WINONA LAKE – Whether you like Cabernet, Chardonnay or Riesling, wine aficionados will find it at Port Winona.
The new wine and market business at 807 E. Canal St., Winona Lake, is co-owned by Tiffany Aites and James Zachary. The Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the shop in The Village at Winona Thursday afternoon.
“Basically, we are a little marketplace meets a wine café. So you can come in and you can get some things to go. Everything has been pulled and ready to take out. You can also dine in and enjoy anything as well,” Aites said before the ceremony.
She said Port Winona has a strong focus on wine, but it also has beer and other specialty drinks like Fallucca and iced teas. There are little menus for cheeses and deli options. Those can be enjoyed at the business or to go.
In about a month, Port Winona will begin offering classes, tasting events and other activities.
“We offer classes every once in a while based on learning more about wine, and we also offer some beer ones, so once a week we usually do a free public tasting. You can try different things and branch out as far as wine goes. And then with the classes, it’s more ticket based. You come, you learn about something specific, and we’ll start launching those in about a month or so. Those will be pretty consistent as well,” Aites said.
It’ll be a fun environment where people can learn more about wine without the stress, she said.
“I personally love wine, so I was really excited to do something like this and I just think everything kind of fits well and it’s a great fit for the community. We’re happy to be here,” Aites said.
The approach to the market is that Port Winona offers local farmers and European imports.
“So for the wine, what we really wanted to do, is go over. I personally have a pretty hard time finding wine in town. It’s either you know exactly what you are looking for and you’ve had it a thousand times before, or you cross your fingers and hope you like it,” she said.
Port Winona offers wine from all over, and Aites has personally tried everything before it’s brought in.
“So I can walk you through it. As I like to say, you can buy with confidence. We can have a chat, we can try some things and I can probably find you a fun, new bottle, but you’re going to love it,” Aites said.
Prices of the wines vary from $8 to $100.
Port Winona is open every day at 11 a.m. It closes at 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m. Sunday.
On Friday nights, it offers Fondue which changes every week. This Friday it’s Fiesta Fondue “so it’s a Mexican theme with a queso Fondue.”
On Sundays, the brunch changes weekly, too. It’s based on what’s fresh and how the owners are feeling up to that point.
“Just being open later, we have some desserts and things like that. So it’s a fun stop ... to get a drink or a dessert and a drink. Another place to kind of hop around in the Village,” she said.
Shoppers don’t need to leave their kids at home to stop in.
Aites said, “How it works is, with the liquor law, is if you walk things around, even kids can sit up at our counter. So you don’t have to be 21 and older to come in. Anybody is welcome.”
She said the kids often gravitate toward the fresh fruit in the business. There’s also kids’ juices for them while they hang out with their parents.
It has a patio with a view of the canal.
Aites said, “It’s a great spot to just enjoy a glass and come and hang out with each other. We’re real excited about it.”
Zachary thanked everyone for coming to the ribbon-cutting ceremony. He said there was a number of people in attendance who made the business possible.
“We opened earlier than we wanted to, to get in the Fat & Skinny Tire Festival and the Art Fair, so we were kind of quiet about opening, and now we’ve got everything we want to have in here, so that’s why we chose now to have our ribbon-cutting,” he said.
Zachary said people love wine and the business has a great view of the canal.
“So I think the more places where you can hang out outside and just enjoy each other’s company without having to be walking or whatever, we’re a good spot for that,” he said.
