Owners Fill Vacant Store With Lifelong Passion For Wine

When their former tenant left the building they owned at 318 Wynn Lane in Port Jefferson, Joseph and Grace Tesoriero sat by as the spot remained vacant for over a year. Instead of continuing on the search for a new renter, the Tesorieros decided they’d rather fill it themselves. The result is a newly-opened boutique wine store called , which the owners believe brings something unique to Port Jefferson.

Their business strategy is simple: keep it small and focused. The couple estimates that 80 percent of their stock can’t be purchased elsewhere on Long Island.

“The wines we carry are very unique,” Joseph Tesoriero said. “All our wines are small production. There could be one wine with only 40 cases in production in the world. We only have 110 to 120 labels, everything’s hand selected.”

For the Tesorieros, who have run many different businesses including real estate, wine collecting became a passion in the late 1970’s. Through the years they’ve accumulated over 3,000 bottles and became interested in the process that goes into making wine. They began taking monthly trips to Napa, gaining knowledge and forging relationships with those involved in the industry.

The owners want a bottle of wine to be an experience instead of just a product that’s sold.

“You don’t have to buy a bottle of wine,” Tesoriero said. “I’ll spend an hour with you. My interest is to talk about the wines, talk about what we do.”

Vine 2 Wine has also struck up strategic alliances with local business. Aside from being their landlords, the Tesorieros have partnered with on more than one occasion, selecting items for the menu and creating wine pairings for the dishes. They also hold frequent wine seminars and tastings at the store.

An unexpected pairing occured with the other newly opened wine business, on Main Street. The owner Joseph Ciardullo is appreciative of Vine 2 Wine. With their license, C’est Cheese is unable to sell bottles to customers.

“He does something different,” Ciardullo says of Vine 2 Wine. “It’s good to have a place to send my customers to. Wine and cheese is a natural fit.”

Grace Tesoriero said that C’est Cheese has supplied food for Vine 2 Wine tastings.

In terms of long term health, the Tesorieros are confident about the store’s survival. Aside from owning the building, they have many other diversified business interests so the store is more of a labor of love instead of their sole source of income.