In the spotlight
Lara from Vaime Wines
You might recognise her from some of the recent events at Fiasco where she’s been lending a helping hand, but more than that, Lara is very much a key person in the Amsterdam natural wine scene. If you’ve tried one of the incredible Georgian wines that she imports and sells, you know what I mean. And for those of you who are new to Lara and Vaime Wines, don’t worry - we’ve got you covered.
Q: In a couple of sentences, tell us about Vaime Wimes.
A: We import delicious natural wine from Georgia. We work with winemakers who use native grape varieties and the traditional Qvevri-method.
Q: What about You personally, why are you working with this? What's your story?
A: A few years ago i went on a trip to Georgia, on my first night there I drank an amazing orange wine and completely fell in love with Georgian wines. I met my business partner on the same trip and before I knew it I was going back as often as possible. I would always fill up my suitcase with Georgian wines (to the point my friends there were making fun of me), I've since upgraded my suitcase to palettes and that's how Vaime Wines was born!
Q: What is your favourite bottle in your store right now, and Why should we all buy one?
A: My favourite wine right now is a new wine: Super Ravi by Lapati Wines. They use a Saperavi grape, one of most used red grapes in Georgia. It normally creates very intense wines with a lot of tannins, but because Lapati Wines used the carbonic maceration technique (a technique where whole grape clusters are fermented without crushing them first, mostly known for wines from the Beaujolais region), this specific wine is more poppy and the red fruit notes are more prominent.
After the past year everyones had, you definitely don't need an excuse to drink this wine! However, it's definitely a great wine to impress at dinner parties - it's one that gets noticed and asked about the most.
Q: From your shop right now, name a bottle that you consider to be the perfect MOOD BOOSTER (i.e. a pick-me-up after a long, dark and cold winter… for example, a fun, light and friendly wine or something with exciting energy).
A: A wine I just got in is the Buera from Tedo Marani. It has 17 months of skin contact and is very rich in flavour. It is a proper grown-ups wine but brings me so much comfort and excitement. The perfect Mood Booster!
Lara with the first Vaime Wines pallet