Vino Bello

For anyone with an entrepreneurial bent, nothing focuses you on your own dream more than working for someone else. Vino Bello owner Michele Smith had worked in the technology industry since 1990 and found herself tired of making money for someone else. Add carpal tunnel in both arms and the magic age of 40 and, voilà!, it was time for a change.

Photo: Owner Michele Smith

In the mid-late 90s, Michele was working in the East Bay and was able to spend a lot of time in Napa and Sonoma, befriending wine industry types. The idea of working in the industry stayed in her mind over the years. Moving back to Seattle, she attended the South Seattle Community College Wine Technology Program full time at night while working during the day. She did this for three years. With the core knowledge she gained, she was ready to use her marketing and sales skills to make wine her full-time passion.

As with many small businesses, there was a plan before reality. A wine shop was the original goal, but when she realized she could get a tavern license with off-premise sales, the wine bar was born. "We also started without offering food," explains Michele. "But now we partner with Emerald Cove Catering, a local company that creates weekly appetizer and food specifically paired with the wines during private parties and our tastings. We also use local products like sausage from Dan the Sausage Man and offer high-end cheese, fruit and olive plates." The menu rotates weekly.

Location-wise, Burien made sense for several reasons. Michele and her husband live in Shorewood on the Sound in Burien and kept hearing about the Town Square project and realized that Burien was starting a transformation. Everything aligned, Michele leased her current location and she and her husband did all the work—building the bar, installing the rock wall beneath it and the flooring. Vino Bello opened July 4, 2006.

"We focus on selection," says Michele. "We look for high quality, low production local and international wines. Our wines range in price from $7 to $250, so there’s something for everyone. I do a lot of research and work with approximately 40 distributors. That’s a large number, but it gives me a large choice. Our retail and glass pour menu changes at least monthly. There are certain staples that won’t go off the menu because they’re customer favorites. If something great comes up, it goes on the menu." She maintains a maximum of 5 percent crossover of what can be found in stores like Metropolitan Market and Thriftway and offers 25 wines by the glass.

Vino Bello offers wine by the glass, bottles on premise, half-glass pours (their own form of flights) and bottles-to-go. Any bottle purchased on site can be opened and enjoyed at the wine bar for a $5 corkage fee. "You don’t have to pay $50 for good wine—we certainly have them and they’re great. But we want to help people find what they like. If they like something we don’t carry, we’ll order it for them anyway. It’s about the soul, not the show."

Saturday tastings are out of the ordinary. In addition to the wine, there is live music and appetizers created to pair with the specific wines. When Greek wine was tasted, there was belly dancing involved (we’re talking professionals here, not customers). As Michele explains, "Some people come to the tastings religiously. It’s a community event where people can hang out, taste incredible wine, see their neighbors and meet new people."

Beyond working with other local businesses, Michele feels a strong commitment to helping others. She is a co-founder of a grass-roots fundraising organization in West Seattle; donates part of the proceeds from her private label Vino Bello Villa Toscana (Tefft Cellars) to Friend to Friend, a local charity devoted to spending time with the elderly; and regularly holds fundraising events in the bar. The most recent was a benefit for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer foundation.

Along with wine and fellowship, Vino Bello offers 16 eclectic beers, "Triple Cert" (Certified Organic, Fair Trade and Shade Grown) Tony’s Blend lattes and espressos, organic and sulfite-free wines, a collection of sakes, free wireless Internet and a "hidden" flat screen TV for those special Mariners games and horse races. Unique wine accessories are also available. Wall art is by Normandy Park artist Mark Eaton and is rotated quarterly.

Photo: Saturday tasting--Greek wine and belly dancing

Michele has always had future goals for Vino Bello. However, she didn’t think it would all come together so quickly. "We were profitable our first year and within the first eight months, an investor approached us. We’ll be able to move ahead on our plans more quickly than we originally anticipated," she says. "We’re creating a wine lounge that will feature low, comfortable seating that invites you in. Once there, you won’t want to leave! A small-plates kitchen featuring locally grown and organic fare will be added. By the time we’re done annexing the space next door, we’ll have about 3,000 square feet of space."

Burien is lucky to have such a community-oriented wine bar to enjoy. The neighbors will be lucky to find a space at the bar with all us non-Burien folks heading in to appreciate the wines and events!

August 2007

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