An urban winery meets entertainment venue meets restaurant will take up residence on the South Side. Expanding upon the former home of Via Vecchia at The Fort, 2108 S. High St., NYC-based City Winery will make its Columbus debut in late 2022 or early 2023.
City Winery is many things – things that Founder Michael Dorf wanted to see come together in one space. He wanted a place where he could be entertained, see a show or a concert and not have to stand; where he could drink wine from a real glass, not a plastic cup.
Describing it as a mash-up of an urban winery and entertainment venue, City Winery opened its first location in New York City in 2008. Chicago came in 2012, then Nashville in 2015, and since then, the brand has opened about a location a year across the country.
There are a few reasons Dorf added Columbus to the list of spots where City Winery will open next.
“Columbus is a great cosmopolitan, growing, hip city,” he says.
While he’d initially discounted Columbus for some time, he had friends in the area that encouraged him to check it out. As he visited the city and was charmed by areas like German Village, “I caught the bug on Columbus,” Dorf says.
Columbus’ location is also ideal for a growing facet of City Winery’s business. As they start coordinating more internal tours for musicians, Central Ohio is a great stop on their circuit.
As for choosing The Fort, Dorf was drawn to the complex’s brick structures, and likes what Justin McAllister, The Fort’s creator, has done with the property.
“I love adaptive reuse,” he says.
City Winery will take over Via Vecchia’s former home, as well as the surrounding buildings to accumulate about 15,000 square feet of indoor space. The buildings will encircle an outdoor courtyard with a built-in stage to host concerts, outdoor weddings and more.
Although trading winery for winery, with the additional space City Winery acquired, Dorf says renovations will take six to seven months, putting them in line for a late 2022, early 2023 opening.
When complete, City Winery will feature a 250-seat, sit-down indoor music venue and a restaurant space that will seat 75 indoors and 100 on the patio, plus the outdoor courtyard boasting a 300-500 person capacity for events.
The restaurant will be open daily, serving a “wine-inspired, globally-influenced, locally-sourced menu,” Dorf says.
The menu will focus heavily on wine and food pairings. Dorf says about 75% of City Winery’s menu are core items, tried and true dishes consistent across all locations, with the remaining 25% inspired by the local chef. Diners will see soups and salads like a Watermelon Gazpacho and Kale Caesar, a variety of shared plates like Risotto Balls, Cheese and Charcuterie Boards and Whipped Feta, and entrees that range from burgers and flatbreads, to chicken, pasta and steak.
City Winery’s wines run the full gamut of whites, reds and rosé. Sourcing grapes from 35 vineyards across the country, Dorf says each location is allotted a certain amount of the harvest to make their wines on-site, Columbus included. They also have a larger production facility in upstate New York for some of their bigger-bodied pours.
Columbus will be the first Ohio location for City Winery, and 12th overall. The brand is also targeting additional cities like Pittsburgh, Detroit and St. Louis.
For more information, visit citywinery.com.
