Daneen and Pascal Lewis had already been living in Central Harlem for decades when one of their regular trips to buy wine downtown hit home differently.
“It dawned on us — ‘why are we leaving our own neighborhood [when] we need to buy wine that we want to drink here?’ ” Daneen said. “We didn’t want to take our dollars out of the community.”
This was where they had raised their two sons. It’s where they have long been involved in organizations like the Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association.
And they figured they weren’t the only ones who felt this way. It sparked the idea for Harlem Wine Gallery. They would make the mostly small-production, natural, and biodynamic wines they loved readily available in their neighborhood.
Wine for the community
The husband-and-wife duo decided to create a space in Harlem where they and their neighbors could find and learn about unique wines. Daneen started taking wine classes, earning a certification. Pascal focused on the shop’s design and layout, and networking to foster community.
The emphasis on engagement was baked into the space: half of the venue was devoted to retail, the rest to education. “That is what is such a huge part of what we do here because a lot of people are intimidated by wine,” Pascal said. “Because what you normally get is a person coming in saying, ‘I’m not a wine connoisseur, although I know you are.’ ”
While Pascal says he’s not a connoisseur, he helps empower the customer to learn about their own palate with questions like: What type of wine have you drunk in the past? What is it that you know about wine? What do you know that you like? That simple starting point is often all they need to dispel the idea that wine appreciation requires expertise.
A taste of wine education
Harlem Wine Gallery offers free in-store tastings every Friday evening. They educate customers on different wines and help them discover new favorites based on what they’re cooking. They might suggest certain wine pairings depending on the acidity, sweetness, dryness of the wine — and what customers want to enhance from the wine and from their food.
Then there’s the regional pairings. The space was curated based on place of origin, with distinct sections for wines from California, New World regions, Italy, France and beyond, and with a fridge in the back for chilled whites, rosés and sparkling wines.
“My personal rule of thumb is, what grows together goes together,” Daneen said. “So if somebody says that they’re having Italian food, we’ll walk right over to the Italian section. I don’t always do that, but I tend to go that way.”
While it’s easy to imagine wine shop owners traveling to beautiful wine regions and enjoying a laidback lifestyle, their reality is different, the Lewises say.
“I think [learning to turn it off] is very difficult for small business owners, because that is their child, their baby, it’s the primary focus of their lives,” Pascal said. And it can involve the least glitzy tasks: washing the windows, handling deliveries, picking up trash outside your storefront.
A taste of community space
The Lewises designed the space to be welcoming and reflective of their neighborhood. When customers walk into the Harlem Wine Gallery, the first thing they see is the old Lenox Lounge sign Pascal rescued. Jazz icons like Billie Holiday and Miles Davis once performed at the legendary lounge, which was forced to close in 2012 due to rising rents. The historic nightclub was torn down around the time Harlem Wine Gallery opened.
“At the time, it was basically trying to hold on to a bit of history and not let that part of Harlem just go down to some antique dealer … in Virginia,” Pascal said. He made his case to the demolition operators for why the sign shouldn’t leave the community. Harlem Wine Gallery still gets visits from community historians who are thankful the sign is still in Harlem.
The shop also packs a cozy vibe with wooden shelves and an industrial tool cabinet holding the wines. At the center, there’s a table that changes with the seasons, often spotlighting rosé wines, women winemakers, or Black winemakers. Harlem Wine Gallery carries the largest selection of Black winemakers in Manhattan, according to the Lewises.
Back to the beginning
The aesthetics and attention to down-to-earth details are also telling of how Pascal and Daneen first met: on a fashion shoot, where Daneen, then a stylist, hired Pascal to do hair and makeup. Their creative roles in the industry and experience working with all kinds of people prepared them to design not just their space but their camaraderie with customers.
It helps that the backspace hosts book clubs and community meetings alongside their wine tastings and wine classes. It’s another way the co-founders stay connected with the neighborhood they live in, work in, and are civically engaged with — and which inspired them to start Harlem Wine Gallery in the first place.
“We have the same vision that we started off with: keeping a wine shop like ours open in the community so people can experience this type of service and enjoy a very well-made wine,” Daneen said.
(646) 912-9365
2067 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd
Tue 3 – 8 PM
Wed – Fri 12- 8 PM
Sat 10 AM – 8 PM
Sun 12 – 7 PM
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