Cheers to Her: The Women Elevating Philadelphia's Wine Culture
Running a great wine program in Philadelphia is like rolling a boulder uphill: a liquor license costs $150,000 to $250,000, depending on when you buy it. Then you have to fight with the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to get your hands on the wine you want.
So maybe it makes sense that Philadelphia’s wine scene is dominated by women, a communIty historically excluded from the wine world. If Philadelphia is the city that America’s wine scene left behind, then it follows that the people bringing it to life have also been often left out.
Here, meet four of the women making Philadelphia’s wine scene something to toast.
CHLOE GRIGRI
OWNER, THE GOOD KING TAVERN, LE CAVEAU, SUPERFOLIE
“What you have to understand about running a wine program in Pennsylvania is that it’s an uphill battle,” Chloe Grigri said. “And being a woman in the wine industry, that’s also an uphill battle.”
You wouldn’t know this from visiting any of Grigri’s businesses. All three—The Good King Tavern, Le Caveau, and Superfolie— feel effortless. It’s a deeply French vibe that comes from Grigri herself, who grew up binational, spending lots of time in France. Behind the scenes, though, there’s vision, and a lot of hard work.
“We still lose major portfolios in this state all the time, just because people don’t want to deal with distribution in Pennsylvania,” Grigri says. It’s a complicated system, but Grigri explains that the major difference is that in Pennsylvania, there’s an additional party in the chain of sales: the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.
It adds bureaucracy to the process and drives prices up since importers sell wine at their normal price to the PLCB, which then marks up those bottles and sells them to restaurants, bars, and wine shops.
In New Jersey, a bottle might be sold by the importer directly to a restaurant for $20. That same bottle might cost a Pennsylvania restaurant $27, which drives up the cost for the diner who orders and drinks it.
When The Good King Tavern opened in 2013, Grigri remembers being told it wouldn’t work.
“I remember talking to friends of ours in the restaurant industry and them being, like, ‘No way, Philly is not a wine town,’” Grigri says. More than a decade and three restaurants later, Philly’s wine scene has expanded, with Grigri at the forefront.
The Good King Tavern
614 S. 7th St.
215.625.3700
www.thegoodkingtavern.com
Le Caveau
614 S. 7th St.
215.625.3700
www.lecaveauphilly.com
Superfolie
1602 Spruce St.
856.304.9311
www.superfoliephl.com
SANDE FRIEDMAN
WINE DIRECTOR, DI BRUNO BROS
When Sande Friedman started at Di Bruno Bros., she had no formal wine training and the company didn’t have licenses to sell wine. It was 2017. The year before, the PLCB had changed laws to allow grocery stores to sell wine and beer, a change that cleared the runways for Di Bruno’s.
“By happenstance, just as I started, they were starting the program,” she recalls. “I was sort of like, ‘Can I do this?’”
Emilio Mignucci, one of Di Bruno Bros.’ owners, said yes. Friedman’s wine training came from years of leading tasting classes at Tria, and she brought this educational and exploratory attitude to the wine program she built at Di Bruno. Today, it’s one of the largest retail wine programs in the city.
Friedman’s most personal touch on the businesses is the Di Bruno and Friends Collaboration Series, a program of small-batch, limited-release wines made by Friedman alongside American winemakers, from Pennsylvania-based Galen Glen Vineyards or formerly- Oregon-now-Philly-based Pray Tell Vineyards. For years, Di Bruno had been private labeling food products they loved, from crackers to cheese dips. Why not wine, Friedman thought?
“The difference is that we name the people we work with on the wines,” Friedman explains. “I didn’t want to try to convince anyone that we’re making wine.” Friedman goes deep on the wines, traveling to upstate New York to pick grapes and out to Oregon to help blend.
“It’s special to have my hands in the process,” she laughs. “My hands and my feet—I’ve crushed grapes and helped with production. I’ve touched every part of it.”
Di Bruno Bros. Bottle Shop
920 S. 9th St.
215.560-8745
www.dibruno.com
Di Bruno Bros – The Franklin
834 Chestnut St.
267.519.3115
Di Bruno Bros.– Wayne
375 W. Lancaster Ave.
484.581.7888
D’ONNA STUBBLEFIELD
BEVERAGE DIRECTOR AND GENERAL MANAGER, BLOOMSDAY
“Building a wine program in Pennsylvania is specifically challenging,” explains D’Onna Stubblefield, beverage director and general manager at Bloomsday. “Sourcing is difficult in this state, because there are so many markups, but I sort of think of it as ‘Jeopardy’: You have to have certain wines to fill certain categories.”
Stubblefield’s journey to wine started with a career in specialty coffee, where she trained her nose and palate. Along the way, coffee friends began inviting her to wine tastings, and her casual interest became an obsession. She took a job as a barista at Bloomsday in order to be closer to their wine program, tasting everything she could get her hands on. Years later, after leaving to build the wine program at Sally, she’s back at Bloomsday, running their program herself.
“Selling wine is a little like being a mind reader,” she says. “There’s a listening quality that I feel like a lot of women in this industry have, where we’re kind of constantly watching and listening and therefore able to more accurately give people what they want.”
You might come in for a bottle of rosé and leave with an orange wine from a small producer in Slovenia. Stubblefield says she and her staff work hard to have a soft touch that leaves people wanting to know more.
“I’ve been talked down to by so many men in this industry,” she says. “If I can have someone leave with a bottle of wine that they’ll love and I’ve planted the seed of curiosity, that’s a huge success.”
Bloomsday Restaurant & Wine Bar
414 S 2nd St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
267.319.8018
FRANCESCA GALARUS
CO-OWNER, MURAL CITY CELLARS
In some ways, Francesca Galarus and her husband, Nicholas Ducos, benefitted from Philadelphia’s limited wine scene. Their business, Mural City Cellars, opened in January 2021 as Philadelphia’s first urban winery. Being first, Galarus says, was a big part of why they decided to open in Philadelphia.
“That’s really rare,” she said. “We were racing to do it, and people responded enormously.”
Since the beginning, Mural City has attracted crowds eager to try the affordable wines they put out. Since 2021, Mural City has changed locations three times, moving quickly to accommodate their growth. In March of this year, they finally opened a spacious, airy tasting room at 1831 Frankford Avenue in Fishtown.
“I think a big part of our success is that I’ve brought my whole identity as a woman and as a mother to the business basically from the beginning,” Galarus says. Touches like keeping non-alcoholic options and plenty of high chairs around have been woven in from the start. Galarus and Ducos’ daughter was born 12 months after they first opened.
Though the wine is made in Philadelphia, Galarus and Ducos don’t grow the grapes. The grapes come from vineyards throughout the surrounding 300 miles, including Chambourcin, a hybrid grape grown in Lake Erie, that becomes their signature rosé.
Mural City has also become known for its pet-nats, French-style sparkling wines that zip with flavors of sour candy and green apple. It’s that more modern style of winemaking that has caught the attention of Pennsylvania’s more conservative winemakers and allowed them to stand apart.
Mural City Cellars
1831 Frankford Ave.,
215.291.9161,
www.muralcitycellars.com
5 NONALCOHOLIC DRINKS TO TOAST THE HOLIDAYS
CURATED BY ROBIN CUMMISKEY, OWNER OF WALLACE DRY GOODS
Nonalcoholic beverages have come a long way, with a variety of sophisticated options to suit all palates. Robin Cummiskey, owner of Wallace Dry Goods, carries more than 250 of these choices in her bottle shop.
Each of these drinks can elevate your holiday celebrations, ensuring that everyone—whether they drink alcohol or not—can enjoy something special. “It’s always nice to have an option for people who drink and people who don’t,” she says.
Whether you’re hosting a gathering or simply looking to broaden your holiday toasts, here are five of Cummiskey’s favorites to sip and savor this season.
PRIMA PAVE ROSÉ BRUT
This dealcoholized wine from Northern Italy is a standout for anyone seeking a dry, sparkling wine experience. It’s an elegant, versatile drink that pairs beautifully with food, making it perfect for holiday celebrations. Serve it in a flute to fully appreciate the bubbles.
APLÓS UME SPRITZ
Looking for a ready-to-drink cocktail alternative? Aplós Ume Spritz is infused with nootropics to help you unwind. With functional ingredients including hemp, white tea, and sea buckthorn, it’s light, refreshing, and low in sugar (just 3 grams per serving). Chill and serve in a coupe glass with a garnish of dehydrated fruit for a festive touch.
AMETHYST ALCOHOL-FREE SPIRIT – GRAPEFRUIT BASIL
Amethyst offers a botanical blend that doesn’t mimic traditional spirits but still provides the complexity of a well-crafted drink. With a zesty kick from citric acid, this is perfect mixed with tonic and a splash of grapefruit juice. Serve in a martini glass for an elevated, refreshing experience.
CUT ABOVE ZERO-PROOF GIN
If you’re craving classic gin cocktails without the alcohol, Cut Above Gin is a fantastic option. It works wonderfully in a gin and tonic, Negroni, or even a French 75. You can also mix it with regular gin to create a lower-proof version of your favorite cocktail.
THE PATHFINDER
For something a little more robust, The Pathfinder is a nonalcoholic spirit with deep, rich herbal flavors. It’s excellent when poured over a large ice cube with an orange twist or mixed into either traditional and nonalcoholic cocktails.
Wallace Dry Goods
1 W. Lancaster Ave, Ardmore
www.wallacedrygoods.com
VERMOUTH MAKES A COMEBACK
Vermouth is no longer some dusty bottle kept at the back of the bar cart for mixing martinis. Across the country, this aromatic fortified wine is showing up on trendy bar menus, with a resurgence that highlights its versatility as both a base and a stand-alone beverage.
Philadelphia’s first “vermouthery,” Fell to Earth, is making sweet, dry, and red vermouth from regional wine and local botanicals. The East Falls–based business also participates in frequent pop-ups so folks citywide can taste their wares.
And they aren’t the only local winemakers in the vermouth game. Mural City Cellars also makes a vermouth called Forin Vermút. It’s made with skincontact traminette grapes, fortified with brandy, lightly sweetened, and steeped with warm herbs and botanicals.
As vermouth continues to gain popularity, it’s clear that Philadelphia’s winemakers are putting their own special stamp on the trend.
