Wine Store at Vallozzi's Restaurant in Hempfield offers unique varieties
While other folks were learning to crochet or bake bread during quarantine, restaurateur Ernie Vallozzi turned his attention to wine.
The results of his study are on display — and for sale — in the new Wine Store at Vallozzi’s Restaurant in Hempfield.
“We had a realization (during pandemic restrictions) that we had more seats than we probably would need for a long time, so this was our covid project,” Vallozzi said.
A small dining room opposite the lobby was renovated to make space for the store.
“It was a dining room, but it was an underutilized dining room. It’s spacious enough for this, but when you put tables and chairs in it, it was a little crowded,” Vallozzi said.
The idea for the store was to provide customers with wines not available elsewhere in the area.
“None of these are wines that you can get in the state store or the grocery store; these are all unique to this room,” Vallozzi said. “Everything has been tasted and tested, so if (customers) like the varietal that they’re picking, it’s impossible for it not to be good.
“The majority are Italian wines, with a representation from California, with a French or a Spanish wine here and there,” he said.
The shelves contain an array of whites, reds, roses, prosecco and other sparkling wines and others, with one section labeled “Interesting Reds.” Vallozzi said one of his favorites is a Collefrisio Sotto Sopra, from the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wine region of Italy, a red made from grapes and sour cherries.
Prices run from about $18 to $50 per bottle.
Visual appeal
The selections were made by Vallozzi and restaurant manager Ryan Compton.
“Ryan really did an admirable job putting this together,” Vallozzi said, noting that Compton learned about wine on the job, working his way up from busboy to manager.
Taste was not the only factor in their selections, Vallozzi noted.
“When you’re buying a gift, presentation is everything,” said Vallozzi’s assistant, Amy Dicesere. “Some of these labels are just absolutely beautiful.”
“That’s what I told Ryan,” Vallozzi said. “Everything has to taste wonderful, it has to meet a certain price level and everything has to have eye appeal.
“Let’s say we’re doing a party, a wedding, one thing I personally do is that I like to have visual appeal with whatever I serve in the bar,” he said. “If you walk up to the bar and find something that looks delicious, it just upgrades the whole event.
“Visual appeal is very important to me in terms of what people will buy.”
The store is open during restaurant hours. Vallozzi and Compton are available to make recommendations.
Purchases can be taken home or taken into the dining room to enjoy with dinner. Vallozzi noted that, because the wine shop and the restaurant operate under separate licenses, there is a $15 corkage fee when drinking wine from the shop in the dining area.
Details: 724-836-7663 or vallozzis.com
Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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