By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

In a town that continues to add to its list of attractions to accommodate widening tastes and enjoy maturing social options, Kennett Square has tacked on one more gem to a main street already filled with diamonds.

As a complement to its 24-acre vineyard in Nottingham, Wayvine Winery & Vineyard opened Wayvine Kennett Square, its new tasting room on Sept. 4 at 217 East State Street, in the space previously leased by Hilltop Flower Company. As Wayvine’s newest “sister brands” business venture, the tasting room complements the Tulip Pasta Bar it operates in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia and the popular Ethereal Farms airbnbs that are located on the Wilson Farm in Nottingham. 

“Luckily in Pennsylvania, we are allowed to use satellite licenses to create tasting rooms, so we can expand our main farm in Nottingham with up to four other locations,” said proprietor James Wilson. “We have already used one of those licenses to create the Tulip Pasta Bar, which has been a great success, and it showed that there is a lot of opportunity.

“We’ve spent the last four years doing several events in Kennett Square, and then we began being invited to participate in the borough’s Third Thursdays, and then we donated cases of our wine to the opening of the new Kennett Library. Kennett Square is the kind of town where everyone collaborates to a community driven energy, and we knew that we wanted to contribute to that energy.” 

After conversations in early July with Kennett Borough President Bob Norris – who owns the property – Wilson discussed the concept of a tasting room with his brother, Zachary, and then began retrofitting the tasting room into the available space.

From the beginning ideas that ultimately brought the tasting room to its opening, Wilson said that Wayvine Kennett Square is about filling up the gap in an expanding palate of restaurants, nightlife and entertainment that is a mere half-minute walk away.  

“We’ve been calling this area the ‘cocktail corridor,’ a happening culture that sees a couple or friends stopping off for a pre-dinner glass of wine, followed by dinner at another restaurant, and then arriving here for a post-dinner cocktail,” he said. 

Visitors to the tasting room can enjoy any one of the winery’s 12 wine varietals – from the Unoaked Chardonnay to the Field Blend Rose to the Cabernet Franc – either by the glass, the bottle or in sampled tastings. The menu also includes Wayvine’s Red Vermouth by the glass or bottle; a variety of cocktails all invented and made by master mixologist Gabe Evans-Siegel and two dozen varieties of pilsner, IPA and lager beers, all from regional breweries such as the East Branch Brewing Company in Downingtown and the Hidden River Brewing Company in Douglassville. In addition to beverages, Wayvine Kennett guests will have the option to order lite fare from Lettie’s Tavern up the street and fresh bread and pastries from Patisserie Lola next door.

Wilson called the new tasting room “an expansion” of the Wayvine Winery & Vineyard, and in fact, wood from the actual farm was used in the making of the tasting room’s bar and tables.

“At the farm, our main mission has always been about hospitality, and our family has been blessed to be able to share our farm with our guests – to give those who have never lived on more than a half-acre the opportunity to visit our farm and enjoy our vineyards.

“We’re now bringing a bit of our farm to Kennett Square.”

To learn more about Wayvine Winery & Vineyard, visit www.wayvine.wine.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].