It’s a great time of year for good wine, whether it’s to chase the December chill or toast the holidays with friends. Many local restaurants and bars offer well-curated wine lists, with selections from the West Coast, France, Italy and other vineyard hot spots. Admittedly, Pittsburgh is not one of those. But we do have wineries here, and whether they import their own wine, order their grapes from around the world or grow their own, their products are unique.
A block from Late Addition Brewing and catty-corner from the Modern Cafe, Refucilo Wine Specialists brings a cozy neighborhood vibe to the North Side with a small bar, a few tables and more than 20 wines available by glass or bottle.
Refucilo serves its own Argentine wine from Casa de Uco Vineyards near Mendoza, a high desert area known for its malbecs. But Refucilo also offers chardonnay, pinot noir and more, including torrontės, an aromatic Argentine white. Grapes are grown in a section of the vineyard owned by Refucilo founder Juan Antonio Lora, a Pittsburgh gastroenterologist. The wines are created and bottled at Casa de Uco and shipped to Refucilo.
Refucilo offers a small menu of tapas, charcuterie plates and empanadas. Occasional events include live music, trivia and a “blend your own wine” experience. On Dec. 14, they’ll host the Holiday Belles duo for seasonal songs.
“People will leave here with a better knowledge of the wines from Argentina,” Lora says.
Pittsburgh Winery’s Drunk Santa. Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Winery owner Tim Gaber.
Wine and music share top billing at this Strip District winery. Co-owners Tim Gaber, Cole Rapso and Anthony Jardine make music as part of the Buzz Poets, a longtime Pittsburgh band. But they also make wine in their Spring Garden warehouse using grapes from California and Chile. Vintages include rosé, a white blend, several California reds and a Chilean malbec and cuvée blend. Drunk Santa, the winery’s holiday cabernet, is now available. Arsenal Ciders and a good array of local beers are also on tap. A limited menu of sandwiches and snacks from nearby DiAnoia’s Eatery is also available.
The street-level tasting room features acoustic performers most evenings and weekend afternoons. The Cellar, the winery’s downstairs venue, hosts ticketed shows starring local and national touring acts. Upcoming holiday shows include A Charlie Brown Christmas, with local musicians including Anton DeFade, Jacob Pleakis and Mariko Reid performing the Vince Guaraldi classic on Dec. 19, and A Holiday Homecoming with Chloe Wiecz and Nathan Zoob on Dec. 21.
Pittsburghers are good wine drinkers, says Gaber: “They like their dry California full-bodied wines.”
You can’t drop by for a sample at Engine House Twenty Five, but if you make a reservation for 12, you can get a tour of the remarkable Clemente Museum as well as a tasting. The museum and winery share an old city firehouse with a photography studio, and Duane Rieder is the founder/vintner/photographer behind it all. After making wine at home for years, he bought the building in 1994. The winery opened in 1998, and the museum, featuring thousands of items donated or lent by the Clemente family and others, opened just before the Major League All-Star Game, held at PNC Park in July 2006.
Rieder sources grapes from California, Chile and South Africa. The entire winemaking process, from grape crushing to barrel fermenting to bottling, happens onsite. The Clemente series includes reds such as Clemente Barbera and Malbec, and Vera’s Red Blend, in honor of the late Mrs. Clemente. There are Engine House Twenty Five chardonnays, rieslings and other white varieties as well.
Order museum tour tickets online. Bottles can be purchased online for shipping or pickup. For information on wine tastings and special events, check the website or email info@clementemuseum.com.
Photo courtesy of R Wine Cellar.
The Russell family (Kathy, Steve and their four kids) opened R Wine Cellar on Smallman Street in 2012. They make their wines on-site, using grapes from Chile, California and the Lake Erie region. It’s a broad selection with more than 20 kinds of red, white and rosé, including lesser-known varieties such as carménère, a Chilean red made with grapes from Bordeaux, and Glühwein, a holiday spiced wine. To make a decision easier and more fun, up to four free tastings are offered.
A block away is the Cellar on Penn, which the Russells opened in the old Casa Reyna location at 20th and Penn in 2019. It’s a full service restaurant, offering brunch on weekends and dinner every night but Tuesday. Their wines are available by the glass, as are wine-infused cocktails like their French 75, made with their Bubbly and Big Spring Gin.
Other places worth visiting
Courtyard Winery – The winery and vineyard are based in North East, Pennsylvania, near the New York border, but there’s a Strip District tasting room and a store at Ross Park Mall. They offer a variety of wines from fruity rieslings and muscats to dry reds including cabernet franc, and lesser-known varieties like Zweigelt, a dark red originally from Austria.
Photo by Annette Bassett.
Kavic Winery – Michael and Patricia Kavic own this small winery and tasting room on Campbells Run Road in Carnegie. Grapes are locally grown, and Michael, a retired surgeon, makes the wine on-site. Varieties include blaufrankisch, an Eastern European-style red, and traminette, an off-dry white, along with chardonnay, merlot and better-known varieties. Kavic is usually open only on weekends, but they’ll also be there on Friday afternoons until Christmas.
Also nearby
Bella Terra Wine Cave in Allison Park, a full-service restaurant serving wines from Bella Terra Vineyards in Hunker, and Gibsonia’s Narcisi Winery, which features a restaurant, plus vineyard tours and tastings on weekends.