Against all Odds, Philly’s Wine Bar Scene Is Thriving

Regan Stephens
·5 min read

The city’s wine landscape is finally changing for the better.

<p>COURTESY OF HIGH STREET HOSPITALITY GROUP</p> a.kitchen has a wine collection over 450 bottles strong.

COURTESY OF HIGH STREET HOSPITALITY GROUP

a.kitchen has a wine collection over 450 bottles strong.

Outside of Mural City Cellars, red brick row houses replace rolling green vineyards. In the back of the converted auto body garage in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood, rosé and skin-contact Pinot Gris are aging in hulking steel tanks while up front, the bar buzzes with locals sipping glasses of plum-colored pét-nat and pale gold Sauvignon Blanc made with Pennsylvania grapes. Decorated with vintage leather couches and contemporary neon chandeliers, the city’s first independent urban winery feels cool but unstuffy, making wine that’s spirited but serious. It’s part of a new era for Philly wine.

Philadelphia’s wine landscape had long lagged behind its celebrated restaurants, held back by a tangle of state restrictions and red tape. Restaurant and bar liquor licenses can cost upward of $200,000, and state-run wine shops flood the city with a sea of the same uninspired bottles. The result? BYOBs have proliferated; restaurant wine lists have languished.

In the past several years, though, thanks to a few small but impactful tweaks in the laws — and more importantly, a growing crop of dynamic winemakers, sommeliers, and next-generation drinkers clamoring for something better — a flourishing wine scene has taken root.

“People come from out of town and are shocked we have a wine scene,” says D’Onna Stubblefield, general manager and beverage director at Bloomsday Cafe. “It’s a little bit more adventurous and independent — it goes along with our underdog spirit.”

Owners Francesca Galarus and Nicholas Ducos select the best grapes from farms within a 300-mile radius of their winery, which winemaker Ducos highlights in punchy pét-nats and juicy, barrel-aged Chambourcins. At the wine bar, you can pair your Mural City Cellars pour with a cheeseboard from nearby Perrystead Dairy.

Operator Chloé Grigri channels the spirit of her favorite French haunts; she opened The Good King Tavern in Philly in 2013, bar à vins Le Caveau in 2019, and Superfolie just last year. She runs the tiny, low-lit wine bar with her husband, Vincent Stipo, slinging plates of shaved Comté and smoked mussel tartines alongside Loire Valley Chenin Blanc and electric orange Sonoma Zin.

Restaurateur Ellen Yin was a pioneer in Philly’s natural wine scene, and nowadays, her all-day Rittenhouse Square restaurant, A.Kitchen, is home to the city’s most extensive bottle collection. Wine director Frank Kinyon oversees the stock of 450 labels, which includes local makers like Camuna Cellars and rare gems from the Loire Valley’s Les Capriades.

<p>COURTESY OF MURAL CITY CELLARS</p> You can grab a bottle of Pennsylvania-made Vidal Blanc from Mural City Cellars.

COURTESY OF MURAL CITY CELLARS

You can grab a bottle of Pennsylvania-made Vidal Blanc from Mural City Cellars.

At this all-day café and bottle shop on historic Head House Square, beverage director D’Onna Stubblefield wants to help you find what you love and have fun doing it. Bloomsday Cafe pours come in as little as three ounces, which encourages more sampling of Spanish rosé, South African Pinot Noir, and the crushable red from Mural City Cellars.

Decades ago, while working on far-flung excavations, archaeologist Jill Weber uncovered an appreciation for wine, and she’s been championing the world’s unsung wine regions back home in Philly since. In Jet Wine Bar’s shaded garden, sample wines by the glass from Turkey, Bulgaria, and Slovenia.

Tulip Pasta & Wine Bar

Tulip is technically a tasting room operating as a satellite of Wayvine winery, which is located 65 miles west of the city. This negates the need for a standalone liquor license, allowing the restaurant to serve the estate-grown Pennsylvania winery’s crisp, dry Riesling and crimson Carmine (a cross of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, and Merlot) alongside pastas produced in-house from local stone-milled flour. Be sure to try the vermouth made with herbs from the vineyard.

After sampling farmhouse Gouda or crumbly Parmigiano-Reggiano at Italian Market cheese mecca Di Bruno Bros., pop over to its bottle shop a few doors down, where beverage manager Sande Friedman will help you find the perfect pairings for your haul. Look out for the growing lineup of limited-edition wine that Friedman makes in collaboration with some of the country’s coolest winemakers.

<p>JASON VARNEY</p> the Alice suite at the Guild House Hotel

JASON VARNEY

the Alice suite at the Guild House Hotel

Each room in this design-minded boutique hotel is an original mix of mod furniture, art, and decor, down to the speckled ceramic mugs in the kitchen. And it’s nearly all available at the ground floor lifestyle shop. Immerse yourself in the surrounding neighborhood — Bloomsday Cafe is just a block away from Yowie Hotel. Rooms from $296.

A National Historic Landmark that was once home to one of the oldest women’s groups in the country, this centrally located Italianate row house got new life as an invisible service hotel. Some plush rooms at Guild House Hotel have soaking tubs; all are stylish and full of historic charm that pays homage to the former occupants. Rooms from $259.

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