Urban Wine Festival to benefit OTR Community Housing

The first Urban Wine Festival, hosted by 1215 Wine Bar & Coffee Lab, will take place Saturday in the parking lot adjacent to the business on Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine. Twenty-four wines will be available for tasting, and proceeds benefit OTR Community Housing and its Recovery Hotel, which provides individuals with permanent supportive housing.
 
OTRCH’s mission “to build and sustain a diverse neighborhood that values and benefits low-income residents” fits well with the ideas behind Saturday’s festival, which organizers say is to value good wine when shared in the company of others.
 
“Having this outside in OTR, in a parking lot no less, is the best way for people to see for themselves that good wine isn’t a pretentious thing,” says Daniel Souder, 1215’s Wine Director and Sommelier. “It really is meant for every day, and it’s meant for sharing with friends.”
 
A wine seminar will precede the day’s festivities. Tickets are available online for $15 to see a panel of experts discuss the importance a culture of place has on the quality of a wine.
 
“We see the desire for quality wine every day in the bar. Our guests want to know what goes into their glass,” Souder says. “Much the same as guests in a restaurant wanting to know where their food was grown or raised, we feel the need to put the same thought and care into wines we pour. It only makes sense.”

Do Good: 

•  Purchase tickets for the Urban Wine Festival’s wine seminar at 12 noon Saturday, June 13.

•  Attend Saturday's open tasting from 2-10 p.m. in the lot adjacent to 1215 Vine St., OTR. Tickets range from $6 to $48 depending on how many of the 24 wines you'd like to sample.

•  Support Over-the-Rhine Community Housing by donating.