Pennsylvania may not be a domestic wine powerhouse like our neighbor New York, but there is some awesome wine-related activity going on here. And, like so many things in the PA culinary community, the evolution of our wine scene has been scrappy and homegrown, with a lot of spirit and heart leading the way. Whether your mantra is “rosé all day” or you only reach for a glass of red every now and then, here are four developments in PA wine that you should know about!
Mural City Cellars
There is a brand-new urban winery in Philadelphia: Mural City Cellars. It’s located in the Kensington neighborhood in Philly, just down the block from where owners Francesca Galarus and Nicholas Ducos live. The couple’s goal is to make “uncomplicated, un-stuffy, un-manipulated wine” with grapes sourced from the East Coast, and in their small boutique-y winery, that is what you’ll find. Mural City’s current offerings start with quaffable, affordable table red and white wines; you’ll also find a perky white blend, a juicy Chambourcin, a savory Cab Franc and spritzy, sparkling Chardonnay.
One cool feature of this new operation is its CSW (Community Supported Wine) membership. Modeled off produce CSAs, memberships come in two tiers: $400 for the year, or $225 for half year, with two bottles of CSW wine per month, 10% off any additional Mural City Cellars wines, and access to CSW-only perks and events. Plus, 15% of every CSW membership is donated to local neighborhood initiatives and Mural Arts Philadelphia. Mural City is open limited hours for bottle sales and, hopefully one day, in-person tastings. 2011 Amber St., Unit C, Philadelphia; (215) 240-1318
Camuna Cellars
After relocating to Philadelphia from Berkeley, California in 2019, Molly and Eli Nadav-Silins began to revive their natural wine brand, Camuna Cellars. The couple says their goal through Camuna is to “work with nature to co-create interesting fermented beverages that are good for the land, the body, and the soul.” Eli has been a winemaker since 2013, and is using the move to the East Coast as a way to explore Mid-Atlantic fruit. He is experimenting with grapes, apples and honey to craft wine, cider, mead and more.
Working out of a small space in North Philadelphia, Camuna Cellars has just completed its first two East Coast wines: City Glou, a carbonic Chambourcin, made with grapes grown at Spadea Vineyard in Mullica Hill, NJ; and a Grüner Veltliner, with grapes from the Lehigh Valley. The wines will be for sale soon through the winery’s website, as well as in a handful of local bottle shops. More releases, including cider made with PA apples, are coming soon!
Di Bruno Bros. Custom Wine
Di Bruno Bros. just released its first exclusive wine, “Di Bruno & Friends Wine Collaboration #1,” a 50/50 blend of Barbera and Zinfandel grapes. It was made with La Clarine Farm, a minimal-intervention farm in the Sierra Foothills in Northern California. Sande Friedman, Di Bruno’s wine category manager and president of Philly Wine Cru, actually visited La Clarine during the 2019 harvest and handpicked and foot-stomped the grapes, alongside the winery’s owner, Hank Beckmeyer.
“Hank is a good friend, and I’ve been a fan of his winemaking practices for years, stocking nearly all of his releases on the shelves at Di Bruno Bros.,” says Friedman. “His wines have a similar ‘taste of place’ to our renowned cheese selection. Hank’s production is very small in terms of wine, and it is such a thrill to have been able to collaborate on an Italian-inspired savory red blend just to stock at our stores,” she adds.
Friedman and her team were sent samples of fermented juice through the mail, and worked together to design their ideal blend. Beckmeyer blended the cuvee back at La Clarine Farm in July of 2020, and the wine, which was bottled on August 8, 2o20, without filtering or fining, was left to rest for six months.
The finished Di Bruno Collaboration #1 wine is fresh and a touch savory, with dried dark red and blue fruits on the nose, accompanied by herbal aromas wild clove and sage, a calling card of the Sierra terroir. In the glass, find flavors of white peach and hint of smoke with great structure, acidity and soft tannins. It’s a notably food-friendly red, which will pair beautifully with all different kinds of cheeses, meats and other delicious specialty foods that can be found at DiBruno.
The wine, which is in limited supply (just 51 cases made in total), is available at the Di Bruno’s Rittenhouse location, it’s bottle shops in South Philly and Midtown, and its brand-new location on the Main Line in Wayne, PA, which celebrates its grand opening on March 19, 2021. 1730 Chestnut St., Philadelphia; (215) 665-9220; 834 Chestnut St., Philadelphia; (267) 519-3115; 920 S. 9th St., Philadelphia; (215) 560-8745; 385 W. Lancaster Ave., Wayne.
Pittsburgh Finally Has a Natural Wine Shop, Nine O’Clock Wines
For such a food-obsessed city, Pittsburgh has been a tough place to find natural wine. The bar program at Bar Marco has always been a home for interesting, minimal-intervention pours, and during COVID, it has added an exciting new component: a small natural wine shop and club called Nine O’Clock Wines! A seasonally rotating selection of wines hits various price points and styles, from smooth California Chardonnay to spritzy Txakolina rosé from Basque Country to juicy Chilean Pipeño.
Nine O’Clock’s wine club is a monthly subscription that gives curious drinkers a way to explore an array of wines. Each box contains three different natural wines that highlight different grapes, along with a letter from the shop’s owners, with fun facts and helpful info on the wine. Memberships are $90 per box, and are only available for pick-up. 2216 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh.
What wine-related things are taking place in your community that we should know about? Let us know in the comments or join the conversation at the PA Eats Facebook page!
- Feature photo: Emily Kovach
- All other photos: From the wineries/shops
