Situated on the cutest corner of Walnut St. in Downtown Des Moines’ West End neighborhood is the Cave DSM, a European-cafe vibe turned into a natural wine mecca. It’s the warmest, most intimate space, inviting togetherness and community.
The Cave DSM is a nod to the Parisian “Cave à Manger” – a wine/tapas bar hybrid that’s being called “the new way to dine in Paris.” Heather and Nick Leo fell in love with these “wine shops for eating” while touring Europe together, and they decided to create their own in Des Moines with a focus on natural wines.
The Cave DSM has 110 bottles of natural wine for you to browse, taste, or enjoy in the shop for a small corkage fee.
So what is natural wine, and why does the Cave DSM focus on it?
An Introduction to Natural Wine
Let’s begin with a disclaimer. The term “natural wine” causes a lot of keyboard fighting in cyberspace these days. If you want to dive down an internet rabbit hole and argue with strangers from behind a screen, feel free to do so on this topic. When we sat down with Nick, he gave us the perfect analogy. Think of natural wine as the “craft brewery” version of beer.
“Natural wine” can be a contentious issue on the internet. It’s more a philosophy of farming and winemaking, rather than a prescriptive set of rules or definitions. Nick Leo, Co-Owner of the Cave DSM
Craft breweries, ever so popular in Des Moines, have an artisanal nature and craftmanship that mass market beer products don’t have. This is not to say one version of beer is better than another – they just serve different purposes. The same is true with wine.
Natural wine showcases the freshness, vitality, and wide range of wines that aren’t always available in your traditional wine aisles. They thrive on elevating particular grapes native to specific regions, even if they’re not the most popular. According to Nick, the natural wines they curate are available to all retailers, but other shops may pass on them because the taste, region, or even brand is less familiar.
It’s pretty simple to us; naturally-fermented wines that aren’t manipulated in the fields, nor at the winery (through additives, chemicals, pesticides, technical manipulations, filtering, fining, et cetera). The Cave DSM
Natural Wine vs. Conventional Wine
Like everything, natural wine sits on a spectrum. We humans love to put things into black and white boxes – organic or not organic. GMO or non-GMO. Wine, and the process by which it is fermented and produced, exists on a spectrum. In that way, it rejects the corporatization of the “organic” labels.
The Cave DSM is situated on one of our absolute favorite streets of Des Moines in between Teehee’s Comedy Club and The Walnut DSM.
Some wines The Cave DSM sells have only 90 cases produced each year, whereas conventional wines may produce 500,000 or more cases annually. Because no additives are allowed in natural wine and no intensive filtering occurs, there is greater variation from year to year with natural wine, making for an always-interesting drinking experience.
Contrary to popular belief, natural wine can have added sulfites. If sulfites are added, it is usually done before bottling and always at much lower levels than conventional wine – 5 to 30 ppm, whereas conventional wines could have up to 200 ppm added throughout the entire winemaking process.
Sulfites, Heather and Nick argue, are not usually to blame for what gives you the headache the next day. There’s little proof sulfites cause headaches, though there is plenty of anecdotal evidence and speculation regarding the body’s reaction to sulfites or the hundreds of legally-allowed additives that can be used in conventional wine. Such additives are used to stabilize and standardize conventional wine, but natural winemakers argue that use can also lead to a “deadening” of the taste and aroma.
Will we still blame sulfites? Probably, but we should also probably just drink more water too.
Des Moines’ Own “Cave à Manger”
View this post on Instagram
Despite opening in a pandemic, Heather and Nick have done an incredible job with their space and are excited to expand into food offerings soon.
We think wine is fascinating, and we want to create a space that facilitates curiosity while increasing access to a greater variety of wine here in our community.
The couple selects every single bottle on their shelves, so they know and love them all. They especially love curating wines from lesser-known regions and supporting vineyards that grow grapes native to where they’re from.
“Who’s to say Des Moines wouldn’t like a Nero di Troia?” Nick, one of their wine supplier chimes in. “They just haven’t tried it.”
The Cave DSM is the perfect place to learn more about wine, try new varieties, and relax in a low-key space that you won’t want to leave. Ask all the questions, or don’t ask a single question. All that matters is you’re there.
Stop in for one of their Saturday tastings or to catch up with a good friend soon.
The Cave DSM
1437 Walnut St
Des Moines, IA 50309
Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday-Friday: 2:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Saturday: 12:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Sunday: 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM
