in America

“You can’t write about these wines,” my editor would sigh with the same exasperation as the month before, and the month before that. “This is a national magazine, and you can’t get these wines in the Midwest.”

“This is how we get these wines in the Midwest!” I’d counter before arguing about recipes that had been published that required equally elusive ingredients. I’d win the article, but often lose another editor. I was stubborn and idealistic, maybe even a little megalomaniacal—convinced I could single-handedly democratize taste from the corner of my couch.

I wanted natural wine to be an open invitation for everyone everywhere; not some smug coastal party where sorry, you’re not on the list.

That is how the wine world had made me feel, and it’s why I was so hell-bent on using my platform to give the wines I loved visibility, and hopefully, more accessibility. The notion was generally deemed improbable, if not impossible. Most people cited a supply issue, to which I call bullshit. Peo…