Winedotte Wines Brings West Coast Flavor to Southeast Michigan

As David Reno stood proudly in front of his hand-selected wall of 99 bottles of wine, he said that his quaint shop, Winedotte Wines, was founded on his knowledge of wine and his passion for educating others.

Winedotte Wines opened on Sept. 10 in a plaza near the corner of Fort Street and Eureka Road. Located in a small nook around the plaza’s back side, Winedotte Wines manages to fit a lot of variety into a small space.

Reno, founder and owner of Winedotte Wines, was born and raised Downriver, but moved to California in 1980. While going to college on the West Coast, he began working in wine stores.

“Particularly in that San Francisco, Napa Valley, Northern California area, it’s (wine is) really a lifestyle. I’ve been extremely fortunate. I’ve worked with some of the most innovative people in the industry. I’ve worked all types of different jobs. I’ve held jobs running small businesses, running multimillion-dollar businesses, and I’ve been really lucky,” he said.

A year ago, Reno and his wife moved back to Michigan and settled in the Downriver area to be closer to Reno’s family. After working outside of the wine industry for several months, Reno decided to establish his own shop in Wyandotte, a place Reno said he and his wife enjoyed visiting on trips home.

“All the years I spent on retail wine floors talking to people, listening to people and getting to know customers and kind of running those businesses, I always wanted my own store where I could have the wines that were from smaller producers, handcrafted wines actually traceable to a person, in most cases not big, massively produced corporate wineries,” he said.

The shop is organized into four major sections: “$10 and under” wines, a “buy local” corner and a main wall Reno cleverly titled, “Ninety-Nine Bottles of Wine on the Wall.”

Reno said having 99 selections of wine in his shop compares to a wine list at a restaurant. According to Reno, wine shouldn’t be overwhelming and his job as a merchant is to break down selections. Therefore, he makes a point to educate his customers.

“The main point that I want to get across to people is that wine shouldn’t be intimidating. Regardless of what your level of knowledge is you should be able to talk to somebody and get your questions answered,” Reno said.

A favorite motto Reno said he uses to describe the path to learning wine is: “The road to wine enjoyment and knowledge is cluttered with corks not books and opinions.”

“It’s all about tasting,” he said.

Aside from wine, Winedotte Wines offers food products. According to Reno, wine and food are “inseparable.” For this reason, Reno sells Michigan-made pastas, sauces and jams in the “buy local” section of his shop.

The enthusiastic Reno said although some of his friends and fellow wine vendors questioned his choice to open a winery Downriver, he believes it will fit in nicely in Wyandotte.

“I just feel there’s a place for this,” Reno said. “I think if people are interested in wine or giving it a chance and learning, there is a place for a store like this locally.”

Winedotte Wines, located at 3177 Fort St., is open 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.