“Our ultimate mission is to build a community of curious drinkers who care deeply about the origin stories of the products they consume. “
Illustration by Jennifer McClory
What is natural wine?
In the most simple of terms, natural wine can be understood as nothing added, nothing removed. The process of production is associated with low-intervention methods such as no herbicides or pesticides, hand-harvesting of the grapes, and rare use of additives (low levels of sulfites are occasionally used during the bottling process).
Natural wine has been a thing for a while now, and I must say I was pretty quick to jump on that bandwagon several years ago. My apartment in Berlin was directly across the street from the amazing guys at Rocket Wine, and I am friends with the founder of Plain Wine who ended up being an integral part of my natural wine education (any European readers out there would do well to get a monthly subscription to Plain). In fact, when I made the move from the urban confines of Berlin to the sprawling New Jersey suburbs my expectations were fairly low when it came to finding a source similar to the caliber to which I had become accustomed. But behold the serendipity or the power of Bacchus, or whatever, because within weeks of my transcontinental move, Neighbors Wine Shop* opened a couple blocks away from my new house in South Orange. It was such a joy to discover this shop and meet Katrina and Chris Handy, the lovely and knowledgeable purveyors of the only wine shop I care to frequent in our two towns.
Given that Chris and Katrina were some of the first people I met after moving to town, and how much I’ve come to adore them and their shop, they were among the first people I thought to interview when I started this little project. So, after a couple mishaps entirely of my own making here we are.
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Name: Katrina handy
Place of birth: houston, texas
Places lived: brunei, malaysia, nyc
Current city: millburn, New Jersey
Occupation: Owner, Neighbors
Afield: Ok, let’s start with an easy one: Italy or France? (full disclosure: my husband is from Tuscany so I had to ask)
Chris Handy: We love both for a variety of reasons, but I think we’d have to go with France. Before our wine adventures, we were, and still are foodies at heart. French cuisine is so amazing and they incorporate the wine as part of it so deeply. Italian wines are so connected with the people and regions in a way you really need to be there to truly understand. In the coming years, as we travel to more of these countries for the store, we hope to tell the origin stories in a more personal manner.
A: How did you decide to open up a shop focused on natural wine?
CH: Basically we saw a hole in the market. None of us had a background in wine, but when we moved to the area we were looking for stuff that we would actually want to drink. So Katrina and I, along with some friends (the other founders have since moved on) decided to open up a shop ourselves. Things just kind of fell into place for us in terms of finding the space and getting a liquor license. We were really lucky.
A: How would you define your mission?
Katrina Handy: Our ultimate mission is to build a community of curious drinkers who care deeply about the origin stories of the products they consume. In a time of overwhelming mass production, we want to tell the story of the small producers and the unique regions. And we strive to give our customers a great experience, whether they’re shopping online or in the store…we just want people to really enjoy our products.
A: How do you source your wine?
CH: Finding good distributors is key. Someone who has already gone through the extensive curation process. In fact, this was one positive side effect of opening a wine business during a pandemic. Some of the most amazing distributors, who under normal circumstances wouldn’t have extended their offerings to a new wine shop in New Jersey, were more amenable to the idea as New York restaurants were shuttering or limiting their business.
SNAPSHOT
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SNAPSHOT –
Name: chris handy
Place of birth: New york
Places lived: maplewood, manhattan, atlanta
Current city: millburn, New Jersey
Occupation: Owner, neighbors
A: What’s happening in the drinking space these days?
CH: Thanks to technological advances, the ability for wine producers to really extract the pure flavors is getting better and better. So you’re getting lighter, fresher style wines that in the past would not have been so tuned into the actual fruit flavors. Back in the day producers would cover the traits of these wines with oak or the post-fermentation processes. But these days people actually want a lighter style of wine in general.
A: And what’s on the horizon?
KH: There is an explosion of products coming to market these days. In terms of wine, a lot of places are reviving native varietals that were lost or ignored in favor of the more popular grapes. So what’s next in some places is really what has always been there.
Speaking of local varietals, New York is producing some of the finest ciders in the world. There are over 125 producers there such as Rose Hill, Greenpoint Cidery and Blackduck making some really elegant ciders. We plan to continue bringing more into the store.
CH: There’s also a lot of interest in low-alcohol content wines, people are looking for something they can drink casually and enjoy without eating food. And something chillable.
A: Any interesting insights into the SOMa customer?
KH: Maybe a few! I would say the beer people are the most knowledgeable in terms of producers and what they are looking for. Craft beer is definitely not new to this area and it shows. People tend to go for lighter, more refreshing wines which fits with what we like to carry. Spirits folks can be tricky since they are very brand loyal, so it can be more challenging to have them try something new.
People are also drawn to the really funky labels especially in wine and beer. Back in the day, if a wine bottle didn’t have a traditional label, people would think it was a cheap or bad product. I would say it is almost the opposite these days. I think since the community here is very artistic, they resonate more with these.
A: So what are your thoughts on choosing wine by the label? Something I definitely tend to do…
CH: Why not? But at the same time some of our favorite wines have less than designy labels like this Agostina Pieri - Brunello di Montalcino 2017 from Italy. So good!
Afield Guide
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Afield Guide –
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Can we give more than one answer? La Villa Mexican and Salvadoran food is our favorite go-to local spot. Their tostadas are our favorites. Semi-Local would be Tasty Moment in Edison which specializes in Szechuan food. We love the spice!
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This is an impossible question for foodies like us! If we had to choose one, then it would be Brushstroke in Tribeca which is now closed. It was a Japanese restaurant that was half Omakase and half Sushi.
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Light Years wine bar in Houston.
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Aviation
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We love to go to upstate NY, especially to go hiking and see family in Monticello.
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This is killing us! If we had to pick one, then it would probably be Italy. We went there for almost 2 weeks and got to see so many amazing places. Lake Como was the most relaxing, Venice had some of the best food and scenery, the town square in Bologna even had a movie night, and the art from Florence was breathtaking. Unfortunately that was where the trip stopped so we still have southern Italy to conquer next time.
A: What is your favorite thing about running a business in SOMA?
KH: It’s definitely the creative energy that embodies the community. We see it in the events that we’ve been a part of, but we also see it in a lot of the small businesses that have been popping up as of late. We are especially excited about a lot of the redevelopment happening in downtown South Orange in regards to the new Master Plan and the reimagining of how people will live here. With Covid and everyone working from home more now, our community has a much bigger impact than before so any improvements are welcome.
A: What do you think is missing in SOMa?
KH: Our favorite bar in NYC was Little Branch, a little speakeasy with amazing cocktails and great vibe. SOMa could definitely use one of those.
A: If you could only drink one bottle of wine for the rest of your life it would be...
CH: Anything from Hofgut Falkenstein, a German wine producer in the Mosel. As amazing as their Rieslings are, their Pinot Noir is one of our favorites.
A: What are the wine-related Instagram accounts we should be following?
KH &. CH: @ericwareheim, @fossilandfawn, @vomboden, @pascalinelepeltier, @shittywinememes, @gutoggau, @super_glou, @soilpimp, @milannestarec
A: So, what’s next for Neighbors?.
KH: Lots of projects “brewing” for us this year.... be on the look out for announcements!
*Neighbors does sell a great deal more than wine. They also have a great selection of craft beers, liquor, ready-to-drink cocktails and the like.
Chris and Katrina Handy are the owners of Neighbors Wine Shop in South Orange, New Jersey
