Local Wine Shops Pour Something for Everyone
Red, white, rosé, sparkling. Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Malbec, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Shiraz, Pinot Noir. Whatever your wine preference, chances are, you will be able to find just what you like at one of the wine shops or wine bars popping up in the region.
Urban Vine in Zelienople is a multifaceted business, donning the titles of a wine tasting room, wine bar and wine shop, according to Gina Orkwis, who opened the business with her husband, Todd, three years ago. Urban Vine partners with Stony Run Winery in the Lehigh Valley to bring Pennsylvania-produced wine to this side of the state.
When she and her husband were searching for a wine partner, they drove across the state, stopping at numerous wineries along the way. “There were a lot of great wines out there, but we really like the products that Stony Run had to offer,” said Orkwis, adding that Pennsylvania is one of the top wine producers in the country.
“We have about 30 varieties, reds, white, semi-sweet, and sweet,” she said, noting that her most popular dry white is Sauvignon Blanc; Riesling sells well for a semi-sweet. Another standout wine is sweet tea wine. “That is like a southern sweet tea infused with a white wine blend. It also comes in a peach flavor; that is a best seller.”
Orkwis noted that while they do not sell food at Urban Vine, customers are encouraged to bring in their own food or even order food to be delivered to the bar, and in turn, they can purchase a bottle of wine for a 15% discount. The menu includes spirits, canned brews and specialty drinks, including a wine slushie, which has proven to be quite popular.
Urban Vine works with other local businesses, such as doing wine-chocolate pairings, sourcing the pairings from Trish’s Truffles, coordinating tastings or decorating wine bottles for CURIO Art Studio in Zelienople. Orkwis tries to host monthly music nights and live comedy in the winter months. This October, they will run specials to align with Zelienople’s annual fall festival.
“We’re just a smaller family-owned business. We really love the wines, and we want people to experience them. We’re like a family. When you come in and you order from us and you sit with us, it’s like you walk into someone’s game room that you’ve known forever. We have that type of approach,” said Orkwis.
For a unique wine experience, many people are discovering Refucilo Winery, located in the West Allegheny neighborhood of the North Side. Retired physician Juan Lora has always wanted to own a vineyard, so he started by making wines at home and even won ‘best in show’ in an amateur competition. After he retired, he and his wife searched for a vineyard they could call their own, a quest that led them to Casa de Uco in the Uco Valley at the foothills of the Andes Mountains in Argentina. He purchased a number of acres from the vineyard, along with other owners all over the world. Lora makes an annual trip to his winery to oversee production, though he works with a winemaker on site, from grape selection to the entire vinification process.
“We produce 15,000 bottles a year. We’re a boutique winery with very small production. We have a reputation for premium, high-quality wines,” he said.
At his North Side winery, which also serves as a wine shop and tasting room as well as a restaurant that features an Argentinian-themed menu, he offers everything from the very popular Torrontes Reserve white wine to other whites, including varieties of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, Rosé Reserves, including a Sweet Malbec Rosé, and many varieties of red. Customers can also order sparkling wines or wine flights to try different varieties.
Wines from Argentina stand out, said Lora, because they are grown at high altitude. “Our winery is 4,000 feet above sea level in a dry desert, so to grow our vines, we have to use the melted snow from the Andes, which is pumped to a reservoir to irrigate our wines,” he explained. This means that because of the wide diurnal temperature shift, the grapes ripen more slowly and are more aromatic with natural acidity. His winery is certified organic, as the wines are made with organic grapes.
Refucilo also distributes to some area hotels and restaurants and offers a wine club. Keeping things lively, they have an active calendar of events, including musicians, yoga, trivia nights and wine classes.
“The vineyard is breathtaking. Every time I go there, I think ‘there’s a good reason I bought this; I feel as if I’m in heaven.’ My wines come from heaven, too, because of how beautiful the place is,” said Lora.
Customers that walk into Dreadnought Wines, which sits at the intersection of Lawrenceville, Bloomfield and The Strip District, will be able to find many varieties of wine that are not available at Pennsylvania State stores. Dreadnought is technically a distributor, not a retail store.
“We’re European-centric and do not sell domestic wines. Our wines come from very small, family-owned wineries. The importers we work with are equally focused on niche wines and small producers,” said part owner Deb Mortillaro. Representative European wines include those from France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain; about 200 varieties of wine are available.
A major component of Dreadnought’s business is Palate Partners, which focuses on wine education. In addition to training people to qualify for their WSET Certification (Wine & Spirits Education Trust, a professional international certification), they offer more casual classes, such as their Wine 101 classes on the first and third Fridays of the month.
“People come and taste six wines, learn about them, and through that avenue, we really get to know our customers’ palates. We ask them questions about what they like. Wines that are high in acid? Those that are food friendly? Those that are more fruit forward? It is also really important to know what you don’t like. Your palate evolves and you get to like different things at different times,” she explained.
Other classes are centered around a specific theme, such as one on Portuguese wines or wines paired with Indian foods.
She said the goal is for attendees to emerge from the classes with a greater understanding of their own tastes and being more confident in choosing wines that they like.
These classes help Dreadnought meet their goal of truly understanding their customers’ preferences. “One of the things about buying wine from us is we really get to know you and know what you like. We have customers who call us and say, ‘fill a case with four reds,’ and that is the entire conversation; we know them so well, we know their price point, and the types of wines that they like,” said Mortillaro.
Mortillaro added that there are plans to expand the education arm of Dreadnought in the coming year. In addition, Dreadnought offers a wine club every other month featuring Euro-centric wines and can attend off-site events for customers, such as providing wines for a specific menu.
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I’m planning a visit to the area, so this was a really timely read for me. I’d love to check out one of these wine shops and try a few varieties rather than choosing a bottle at random. The wine-and-food pairings sound especially appealing after a day of exploring. I’m also planning the travel details now and tend to keep useful numbers in my notes, so I saved the American Airlines phone number along with my other trip information.