Miami Valley wine bars
Bella Vino, 495 N. Main St., Springboro, (937) 748-3807 or bellavinomerchants.com
Cork & Vine Wine Market & Lounge, 3452 York Commons Blvd, Butler Twp., (937) 387-0044, www.corkvine.com
Cuvee Wine Bar & Cellar, 4457 State Route 725, Bellbrook, (937) 848-2161 or www.cuveewinebar.net
Rumbleseat Wine, 5853 Far Hills Ave., Washington Twp., (937) 938-9801.
Taste of Wine, 90 S. Main St., Miamisburg, (937) 247-1120, www.atasteofwine.org
The Wine Loft, 21 Greene Blvd. at The Greene, (937) 429-4424, www.thewineloftdaytonohio.com
Wine Gallery & Café*, 424 E. Third St., Dayton, (937) 224-9463, www.thewinegalleryandcafe.com
* Planning to move later this year to 5 W. Monument Ave., Dayton
Jeff Van Horne started researching the Dayton-area wine market 18 months ago in preparation for launching a wine bar called The Wine Loft, which opened last week at The Greene in Beavercreek.
He liked what he found.
Not that he has the wine-bar market to himself. Far from it — the Miami Valley boasts a half-dozen wine bars where none existed just a decade or so ago, and the pace of recent openings has quickened. But Van Horne was convinced that the Dayton area’s growing wine community combined with his wine bar’s focus on atmosphere and food rather than retail wine sales will allow the Wine Loft to thrive.
“People are looking for an alternative to going out to a bar,” Van Horne said. “Somewhere you can sit in a lounge atmosphere, enjoy the wines and talk.”
Cindy Hill, who laid the foundation for the current wine-bar boom when she opened Cindy’s Wine Cellar in Bellbrook a decade ago (she later sold the shop, which is now called Cuvee), lives in Beavercreek close to The Greene, and she’s looking forward to checking out the Wine Loft.
The proliferation of wine bars “is great for the consumers, but hard on the owners,” Hill said. “If all of the wine bars end up looking the same, it will be difficult for them. But if each finds its own niche, it might work.”
The competition is certainly becoming more intense, and it’s a time of transition. The Wine Gallery & Café last month announced plans to move to the downtown Dayton riverfront. Rumbleseat Wine just opened last month in Washington Twp., and is hosting a grand opening this Saturday, Oct. 17. Dave Sauer, manager and co-owner of Bella Vino in Springboro, left the wine bar for another job last week, and its new manager, John C. Feltz, promises expanded wine tastings and special events.
Meanwhile, grocery stores, restaurants and wine shops are behaving more like wine bars every day, installing new tasting bars and expanding their wine-related events.
Despite the intense competition, Bella Vino’s Feltz, who formerly managed the wine shop and held tastings at Trader Joe’s in Kettering, sees a bright future for wine bars.
“People are looking for a different kind of going-out experience — a little more sedate, not so frenetic,” Feltz said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2258 or mfisher@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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