Karmaklubb* x Sparta: Book launch of ‘Natural Trailblazers’ and wine tasting with Camilla Gjerde in conversation with Tominga O’Donnell

↗︎ Natural Trailblazers: 13 Ways to Climate-Friendly Wine (Now What Publishing, 2024): Meet thirteen visionaries of natural wine, who are each leading the way towards a low-carbon future: the ones who have scrapped the tractor and never open their soil; the winegrower in the middle of the city who only sells locally, transports her wines by bike and reuses the bottles; and the wine importer who sails their wines solely by wind.
Camilla Gjerde has once again teamed up with photographer ↗︎ Cecilia Magnusson to take you on a tour around vineyards, into cellars and along railroads, to bring you some of the most inspiring stories of how the wine world can build a low-carbon future. Form: ↗︎ Klahr. Print: ↗︎ Narayana Press / ↗︎ Narayana.dk.

Karmaklubb* is proud to be part of the third session featuring Camilla & Tominga talking about natural wine, this time at new friends Sparta — newly opened in a former church. What could be more suitable for yet another queer juice session accompanied by true ‘thought and pleasure’? You are most welcome this Saturday afternoon.

Talk: Approx. 40 min. Tasting: 3–6 PM. Stay as long as you like!
There will be flowers and wine and nice people. Thank you, ↗︎ Tilt for the extra tech. ID 20. FREE entry to the talk <3 Gender neutral and wheelchair accessible bathroom. Animals welcome, too (mezzanine). Address: Mariboes gate 2 B, Oslo. Facebook event ↗︎ here, Broadcast ↗︎ here.

The talk:

↗︎ Camilla Gjerde and Tominga O’Donnell at Sparta, Oslo, 18 January 2025. Introductions by Dan-Michael Danino (Sparta) and Tine Semb (Karmaklubb*). (MP3, 62MB)

Wordlist coming. Meanwhile, read about Piri wines and Christine Pieroth ↗︎ here and ↗︎ here.

All photos in the album above by ↗︎ Lene Love / Love Studio for Karmaklubb*.

Tominga O’Donnell. Photo by ↗︎ Tyler Matthew Oyer.

Endnotes

↗︎ Camilla Gjerde is a wine writer and the author of the first book in English on women in natural wine, ↗︎ We Don’t Want Any Crap in Our Wine: The women behind the bottle (Now What Publishing, 2021). The book has been sold worldwide and is translated into Korean. Camilla holds a PhD in political science and is fascinated by the radical force of natural wine and its many growers and importers. Norwegian by birth, she now lives in Malmö, Sweden.

↗︎ Tominga O’Donnell is an Oslo-based curator with an interest in queer discursive practices, developing new works with artists, and natural wine. One of the key persons of Karmaklubb*, even before karma became karma*.

Collaborators

Queer wine

A flight of Piri wines only! Piri is managed by Christine Pieroth today, although the yards go back to 1781. We like. Nahe is warm and dry, apparently one of the hottest regions in Germany. Volcanic, clay, limestone, some slate. Sounds like a ‘dry and dusty’ to us, at least loads of minerals. Flowers and other plants grow between the stocks. Ecosystem. All organic and raw. All bottles have a leaf on the label.

‘Piri Naturel pét-nat 2023’ (rosé); Dornfelder varieties; Nahe, Germany; 10.5% ABV

Red and juicy, some say cherries, rhubarb, raspberry, even watermelon — we think it all makes sense. This is not heavy, but light and full of foamy bubbles, perfect for summer, by the sea, or like tonight: Inside a warm and cosy former church. It is elegantly dry as in never sweet, neither too much acid, but the fruit is indeed the prominent here. Pure fruit! Dark rosé. Fun. Soil of slate and fertile soil with a lot of humus. Hand-harvested, fermented on steel tanks without temperature control (!). Bottled before fermentation is finished = bubbles. Unfiltered, no additives.

‘Piri Naturel Mathilda 2023’; Kerner/Riesling/Silvaner; Nahe, Germany; 11.5% ABV

Mineralistic (from rocky soil). Delicate, they say. “Think green banana, apple, white flowers with a slight effervescence.” Indeed true, however ‘elegancy’ is what sticks to mind, and tongue. A lot of dryness, but filled with fruit. Give it some air; it will develop through the time-travel in the glass. Hand-harvested, pressed, part of the grapes enjoys 1 night of maceration (skin contact). Spontaneously fermented, matured in tank and oak, unfiltered before bottled. Wild yeast. Almost no sulfites. And, we can like the name. A tangible, almost ‘shy’ figure of a leaf on the label.

‘Piri Naturel Pinot Noir 2022’; 100% Pinot Noir; Nahe, Germany; 11.5% ABV

Another one from Piri! Yes. Red berries. Ripe. Hints of flowers, some smoke. Black pepper. Minerals. Elegant, strong, intense. Fun, but serious; the best was of thought and pleasure; someone cheerful, full of charisma, deep reflections and substance. Dedicated to the conversation. This is our taste. Hand-picked, fermented for about 4 weeks. After being pressed, the wine stays in oak barrels for ca. 12 months before directly bottled.