New Wine Bar Opens Today in Annapolis

There are lots of new dining choices in Annapolis! The Market House just opened with several food vendors. Metropolitan recently reopened its doors. Now Red Red Wine is making a splash.

The downtown scene is about to get hipper with today’s opening of Red Red Wine at 189B Main Street, the former site of American Craftworks Collection.

I spoke to the owner back in January, as the renovations to the restaurant’s site were just getting started. He said he hoped for a May 1 opening, but he knew that the actual date was beyond his control and depended on the city government, contractors, and other factors.

Red Red Wine owner and wine buyer, Brian Bolter is the news anchor for Washington, DC’s WTTG-TV. “My background is as a storyteller,” he said. “I’ll tell about the labeling, the many regions, the family who runs the winery, the things that will help people connect with what’s in the bottle. We’re the filter, tasting the wines for you. You can’t go out and taste a thousand wines to figure out what’s good.”

When asked about a target age group for the establishment, Bolter balked. “Age isn’t the issue—focus and interest is. Millenials, second to baby boomers, are the second largest group of wine drinkers today. Twenty to 30 year olds are open to exploring, and the baby boomers tend to know their wines.” And everyone is “focused on value. Both the Internet and the economy have made consumers more savvy.” “The locals, tourists, legislature, when they’re in session, and employees who work around here are important to us,” he said to describe his target consumer.

“Annapolis does two things very well: white-tablecloth fine dining and pub food,” Bolter observed. “It’s hard to find a great salad and artisanal cheeses and chocolates. Healthy gourmet is very different” than the standard fare  available in the area. He wants Red Red Wine to offer an alternative “middle ground: California cuisine, healthy gourmet food. We’re not going to have a deep fryer.” His wife Lisa is “in charge of the menu and the back of the house.”

“We’re a restaurant, a wine café. We want a coffee-house feel; there will be an espresso machine. We think we’re going to be the most technologically advanced on Main Street. We’ll have free wifi and extra outlets. People can come here for coffee late in the morning, get a little work done in the afternoon.”

Upon entering the “funky and unique” space, patrons will be greeted by an entry lounge with soft seating. Antiques, including candelabras and chandeliers have been selected, and there are plans for a wine cellar room with a private seating area with shelves of reserve wines lining the walls. The long narrow space is slated to seat 59 people, and there is a retail component as well, where people pick up a bottle. Wines will be organized by flavor—bold, bright, dry, earthy, and so on—not by region or type of grape.

Décor will feature a “Eighteenth-Century / Victorian / New Orleans / recording studio / rock star vibe,” Bolter described. Walls will be dramatically painted by uplighting installed in the hardwood floors. Softer accents include oriental rugs, and plush fabric seating.

Red Red Wine is slated to employee between 10 and 15 people. The hours are currently set from 11 a.m. to midnight, but “We’re looking at a 2:00 a.m. license,” Bolter said, “and board members are trying to accommodate establishments like us.”

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