Ripy & Vine the result of an evolution of vision

Matt Vaile and Shane Kirkland have opened Ripy & Vine, a realization of an evolving vision.

With an eclectic mix of gourmet products, wines for sale and a seasonal cocktail menu, the vision for Ripy & Vine has been an evolution from concept to opening day with a smattering of self-discovery along the way.

Owners Shane Kirkland and husband Matt Vaile have built a place where customers can browse through the carefully curated collection of beautifully branded gourmet offerings while sipping a glass of wine or a cocktail with friends. Residents may recognize Kirkland as the sought-out mixologist of Stratford, having worked at Elizabeth. and the Relic Lobby Bar.

“Matt and I have been talking about opening a general store for a while now, but the space never came up. Then this space became available and we thought it’s about time we do something for us,” explained Kirkland.

With space secured they gave themselves 30 days to manifest their vision into reality. The name is a nod to Kirkland’s grandmother whose maiden name is Ripy. Her grandfather was a bourbon distiller named TB Ripy and his son was also a bourbon distiller, both in Lawrenceburg, Ky. During prohibition, they sold their distilleries to two brothers who turned it into Wild Turkey bourbon.

“It was a quick journey. We decided on Oct. 20 last year to open a space, we got the keys on Nov. 1 and with the help of Grace (Fullerton) and Matt’s father and our friends Ashley and Andrew, we were able to get the store open in just over 30 days. It was a lot, but it was good; it was fun. We learned a lot about ourselves, and we learned a lot about our relationship as well which was good, and we grew,” said Kirkland. “Matt has a great eye for design, most of what is here is from his eye.”

Having to pivot from a general store was a challenge of their original vision discovered in the middle of a wine tasting when they heard the news that they received their liquor licence. Upon hearing of this success, the wine rep informed them that they wouldn’t be able to buy direct from him after all, they would have to buy direct from the LCBO. With that news, they changed their licence from general store to cocktail bar so that they could continue to have access.

“I’m happy that we opened the bar and I’m happy that we’ve had people around us, supporting us,” said Kirkland.

The Ripy & Vine experience is about great wine, great cocktails, great snacks but without any sense of pretention. They want wine to be approachable for everyone, to come in and feel welcome and that the business is theirs to enjoy as well as if it were their own home.

The food items and other general sundries are curated by Vaile with an outstanding eye for detail, such as the ceramic olive oil bottle that can be reused. Most of the wine is curated by Kirkland.

“Matt and I both love old world wines, so French, Italian, Austria, Germany, that sort of thing. So we selected most of the wine to be old world with some VQA, so Ontario wines sprinkled in a bit, but the majority is old world. We try to stick with as natural as we can, understanding that some people are not fans of natural wine, so we will have a couple of what I’ll say are non-natural wines,” said Kirkland.

With natural wines, each bottle, each vintage, is going to be a little bit different dependent on the soil or the weather. Wines are not supplemented with yeast, sugars or acids to balance the wines. Natural wines use the natural sugars and yeast in the fruit. These are typically wines that are not found in the LCBO.

Signature items Kirkland is particularly proud of naturally comes from the cocktail menu. The Old Ripy is an homage to his mother’s family bourbon and Hyde Park is a tribute to Vaile’s mother who grew up in Hyde Park in London, Ont. His grandmother had an apple tree in her backyard and Vaile would always eat apples as a kid, so he wanted an apple dirty martini.

The Ripy & Vine monthly wine club features two different groupings. “There is the classic and adventurous with four bottles a month of each group. The classic is going to be grapes you would know from regions you would know; so Pinot Noir from Burgandy or Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley. The adventure is going to be grapes you may not be familiar with or wine making techniques you may not be familiar with; a little more off the beaten path,” shared Kirkland.

Wine club members receive a free bottle tote bag with their first order to carry bottles home each month as well as perks just for them. Looking ahead, the future for Ripy & Vine looks promising having made it through the winter and now with an additional 10-person patio, seating capacity is doubled for the season. There are new cocktail menus every eight weeks to keep things fresh and an upcoming happy hour Tuesday through Thursday.

Ripy & Vine is located at 148 St Patrick St and is open Tuesday through Saturday.