Joseph Wendt fills his Old Naples atelier with made-to-order fits, sharply tailor-made sportcoats and bespoke footwear from Florentine grasp cobbler Mario Bemer. Displayed among the many buttery suede and light-weight linen is one other expression of expertise: wonderful Italian wines. The tailoring studio additionally homes Il Vino Sarto, a boutique bottle store targeted on small, family-run estates that share Joseph’s ethos of hands-on, artisanal practices. Offerings would possibly embrace Le Vigne Barolo from Sandrone, considered one of Piedmont’s premier producers, and Le Macchiole Paleo Rosso, a cabernet franc from Tuscany’s coastal Bolgheri area. “[These are] exceptional Italian wines that aren’t available elsewhere,” Joseph says. “I’ve spent a lot of time curating the best of the best.”
While Southwest Florida has no scarcity of wine emporiums, a handful of hidden outlets—tucked inside a gothic brewery, a classy residence retailer or a tailor’s atelier—provide diamonds within the tough. Here, the choices are small and eclectic, with the possibility to uncover bottles you gained’t discover elsewhere—from deeply discounted Champagnes to limited-production pure wines.
When prime floral designers Melissa and Sean Stevenson launched Kaleidoscope Garden Club in 2024, they curated every part by way of the identical suave lens that defines their exuberant, wild preparations. One desk could be laid with an old style brass peppermill, hand-poured candles formed like heirloom tomatoes, striped cans of single-estate Tuscan olive oil, colourful espresso desk books and bottles of malbec from a biodynamic French winery. Everything is extremely stylized but additionally grounded in shared intention—an emphasis on handmade items and small producers.
In maintaining with that ethos, Kaleidoscope shares solely biodynamic, natural and pure bottles—one of many few locations in Naples that focuses completely on the class. Melissa and Sean honed their palates as longtime prospects of native pure wine godfather Peter Rizzo and now curate their very own choice of incessantly rotating, limited-production labels. The beverage cooler within the store’s pantry would possibly maintain skin-contact orange wine and a mineral-driven white from the California coast one week, then glowing purple lambrusco and French Sancerre the subsequent. Customers can buy bottles to take residence or uncork them onsite to take pleasure in with a choice of cheese and charcuterie. “We wanted an immersive experience, not just a flower shop,” Sean explains. “We have a really pretty garden where people can come hang out.”
Natural wines are additionally the main focus at Ceremony Brewing in Bonita Springs, the place proprietor Zach Smith carries about a dozen totally different bottles at any given time. “Naomi [Biber] and Ryan [Lay] at Palace Pub got me fired up about natural, low-intervention wines,” he says. “What got me excited was the parallels with brewing.” Zach champions pure wine for its character-driven edge—funky, expressive and slightly unpredictable. These qualities mirror the food-inspired sours he crafts. He factors to pétillant naturel, a gently fizzy glowing wine that’s an indicator of the pure motion. Bottled earlier than fermentation is full, the wine is extra rustic and uncooked than Champagne, with a love-it-or-hate-it status very similar to bitter beer.
Elsewhere in Bonita, Vichino’s Café & Wine Bar leans into wine schooling. “Once a week, we travel to a different region of the world,” says Shannen Vichinsky, who co-owns Vichino’s together with her husband Kevin. “We bring in educators that constantly raise the bar for wine knowledge.” Classroom-style tastings span subjects from Chilean and Greek viticulture to debunking riesling stereotypes to a sommelier-led, dinosaur-themed exploration of France’s Jura area (the Jurassic interval takes its title from its mountains).
In that very same spirit, Vichino’s sources small-production wines from family-run vineyards for the wine bar and retail store. “We carry very little California wine. We like to challenge others to find varietals they like but maybe have never heard of,” Shannen says. “We want customers to walk into a restaurant and [recognize] something other than cabernet or chardonnay.” Italian whites—ideally suited for Florida’s steamy local weather—are amongst her prime picks, like Alcesti zibibbo, an fragrant muscat from the women-owned Sicilian property.
For wines with main title recognition, digital wine retailer Discount Somm Select operates out of Sidebar on Naples’ Fifth Avenue South. Level 2 Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) skilled Francis LaMorte attracts on relationships he constructed at native establishments just like the Royal Poinciana Golf Club and Naples Yacht Club to safe sought-after bottles—suppose cult favourite Screaming Eagle and Billecart-Salmon Champagne—at as much as 30% beneath customary retail.
When Sidebar is closed throughout the day, Francis and proprietor Marty Kenney host occasions for members of Discount Somm Select’s invite-only membership, together with tastings with famend vintners like Andy Erickson of Napa’s Shafer Vineyards. “Some of the biggest names in wine come and share their expertise with our clientele,” Francis says. Members can even faucet Francis to arrange non-public, concierge-style buying experiences and occasions akin to customized tastings aboard a personal yacht.
With guided tastings, uncommon bottles and under-the-radar producers, these hidden-gem outlets provide extra than simply wine—they ship the fun of discovery.