Winemaker setting up on Main

Californian’s LR operation to offer Italian-style food, drink

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MELISSA SUE GERRITS - 04/10/15 - Margie Raimondo stands intront of the Arkansas Democrat Building at 615 Main April 10, 2015. California-born (Arkansas transplant) winemaker, Raimondo, will take the entire first floor for manufacturing and bottling. Grapes will still come from California and first steps of production will be at a facility she’s operated in Mountain Home since 2008. The winery will be open 7 days, serving wine and small plates but will cater to The Rep, ballet and symphony folks in the Creative Corridor.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MELISSA SUE GERRITS - 04/10/15 - Margie Raimondo stands intront of the Arkansas Democrat Building at 615 Main April 10, 2015. California-born (Arkansas transplant) winemaker, Raimondo, will take the entire first floor for manufacturing and bottling. Grapes will still come from California and first steps of production will be at a facility she’s operated in Mountain Home since 2008. The winery will be open 7 days, serving wine and small plates but will cater to The Rep, ballet and symphony folks in the Creative Corridor.

A third-generation California winemaker, Margie Raimondo, has picked a spot on Main Street in Little Rock for a finishing and bottling operation and a tasting room, plus infused balsamic vinegars and extra virgin olive oils.

Raimondo Winery will take up the majority of the first floor of the former Arkansas Democrat building at 615 Main St., which is being renovated by Moses Tucker Real Estate and retailer Janan Filat and her family. The two-story, century-old building also will house eight loft apartments to be developed and managed by Moses Tucker, company President Chris Moses said Friday.

The original 14,000-square-foot building was designed by well-known architect Charles Louis Thompson of Little Rock. Moses Tucker's development costs are estimated in the range of $2.2 million, including $125,000-$150,000 for Raimondo's space. Raimondo declined to provide the size of her investment. Construction could start as early as May, and the winemaker is anticipating an October opening.

Raimondo has had a winemaking operation in Mountain Home since 2008, but the new location downtown will be her flagship operation, she said. Grapes will continue to be shipped from California and processed at a plant she established in North Little Rock, but the aging and bottling will occur at the Main Street shop.

Wines come in some common varietals, such as sparkling, oaked chardonnay and merlot, plus some lesser-known varietals, including a bold red Barbera, Sangiovese Rose, Verdelho and Viognier. Vintages date between 2007 and 2010; prices on the Raimondo website range from $13 to $17 per bottle.

Raimondo's grandfather was born in Palermo, Sicily, and moved to California when he was 19.

"We lived in that kind of fun Italian community, always making wine, making olive oil, infusing balsamic vinegars -- just a typical Italian kind of lifestyle," the granddaughter said. All of what they produced was just for friends and family.

Before Raimondo moved to Arkansas from California, she spent more than 20 years working as an executive for the high-tech industry in Silicon Valley. On her work-related travels, she visited wineries wherever she went.

"I've always been a food and wine and beverage connoisseur," she said. She moved to Mountain Home and started her winery in the Ozarks, she said, "to live out my childhood dream." Once she got to Arkansas, she took the operation commercial and sells her wines in retail outlets in Arkansas.

Her spot on Main Street will allow her to expand the tasting experience she created in Mountain Home, offering small plates -- as opposed to full-size meals -- with the opportunity to pair them with wines. It will be more like a trattoria than a ristorante, with seating indoors and out, and an open kitchen.

"It will be just as if you came to my house on Sunday afternoons," Raimondo said. Eats will include homemade ravioli filled with seasonal, locally produced products; cured meats; and foccacia made fresh every day. The winery/eatery will be open seven days a week and will offer lunch but also cater to the crowds attending performances at its neighbor, The Rep.

Raimondo previously announced she was establishing her winery in a spot near the River Market, but those plans fell through. Moses Tucker introduced her to 615 Main. The firm is developing projects and looking for space for others along Capitol Avenue, which intersects with Main Street close to where the winery will be located.

" Capitol Avenue is very important in our minds because it's the third link street that ties together the old and the new downtown," said Jimmy Moses, chairman of Moses Tucker. The other two are President Clinton Avenue, which is fully developed, and Third street, which is up and coming, Moses said.

"The whole idea is to more successfully and definitively link the River Market District and the old historic downtown corridor," he said.

The loft apartments above the winery -- and one that will share the first floor with Raimondo -- will be one or two bedrooms with rents ranging between $750 and $1,500 per month.

Business on 04/11/2015

Upcoming Events