Ep. 10: Crislaine Medina of Le Cheval d'Or

12/12/23 • 40 min

I realized [natural] winemakers in particular were outsiders in their communities, too, in a way. And I’ve always been kind of an underdog, an outsider. - Crislaine Medina

What does Crislaine Medina, the Cape Verde-born co-proprietor of Paris 19th arrondissement restaurant Le Cheval d’Or, have in common with legendary MCs MF Doom and 21 Savage? She, too, ran into trouble in the USA as a longtime illegal immigrant. In her case, after high school in Bucks Country, Pennsylvania, she found herself ineligible for university tuition aid in the USA. It inspired her to move to Paris, where alongside studies in literature she apprenticed herself to natural wine at Left Bank traditional bistrot Les Pipos. Before taking over the 19th-arrondissement restaurant Le Cheval d’Or with her husband Luis Andrade and their partners Nadim Smair and Hanz Gueco in August 2023, Medina had a star-making turn as the opening sommelière of 11th-arrondissement yakitori-and-more destination Le Rigmarole.

At Le Cheval d’Or, Medina collaborates with young Japanese sommelier Taiki Sakurai on an unusual natural wine list that aims to integrate as many international influences as their kitchen. (Chef Gueco is Philippino-Australian, while Andrade is Cape Verdean-Portuguese.) Alongside natural wine classics from the Beaujolais and Burgundy, one finds familiar favorites from Italy and newly-minted masterpieces from Moravia. (For the Le Cheval d’Or space itself, the new partnership also represents a rebirth of sorts, coming three years after the tragic passing of its former chef, Taku Sekine, who first brought renown to the site with a Chinese-inspired menu.)

During set-up at Le Cheval d’Or in early December, I joined Medina to talk about her decade of experience in Paris natural wine circles, and how her perspective as a lifelong immigrant has shaped her approach to hospitality, natural wine lists, and menus. Check out the episode for Medina’s thoughts on her most beloved Beaujolais vigneron; her early challenges selling natural wine in Paris as a foreign black woman speaking limited French at the time; and how she came to consider Paris her true home.

Aaron

FURTHER LISTENING & READING

NDP PODCAST Series II: Contemporary Paris Natural Wine, Part I Ep. 7: Oliver Lomeli of Chambre Noire Ep. 8: Jessica Yang & Robert Compagnon of Folderol & Le Rigmarole Ep. 9: Louis Mesana of Café Montezuma

NDP PODCAST Series II: Contemporary Paris Natural Wine, Part IIEp. 11: Oliver Gage of Rock BottlesEp. 12: Nathan Ratapu of Rerenga Wines

NOT DRINKING POISON PODCAST Series I: Paris Natural Wine Lifers, Part I NOT DRINKING POISON PODCAST Series I: Paris Natural Wine Lifers, Part II

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notdrinkingpoison.substack.com/...

I realized [natural] winemakers in particular were outsiders in their communities, too, in a way. And I’ve always been kind of an underdog, an outsider. - Crislaine Medina

Aaron

FURTHER LISTENING & READING

NDP PODCAST Series II: Contemporary Paris Natural Wine, Part IIEp. 11: Oliver Gage of Rock BottlesEp. 12: Nathan Ratapu of Rerenga Wines

NOT DRINKING POISON PODCAST Series I: Paris Natural Wine Lifers, Part I NOT DRINKING POISON PODCAST Series I: Paris Natural Wine Lifers, Part II

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notdrinkingpoison.substack.com/...

Previous Episode

Ep. 7: Oliver Lomeli of Chambre Noire

I think we started this change, this transition in natural wine in Paris. Because before it was established places, it was more restaurants. And we were more like a wine bar. And we decided to give a fair price... So young people could actually drink natural wine. - Oliver Lomeli

Few could have anticipated that Mexico City native Oliver Lomeli, after studying film in Lyon and working as a barista, would emerge as the French capital’s most dynamic natural wine impresario of the last decade. As radical as they are casual, his Chambre Noire series of wine bars and wine shops has been more responsible than any other restaurant group for bringing a new generation of Parisians to natural wine.

Initially a partner in 11ème Mexican brunch spot Café Chilango, Lomeli struck off on his own in 2015, founding his first Chambre Noire wine bar in an adjacent space on rue de la Folie Méricourt. Lomeli’s friend Rémi Kaneko would join him in the business the following year, before departing in 2020 to produce wine in the Drôme as La Ferme du Pasteur. Today Lomeli’s ever-expanding panoply of establishments includes a Chambre Noire wine bar in a newer space on boulevard Jules Ferry (opened 2021); another Chambre Noire wine bar in Ménilmontant (opened 2023), run in collaboration with former La Contre-Etiquette caviste Fabrice Mansouri; a Chambre Noire wine shop on rue de la Folie Méricourt (opened 2020, further south from the original Chambre Noire location); and, since September, a natural wine and taco restaurant, Furia, in collaboration with chef Gloria Vasquez. In the midst of all this, Lomeli also found the time to become one of the city’s foremost importers of German natural wines.

Leitmotifs throughout Lomeli’s flurry of entrepreneurism have been the service of exclusively unsulfited, unfiltered natural wines at generously low margins; a no-reservations policy; and artfully brut décor, often adorned with fresh flowers. Paris’ natural wine old-guard may call Chambre Noire a “vinegar bar,” but Lomeli’s formula has proven its formidable and durable appeal, as popular with up-and-coming vignerons as it is with radical natural wine lovers young and old. Inside the episode, Lomeli tells us about his first taste of natural Beaujolais; how he got his first loan; and why it makes good business sense to embrace German natural wines.

Aaron

Next Episode

Ep. 13: Damon Krukowski of Damon & Naomi

It takes a whole set of skills to communicate at very big levels [in music.] But you sacrifice communication in certain ways to do that. And I'm sure it's the same with food and wine. You cannot assume that you can convey the [same] subtleties at scale. - Damon Krukowski

Damon Krukowski is a musician and writer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Inscribed in the annals of indie rock since his time as drummer in the influential dream-pop band Galaxie 500, Krukowski has since released music with his wife (and former Galaxie 500 bandmate) Naomi Yang as Damon & Naomi. Krukowski is also the author of several poetry collections, and two books on the changing nature of music and listening (2017’s The New Analog: Listening and Reconnecting in a Digital World and 2019’s Ways of Hearing). In recent years, he has emerged as a noted advocate for the rights of recordings artists in the face of systematic exploitation by streaming companies.

Krukowski is also a lifelong wine lover, whose tastes were formed during childhood family trips throughout France with his father, a Polish World War II refugee and abiding Francophile. It’s an interest Krukowski has kept alive throughout his career, whether via the Kermit Lynch newsletter, or through avid exploration of local “grandfather” cuisine during tours abroad.

Following a comically ill-starred Damon & Naomi concert in Paris this past September, Krukowski kindly joined me to talk music and wine over a bottle of Matassa. Check out the episode for Krukowski’s recollection of seeing Led Zeppelin at age thirteen; his take on Taylor Swift’s stadium performance technique; and the surprising parallels between the economics of indie rock and those of natural wine.

Aaron

This is a free episode of the NOT DRINKING POISON podcast. For access to all the episodes - plus years of vigneron interviews, profiles, tasting reports, and commentary - please subscribe!