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Wine Medium at NIU Kitchen
Photograph: Virginia Gil

This Downtown Miami restaurant turned its tiny dining room into a thriving natural wine shop

NIU Kitchen has reinvented itself as Wine Medium, a curated boutique led by natural wine vet Karina Iglesias.

Virginia Gil
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Virginia Gil
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With to-go becoming our new normal, there’s little a restaurant can do to distinguish itself from its competitors. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try. Constant reinvention has certainly been Karina Iglesias’ approach to surviving the current crisis. As co-owner of NIU Kitchen, a cozy, Catalonian spot on a quiet strip of Downtown, she’s tried just about everything to keep her business afloat. First, she and partner Deme Lomas endeavored to replicate NIU’s inimitable vibe and personalized attention with curated takeout experiences to enjoy at home. They tried record and wine pairings (What grapes and genres go with your meal?) then offered floral arrangements to complement special occasion dinners (they really came through on Mother’s Day) and, finally, replaced tables with shelves and started selling their natural wines to-go. That last one stuck, and NIU’s been Wine Medium ever since.

Iglesias started by clearing out NIU’s existing inventory (as well as sister restaurant Arson’s existing stock) and slowly replenished as demand grew. It’s not a windfall for the pair but the curated boutique is what’s helping keep the lights on. “We still need to pay rent—coming up with some income is our main priority right now,” she says. Led by Iglesias—an irreverent, statuesque, natural-wine vet—the pop-up boutique sells biodynamic varieties from around the world with a focus on fair-trade products, ranging in price from $15 to $80. “I care about how the soil is treated as much as I care about how the employees are treated—how we treat our neighbors is very important to me, especially right now,” she says. 

After decades of working with natural wines, Iglesias knows labels and their makers as well as she does drinkers, which is partly what inspired the shop’s name. “I consider myself a wine medium; I can tell you what to drink because I can see it, I know what’s going to make you happy,” she says. That almost-telepathic relationship with her customers is what sets Iglesias and Wine Medium apart from similar retail operations. You can trust her. The selection might be comparable, but can you count on someone else to pick a funky biodynamic bottle that’s approachable and won’t totally turn off your dinner guests? Hardly. “My connection with wine is emotional—I won’t give you something natural that’ll make someone look at you and ask ‘what the fuck am I drinking?’” 

Having stopped in on the way to my own dinner engagement, I decided to put Iglesias’ clairvoyance to the test. She asks me what I liked and after going through my vague list of likes (I enjoy wine but I’m far from an expert), she makes a couple of solid recommendations based on my predilection for crisp, light rosés. “This grenache rosé from Spain is really delicious, but I would dare you to be more adventurous,” says Iglesias, pointing to a bottle of Pinot Gris from Willamette Valley, Oregon. “Nothing you see here is going to have a strong smell or have volatile acidity as we say,” says Iglesias. I hand over my credit card immediately. “I’m a natural wine lover but of very solid wines,” she says. And it shows.

Wine Medium is open temporarily from Tuesday through Saturday from 2 to 8pm. Delivery is available with a minimum purchase in select areas.  

NIU Kitchen Wine Medium
Photograph: Virginia Gil
NIU Kitchen Wine Medium
Photograph: Virginia Gil

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