Pali Wine: Bringing Wine Country to DTLA
Those who frequent the Art’s District are familiar with the pedestrian-filled area around Traction Ave. With much anticipation from locals, the Pali Wine Company finally opened its doors to its 5th tasting room back in June, and it’s been a wine flowing river of happiness ever since. Don’t confuse it for a wine bar though, this tasting room serves Pali Wines exclusively, and for those who know the quality wine tasting rooms in Lompoc- it’s a big deal to have one in DTLA.
If Pali Wine sounds familiar that’s probably due to the fact that the distributing branch of their business expands to 38 states, they are in many restaurants all throughout the U.S. but their latest venture, tasting rooms, are becoming a big hit in SoCal and with a passion for hip urban areas, the Arts District was an obvious choice for partners Stacey Rosser and Aaron Walker.
Aaron operates onsite at Lompoc, making 30,000 cases of wine per year for two labels operating under the Pali Wine name (the name inspired by the Pacific Palisades), while Stacey oversees operations for the business and her laser focus on tasting rooms has resulted in bringing the life of wine country right to DTLA’s doorstep.
“We are really excited for people to taste our wines. We make all of these with the really great fruit we grow. We give back by keeping our price down, we like to make them accessible. We prefer to keep our wines affordable, and have more people drink it,” said Stacey.
The space itself was specially modeled to represent their vineyard in Lompoc, while keeping as much of the original building as possible. Architecture Firm Design Opera strategically designed wood accents, terracotta, granite wall, and even barrel like tables to assimilate the feeling of wine country. The menu is also just the kind you’d get at a vineyard up north. They offer $16 flights, 1 oz of 4 different wines, depending on the label- Pali or Tower 15.
The Pali menu offers their award-winning wines such as the Pinot Noir or Chardonnay, which is also the kinds they distribute the most. Tower 15 is their, “fun label” that is filled with wine they don’t distribute because they don’t make as much of it in terms of quantity. Therefore, even if you’ve been to their vineyard, you get a unique experience with Tower 15. The tasting room also has wines on tap, that have never been bottled, they come straight from the barrel. Wines by the glass or by the bottle starting at $20, are also available for sale and to drink onsite.
Despite being so new to DTLA, Pali knows the food scene is important to locals and so they have teamed up with Porto’s Bakery to sell small bites like empanadas, while sipping on some wine. Stacey and her team also know DTLA cares about our own spread out communities, so they have lined up comedy nights, DJ visits, and meet and greets with Aaron to learn all about the world of wine.
All of this is just the beginning for Pali Wine, they have so much more in store, and if the first month or so that they have been open is any indication of the future to come- success is most certainly in the cards.
paliwineco.com | 811 Traction Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Written by Mariana Ramos | Photography by Rebekah Lemire
