Bella Terra Vineyards has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception in 2016. Owners Joanna and Jay Bell have gone from basement winemaking to a hopping, multi-location wine and hospitality venture in southwestern Pennsylvania. Their keen business sense and innovative decision-making have elevated Bella Terra to the award-winning and beloved winery it is today.
Jacque, Jay and Joanna Bell of Bella Terra Vineyards
We spoke with Joanna Bell, Founder and Creative Director of Bella Terra Vineyards. She shared with us the story of Bella Terra’s evolution as well as its current offerings and ideas for holiday gift-giving.
PA Eats: Can you tell us about the background of the winery?
Joanna Bell: My husband, Jay, and myself started the winery in 2016. We started making wine in our basement like everybody else and quickly expanded to the attached garage, opening that as a tasting room. We always had this plan in the back of our minds to have a wedding venue and plant a few grapes to support the venue, kind of as a niche offering. When we opened the little tasting room, the response was really great to the wine we made. Literally, after the first day, we changed gears and said, ‘Maybe we can do the winemaking thing.’
So we started to educate ourselves. My husband has a background in horticulture. My family owns an advertising agency and I was working there as a graphic designer. So we put our specialties together and we tried to make really great wines. We opened in September and by December we were sold out of product.
While we were closed during the winter, we got information on things like what grapes to grow here and where to source grapes. We reopened in the spring. We had a big tent then, and finally built the main tasting room in Hunker in 2019. We also hosted weddings every Saturday during the wedding season and the original tasting room – the garage – is open for grab and go during weddings when the tasting room is reserved.
Between all that time, from opening until now, we have learned a lot about growing grapes and planting vineyards. Two springs ago, we planted about 12 acres on our home farm, on our land, and have had a lot of fun growing those vines. They’ve been producing amazingly.
Along the way, we’ve adjusted our business plan. In 2020, we purchased Briar Valley Vineyards & Winery. The owners were looking to retire and had a ten acre vineyard. They said, “We’d hate to see it go to waste. We’ll show you how to tend to it and you can use all the grapes how you see fit.’ We purchased the vineyard and, with it, we acquired staff and a small tasting room in downtown Bedford. It didn’t yet serve food but people could bring their own food or order from local places.
In 2023, we found another spot that’s walking distance from the Bedford tasting room and it came with a full kitchen. That started us into our kitchen and food journey. Again, we were self taught, figured it out and hired some great staff to help us with that. Now it does really well, it’s busy, and lots of tourists come through that are staying for the weekend.
After we took over that kitchen, we took the model to the Bistro in Hunker. It’s an outfitted shipping container that’s not attached to the building. For a couple of years we outsourced staff and food to a catering company, but it was hard not to have control of what was coming out. At the end of 2023, we took that over ourselves and hired our own staff and have had a lot of fun creating cool menu items.
All locations have similar menus. They have flatbread, salads, and cool sandwiches. Burgers are really popular. There are lots of shareable items and a killer charcuterie board to accompany a bottle of wine, of course.
The Wine Cave, our third location, is in Allison Park in North Hills. We teamed up with people there to build this really cool wine cave with stone work and water features. At first, we outsourced the kitchen talent to a different company, but once we got our feet wet we thought, ‘We can do this, too.’
The menus at Bedford and the Wine Cave are heartier, entree style meals and more sit-down style. The Hunker menu is more casual.
Can you tell us about your wines? What are you known for and what’s popular?
We have a couple of staples. Our Blanc de Blanc is a sparkling Chardonnay that we have on tap and serve in cans, so it’s a really great tailgate or on-the-boat kind of option. That’s something that we sell wholesale, so you can find it at other restaurants around us. We’re also known for our Sweet Finley, named for our daughter. We made it when she was a baby. We were bottling it while holding her. It’s a sweet rosé that has always flown off the shelves. Getting ready for winter, we have Winterbella made with Niagara grapes and blackberry. You can use it for warm, mulled wine.
We do canned products and we make cider here in Hunker – a couple of different varieties. We also do wine cocktails with natural flavor. We made a mojito, a Bellini and we offer a wine mule pretty consistently.
All of our award winning wines are our estate reds from our three estate lines. We have three vineyards: Briar Valley in Bedford, Sunny Lane Vineyard at the main building in Hunker and Sandworks Vineyard, at our home vineyard in Hunker. We have a whole line from the Briar Valley Vineyard that we get to create. We’re also working on a Sunny Lane vintage and then one from Sandworks, a vintage we planted two years ago. Our Merlot generally wins awards when we submit it, and our winemakers are great at making cool red blends.
What are some of the challenges and positive aspects of producing wine in PA?
The weather is the most challenging thing, like worrying about the vines when we have frost advisories. My husband and the winemakers are out in the middle of the night tending fire and keeping things warm. Another issue is too much rain around harvest time because, if the grapes get too full of water, they won’t be how we like them.
We’ve always taken such good care of the grapes we bring in to produce. We’ve read a lot about what makes a great grape and we focus on making really great wine, even if it’s not a crazy amount of it. We drop a lot of grapes to make sure the ones we use are really taken care of and taste great. Right when we’re about to harvest, if rain is coming, we’ll speed up the process to make sure the grapes we do get are more concentrated in sugars instead of sucking up the rain.
With winemaking, there’s also always a big focus on cleanliness. We learned that early on when we were making wine in our basement. Everything has got to be cleansed every time you touch it. You get really good at it over time. Our winemaker is meticulously clean, which is great.
Can you tell us about the igloos?
The igloos started in Hunker in 2020 over the winter during COVID. We were internally panicking about how to keep the business afloat and how to keep serving customers in the best way possible. We started with two and I will never forget the day we announced them on Facebook. My phone would not stop going off all night. We quickly regrouped and learned to use Square so people could book it themselves and no one is mad at me for missing their appointment.We bought a couple more for Hunker and now we have seven there, three at the Wine Cave and three at Bedford.
It’s such a cool experience. We outfit them to be really cozy. There’s a little fireplace and blankets in there. They can fit up to eight people. You need reservations in advance because they sell out really quickly. Our igloo people are the best. They’re there for great service, great food and great wine.
The igloos are open from November through March and, if it’s still cold in April, we’ll do it then too.
What are the Bella Terra Vineyards weddings like?
Weddings are on most Saturdays in our Hunker location. The couple and their guests get the whole building and the grounds. Just the original garage tasting room remains open to the public.
Everything kind of culminates in a wedding. With our license we can have PA beer and PA liquor, too, so pretty much a full bar. And most people are drinking wine at the weddings.
The ceremonies are right in front of our first vineyard. It’s beautiful and taken care of really well. Guests can grab a glass of wine and sit outside and enjoy.
What’s on the horizon for Bella Terra?
We’ve had a lot of growth, and now we’re just trying to keep up and manage all aspects of the business. We make wine, make our own food and host our weddings and events. There’s plenty for us to do here.
Do you have any holiday gift suggestions?
Our Winterbella is a really great gift because it’s only available for a limited time. It was released around November 5 and it’ll probably be gone by Christmas time.
My mother in law, Jacque, who does all the events, makes a really great gift basket. She gets really busy around Thanksgiving and makes all these gorgeous baskets. Just come in and grab one and you’re good to go.
You can visit any (or all!) of the Bella Terra Vineyards locations in Hunker, Bedford and Allison Park to sample their terrific wine, cider and food and try out the seasonal igloo experience. To order Bella Terra Vineyards wine for shipping to your home, check out its online store. Follow Bella Terra Vineyards on Facebook and Instagram to stay in the loop on releases and special events.
The PA Vines & Wines series was created in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Wine Association with Round 8, Act 39 grant funding from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB).
The Pennsylvania Winery Association (PWA) is a trade association that markets and advocates for the limited licensed wineries in Pennsylvania.
- Photos: Bella Terra Vineyards
