12th August 2016

Interview: Aimee Hartley, founder of Above Sea Level

Late last year, Aimee Hartley breezed into the Zetteler office and told us about her plan to create an magazine that would ‘reframe the conversation’ about wine and consider its role in culture in a different and more accessible way. Needless to say, it sounded like a hell of an ambitious undertaking – the world has been talking about wine in more or less the same way for several hundred years. Wine is, largely, the domain of the informed, the elite and the wealthy – those who have the wherewithal to venture beyond fourth-down on the winelist and order like they know what they’re talking about. Aimee wanted to change that.   Now she has.

Next month, she’ll unveil the first issue of Above Sea Level at Clerkenwell London, as part of their London Design Festival shenanigans. Launching on 19 September the with a special exhibition of photography and feature spreads in the venue’s Wine Keep (naturally), the inaugural issue is a visually rich exploration of the wine scene in California, covering everything from a photo essay on fog to a study of winery architecture. With contributions from writers, photographers, illustrators, designers, winemakers, a shop owner and a baker, the mag considers more or less everything wine touches, with a particular emphasis on the people and places that produce it.

We collared Aimee for a quick Q&A about the philosophy behind the publication and what the first edition has in store…

You founded Above Sea Level to start a ‘different conversation’ around wine – why do we need to talk about it differently?

Wine out of context can be difficult for people to connect with. Like chemistry or perfumery, it has its own language that tends to be geared towards ‘insiders’. When I write about wine, I start with a different topic – the architecture of a winery, or what craft means in relation to winemaking – and make sure its accompanied by a photo essay, for example. I think creating a visual dialogue around wine and bringing people into contact with it in an intuitive way is important. As an industry, we need to make sure that wine is culturally relevant, and a natural fixture in people’s lives, or it will simply become another luxury commodity.

How did the idea for the magazine come together? What was your eureka moment?

Making the magazine has been a bit of a cathartic process for me – it is the culmination of seven years of ideas and experiences since I began my own adventure with wine. It makes it very personal, which is wonderful, but also comes with its own set of challenges. There is also something very tangible about print that lends itself to the topic, that I don't feel is being captured with ‘modern’ wine journalism. Drinks publications such as Alquimie and Noble Rot are challenging that, but they are still among the few.

Why is it called ‘Above Sea Level’?

Vines are often talked about in relation to how far above sea level they grow. They are subject to the laws of nature – aspect, weather, geology, proximity to mountains and bodies of water, but also to the whim and ambitions of the winemaker. I’m interested in how nature, place and people all influence one another and the effect that this has on the character of a wine.

What can we look forward to in the first issue?

The first issue is dedicated to California – a place that has influenced my outlook on wine, and whose revolutionary spirit I can relate to. It is as much about celebrating people and place as it is about wine, with themes like memories, language, materials and natural elements running through it. You’ll find a photo essay exploring the different vessels winemakers use to store or age their wines, and the influence these materials – wood, clay and concrete – play in shaping the nature of the wine. I worked with LinYee Yuan, Editor of This is Mold, and New York design duo Lazy Mom to capture their visual response to (ridiculous) wine terms such as ‘cats pee’, ‘petrol’ and ‘wet dog’.

There are other pieces like 'The Nature of Fog', which act almost as a palate cleanser between different chapters. I asked a photographer, Dan Tom, to capture the fog in different environments in northern California. Native Californian writer Elizabeth Schwyzer then narrates her own personal story about what the fog means to her. ‘The Architecture of Place’ looks at two very different wineries: Scribe and Corison. David Michon and photographer Luke Abiol explore the history behind an old crumbling hacienda that sits next to Scribe's winery. I asked them to capture the building in transition, between old and new, with a focus on changes in light and textures within the building, with an understanding too of how California's Spanish roots influenced its architecture. I’ve commissioned a lot of unique content, which I felt was really important to set the tone of the magazine.

You’ve lived in both San Francisco and London – how does the cultural perception of wine differ across the Atlantic?

I first lived in San Francisco 10 years ago. There was an openness and a culture around wine that I hadn’t experienced before in London. People made an effort to talk to me about it in a way that just made sense. The wine country – Sonoma and Napa – is also on your doorstep, which means that it is naturally woven into the lives of those that live nearby. Over the last decade London has come on leaps and bounds in its food and wine offerings, but wine still has quite a lot of work to do before it is considered in the same way, and with the same weight, that we think about our food.

You talked about the relationship between wine labels and design during Wine Week at Clerkenwell London – what was the idea behind that?

Without being able to smell or engage with what is inside the bottle, the wine label often acts as an important conduit between drinker and winemaker. Wine labels can fall into the trap of being crass, or alluding to a certain lifestyle myth or fantasy, but at their best, they can tell us something about the values and the philosophy of the person that made it.

Where do you like to drink in London?

If I’m drinking, I’m usually eating. 10 Greek Street and 8 Hoxton are always on my classics list. Fresh, simply cooked British food with a brilliant selection of reasonably priced wines. I really like Verden in Clapton, for a nicely curated list and generous selection of cheese and charcuterie. Noble Rot, Ellory and Brawn are also doing a top job in both the kitchen and on their wine offerings and are places I like to go back to – which can be a hard thing to find in a city that is constantly evolving and tempting us with new bar and restaurant openings.

When is the mag out and where can we buy it?

The magazine will be available to buy on the Above Sea Level website (above-sea-level.co) from 19 September. Sign up to the newsletter or follow us on Instagram to stay informed.

Image credits: Above 1: David Abrahams, Below 2: Aimee Hartley, 3: Michael A. Muller, 4: Above Sea Level logo, 5: David Abrahams, 6: Daniel Dent, 7: Lazy Mom.