[S U PP ORT] T H E H O L L Y
A Storyteller’s Wine Bar One Local’s Fresh Approach By Jocelyn Tatum
The Stories Behind the Bottle
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Photos by Connor Fields
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publisher, a managing editor and an executive editor walk into a local wine bar. One likes white wine, one likes red wine, and one doesn’t imbibe. The Holly Natural Wine Bar’s manager, Daniela Arboleda, says no problem, she has something to offer everyone and even a story to go with each glass. Daniela first asks if we have been there before. Some of us haven’t, so she shares The Holly’s fresh approach to experiencing wine. First, they sell and pour wines that were made the way wine was thousands of years ago — all organic, small batch, no additives or preservatives, crushed by human hands and feet.
If you can’t travel, you can travel through a bottle of wine.” — LIZ MEARS
She points to the flight of red wine on the table to try. This one is Martha. This one is Gaby. These are nicknames Daniela has come up with for the wines based on the name either on the bottle or from the maker, like female winemaker Martha Stoumen or a merlot from the Chateaux Gaby in France. This type of wine makes up only 5%-10% of the wine market in the world. The result is less predictable than over-commercialized wines, and they don’t necessarily taste better than the homogenous wines we are used to drinking. These are often manipulated with chemicals to keep the flavor predictable and consistent, which is safe for the expecting palate and disillusioned human need to control all external variables. So, what’s the appeal? Founder and owner Liz Mears says it’s not for everyone, but for those who want to change things up or be surprised, there’s nothing boring about the wine experience she offers. “It’s like if you like to shop at a farmers market, farm-to-table experience; it’s wine with people behind it and not machines, corporations and investors,” she says.
