Michael Sager on Noma and Natural Wine
Michael Sager doesn’t see a contradiction between natural wine and formal training. In fact, he sees a connection.
“The best natural wine people I know – the ones I really respect – all have a classic background,” he says. That includes the original wine buyer for Noma, a restaurant that reshaped global taste. “It’s wild to think how one man, one restaurant, influenced a whole global drinking culture.”
Noma became a kind of incubator for natural wine. But its roots were rigorous. “It all came from a classically trained palate,” Michael notes. “And maybe that’s what lets you taste differently. Not better. Just with perspective.”
It’s not reverence for the old world. It’s a reminder that good taste starts somewhere – and stays with you.
THIRSTY FOR MORE?
Watch the next in our Michael Sager series, where he talks about running bars as acts of service, not ego.
TL;DR
Michael Sager explains how Noma shaped natural wine culture and why classical training gives perspective.
Art Direction by David Tokley
Filming by Max Sizeland
Location: Sager + Wilde, Hackney Road London