The Best Places for Natural Wine in Honolulu

Silver Lining Wine Bar. Photo: Sarah Burchard

One of the things I love about natural wine is that I can taste the wine for what it is—without the flavor additives or extra alcohol used to make wine feel “bigger.” For me, the world of natural wines opened up when I was a floor captain at Nature Waikīkī and learned about them from Rick Lilley. Brix & Stones, the cigar lounge and natural wine shop he opened in Kaka‘ako in 2020 with his wife, Elaine, was the beginning of O‘ahu’s natural wine movement.

Then in 2022, Ross and Devin Uehara-Tilton started selling natural wine at The Curb, their coffee shop in Kaimukī. Long story short, Ross Uehara-Tilton became a wholesaler and, with Lilley’s help, grew natural wine sales to local restaurants and shops by 250% in the past three years. These include Nature, Fête, Brick Fire Tavern, Arden, R. Field and Silver Lining Wine Bar, which the Lilleys opened last year.

Selection at Kaimukī Storeroom at The Curb. Photo: Sarah Burchard

Natural wine can mean different things to different people, but the idea is the grape farmer doesn’t use synthetic pesticides or herbicides, and the winemaker doesn’t manipulate the grape juice with the 72+ additives, coloring agents or synthetic yeasts that many use. Today, most wines in this category are referred to as “low-intervention”—as some contain small amounts of sulfur to stabilize the wine. Either way, the land is farmed in a healthy, regenerative way, and the wine is made by an artisan and not a scientist.

Over the past four years, I’ve watched Lilley, Uehara-Tilton and Fête co-owner Chuck Bussler usher in natural wines by the pallet and serve them to a local clientele that’s mostly brand new to this style. If you want to learn more about natural wine and taste incredible selections, here are the top three places on O‘ahu.

Silver Lining Wine Bar

You won’t find chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon or other noble grape varietals by the glass here. At Silver Lining, ancient varietals like pineau d’aunis, grolleau noire and listan prieto await your discovery. Lilley studied wine under Master Sommelier Chuck Furuya, harvested grapes on West Coast vineyards, met farmers and natural winemakers in France and helped grow natural wine imports to O‘ahu. He feels strongly about environmental issues and likens supporting natural wine to supporting organic farms.

In fact, natural wine often tastes of the earth in which it was grown, which can be off-putting for some. “People say, ‘It’s kinda weird. It tastes wrong. It tastes like shoe polish. It smells like a barn,’” Lilley says. “I was raised on a farm, I was in the barn a lot. Personally, those smells mean good things to me.”

Photo: Sarah Burchard

Most natural wines are unfiltered, so sometimes sediment or natural yeast can also turn people off. But there is an aliveness to these wines, a freshness and transparency that I’ve come to enjoy.

“If I gave you this wine in a sommelier tasting, they’d be like this wine is not correct,” Lilley says. “My only problem with people who aren’t interested is if you say, ‘Oh I don’t like natural wine.’ Have you tried them all? ’Cause if you’ve tried them all, wow, I need to hang out with you. You should just give it a shot.”

Average prices: $10/glass, $90/bottle, 25% off all bottles from noon to 5 p.m.
Address: 999 Waimanu St., Kaka‘ako
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 2 to 10 p.m.
Info: @silverlininghawaii

SEE ALSO: Find This Bar With Hundreds of Wines to Taste in Industrial Kaka‘ako

Fête

What’s amazing about Fête is the breadth of its wine list. You can find a $60 bottle of carricante from Mount Etna, Sicily, next to a $3,200 bottle of Domaine Romanée-Conti pinto noir from Burgundy. You’ll also find a generous selection of orange wines (white grapes fermented with their skins until the wine turns orange) and two bottles of pet nat (short for pétillant naturel, sparkling wine made using the ancestral method).

Chuck Bussler at Fête. Photo: Sarah Burchard

Bussler considers how every bottle is produced. “To be on Fête’s list, you have to be practicing organic. Minimal sulfur addition, sustainability. If they are no-till regenerative farming, bonus,” he says. “I like a lot of areas in the world, and you can see that on the list. I love [Mount] Etna. I love Burgundy. I love Northern Italy. I love classic Reisling. I love Sonoma Pinot. I love a lot of different stuff.”

Bussler likes to talk to customers about what they like and find something to fit the profile. “People don’t want to feel dumb,” he said. “They also want an authentic experience and familiarity. I think we’re getting there. We went through this sort of swinging back and forth in wine attitudes, and I think as the world strives for a healthier solution, we’ll land in the lower-intervention moment without all the judgmentalness.”

Average prices: $13–$22/glass, bottles from $40 (some bottles of historical significance are over $1,000, but most are between $60–$70.)
Address: 2 N. Hotel St., Chinatown
Hours: Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 4 to 9 p.m.
Info: @fetehawaii

Kaimukī Storeroom at The Curb

On the Kaimukī Storeroom shelves, you’ll find lots of glou glou—natural wines that are light, easy to drink and best served chilled. Ross and Devin Uehara-Tilton select wine like they select coffee. They want to know the origin story, so it fits in with their philosophy.

“I always tell people, first and foremost, you want to have a good product that tastes good,” Ross Uehara-Tilton says. “And then, is this really a reflection of the natural environment? For me, it’s that idea of connecting what you’re drinking in the glass to the place where it’s from.”

Ross Uehara-Tilton outside The Curb. Photo: Sarah Burchard

The duo travels around the world to find interesting wines to bring to Hawai’i. They were the first to bring natural wine from Japan, such as Domaine Takahiko, a well-known Burgundy-style pinot noir producer in Sapporo. At The Curb, a younger generation is getting turned onto natural wine. With its casual, fun environment—you can often find Devin Uehara-Tilton DJing on a weekend night—it’s a place where people can hang out and try new things.

“I think [keeping it fun] is really important, and that’s going to be the key to driving this industry going forward,” Ross Uehara-Tilton said. “Rick’s place has a similar vibe. … Being younger in the industry, what’s most important for me is getting my generation on board so that we can continue to support this industry, continue to support the producers and everybody in between so that it doesn’t disappear.”

Average prices: $12–$18/glass, tasting flights $18–$24/3 wines, bottles $30–$60. $10 corkage for wines purchased from retail shelf. You can bring your own food!
Address: 3408 Wai‘alae Ave., Kaimukī
Hours: Thursday 5 to 10 p.m., Friday to Sunday 2 to 10 p.m.
Info: @kaimukistoreroom

Sarah Burchard is a contributor to Frolic Hawai‘i. @healthylocavore