Raise a Glass to New Adventure

Let's start at the beginning...

Brian has worked as the Beverage Director at the restaurant next door, Kindred Fare, since before it opened its doors 10 years ago. He's one of the hardest workers I know; his passion and knowledge of wine is rivaled by few. He knows his stuff. He's got great taste. He's good with numbers and he is never done learning about wine, cocktails, how to fix his mountain bike or where to ride it. I like to say he's our shop's secret weapon, though I might be a little biased because he’s my better half.

I'm Ashley, and I've worked as the General Manager at Kindred Fare for almost 6 years now. I have a background working in Finger Lakes wineries and have worked in a restaurant since the age of 16. I like to talk, move fast, drink wine (and gin) and make people's experiences special whenever I can.

Brian and I have been lucky enough to work together for years now, sharing a fervor for wine and food along with the great outdoors. Camping, canoeing, hiking and mountain biking (Brian's second love after wine) are something we both really enjoy. When we were given the opportunity to work with our boss Susie (owner of Kindred Fare) opening this wine shop, we knew we wanted to somehow bring our love of the outdoors and beverages together. An aside, our favorite canoeing beverage is a canned Piña Colada from Cutwater - coming to the shop as soon as the company gets them back in stock. I know it sounds weird but just trust us— they're plain old delicious.

The journey continues here.

The three of us sat down to talk about brands that resonated with us, cool wine shops around the world we could be like (or not) and what the heck to name this place. Wine is rooted in collaboration, which eventually led us to the word collective. But how to tell people that we had wine? And spirits? Supplies? You get the picture.

We are excited to finally open our shop doors to you after almost 2 years of brand-building and decision making - what wines will we carry? How many shelves will we need? What color will we paint the ceiling? How will we label the prices? What wine supplies can we carry? These are just a few of the countless questions we'd ask ourselves and each other, agree and disagree on, etc. Once the construction was finished (which of course took longer than planned) there were a lot (and I mean a lot) of boxes, shelves to stock, products to photograph and programming to do. We sipped, squabbled, and learned a whole lot. And as we get into the groove of the new space, we continue to learn something new every single day. Our shop will continue to evolve as we do.

We'll see you there.

So come on by to check us out. We're open every day from 11am-8pm. We can't wait to see the familiar faces who've continuously supported us over the years, and we want to meet new people who also care about wine and the people who make it. We look forward to adding in some educational tasting events soon along with some sampling of the wines we carry. We want to host private events in the shop at our communal tasting table, so feel free to drop us a line to discuss your vision anytime: hello@collectivewinesupply.com

We like to talk about wine— and drink it. We like cats and bikes and hikes. And we'd like you to come hang out with us. We are excited to raise a glass and toast to this new adventure and all that is yet to be discovered. Cheers!