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Steve Severance
 
October 17, 2022 | Steve Severance

Wines for your Halloween and Day of the Dead Festivities

It is hard to believe we are just a couple of weeks away from the Denton Day of the Dead Festival and Halloween. Are you planning to host a party, or go out and enjoy the festivities with friends? If so, we have some fun wines for you to order and show your "holiday spirit"! 

We are ordering a few cases of wine from the Paso Robles Winery, Chronic Cellars. There is a limited amount of product here in Texas and we want to give you a chance to grab a few bottles that are ideal for your spooky experiences.

Go online to check out our specials on six different wines. They are all very tasty Paso Robles wines and are super friendly to the pallet and the eye.

The labels are all ideal for the Halloween and Day of the Dead festivities. And bonus, the juice in the bottle is pretty tasty too!

2015 Dead Nuts Zin Blend

2020 Pink Pedals Rose

2020 Purple Paradise Zin Blend

2020 Sir Real Cabernet

2019 Sofa King Bueno Syrah Blend

Spritz and Giggles Sprakling Wine

2020 Suite Petite Sirah 

As an incentive to jump online today and purchase some wine, we are pricing them at a very low price. And each day they will increase in price by $1 until the 27th. Order online ASAP and pick up the wine at Steve's Wine Bar October 27. We will be doing a pick up party and special tasting with the wines that evening (10/27) 6-8pm while Twilight Tunes is happening in the park across the street from our place. You can come in and pick up your wine anytime after 2pm that day or over the weekend to be ready for your parties that weekend and Halloween night. We will also be selling the wine by the glass and bottle that evening for Twilight Tunes and over the weekend for Day of the Dead October 28 - 30th while supplies last. 

Order your wines today at Our-Wines-and-Products/Specials

Again, each day our price will go up by $1 on each bottle until the 27th, so get in early to get the best pricing.

There is limited availability in Texas, so take advantage of this opportunity today!

Time Posted: Oct 17, 2022 at 6:06 AM Permalink to Wines for your Halloween and Day of the Dead Festivities Permalink
Steve Severance
 
July 8, 2022 | Steve Severance

A Look Back on 2020

Steve’s Wine Bar: Business and music in the era of COVID-19
by Raven Jordan

April 30, 2020


DENTON, Texas -- The streets are quiet on the Denton Square, normally bustling during this Thursday lunch hour, and most businesses are operating on limited hours due to COVID-19, which has affected musicians and small business owners alike.

Marked by red framed doors and windows on a near empty Industrial Street is Steve’s Wine Bar, doing the same to limit the spread of novel virus COVID-19 and allowing only to-go orders of their selections of beer, wine, and cigars. On a normal night, glasses clinking and the smooth sounds of jazz would ring through the air. It’s a hotspot for jazz. Now, it’s dark inside, as it’s not yet open, dimly illuminated by the light falling through the windows. 

At the back, a silver-haired man clad in khaki shorts and a light blue shirt arranges the patio seating. He’s the namesake of Steve's Wine Bar, Steve Severance. Before COVID-19 forced gatherings in public places to be reduced significantly or stopped completely, Steve had booked performances up until May for the bar. Though concerts can no longer be held with a live audience, Steve and his wife, Karen Severance, still find ways to accommodate the new changes and offer some sense of normalcy to customers and performers.

“I actually made an offer, just kind of a general public offer, to people out there if they’re looking for a piano to play on,” Steve said. “And they want to practice or play while we’re open, they’re more than welcome to do so.” Steve said there were no takers at the time, but wouldn’t mind having someone playing as customers come in to pick up their to-go orders.

Since then, Steve’s Wine Bar has streamed a couple of musicians playing live on Facebook. Karen, who Steve calls the face of Steve’s Wine Bar, said social distancing and not being able to sit and talk with customers has been hard for them since they’re sociable people.

“We’re like ‘that’s to-go, you can’t stay here.’ They want to stay and talk. We had a woman yesterday who just lost her sister, and I gave her a glass to-go,” Karen said. “She just wanted to talk a little bit, so keeping our distance, we let her talk. It's really hard on her because she’s not able to be around anybody.”

Staff have also had to deal with the effects of COVID-19, adhering to social distancing and limiting the amount of people in one space. Therefore, only one employee a day is scheduled to come in for a shift. For some of these employees, this is their sole source of income, and COVID-19 has brought unforeseen circumstances.

“We base everything on, not so much the wine, but coming in to enjoy your company, your friends, so that’s what makes it difficult,” Karen said. “I feel really bad for our staff. For them, we’re hoping that maybe we could come back and work out something if we
could get one of the loans that are available to us so that way we could take care of them in this time.”

Before the declared pandemic caused by coronavirus, Steve had a 12 hour workday that he spent the first half tending to the business’s social media page and website and other tasks related to the bar. The other half was spent servicing the bar and interacting with patrons. “I’m always working on something for the wine bar,” Steve said. “My day just kind of flows from about 8 or 9 in the morning until the time I get home about midnight. The morning is spent at home.”

But when Steve isn’t working on something for the wine bar, he’s playing his trumpet. Steve said he prefers big band jazz, and it has been in his life from an early age. He got his degree in music performance and really enjoys big band jazz, which brought him to L.A. after college. “That's kinda the background on jazz is I grew up with it by listening to lots of big bands,” Steve said. “Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, you name it.”

Steve is also plays trumpet for the First United Methodist Church in Denton with a group called Mosaic, which has been together 4 years and he sometimes has the band play at the wine bar. “I play at the First United Methodist Church, 9:45 service is called the Mosaic Service, and we’ve got a 13-piece band,” Steve said. “It’s got 6 horns in it, and I play trumpet. We do a fun variety of music that is written specifically for the band that we do at church. Then we also do other fun things, funk and blues, and lots of mixed stuff.”

Jeffry Eckels, a full time musician and friend of the Severances, met Steve around when the bar first opened in 2016, is another part of the Mosaic ensemble. Before COVID-19, they’d perform every Sunday. Prior to that, during their encounter in 2016, Steve saw Eckels playing at a coffee shop on Wednesday nights and wanted him on board as a jazz bassist at the wine bar. “The gentleman I knew who was performing every Wednesday night at a coffee shop, called the White House, when they shut down, he lost his Wednesday night gig,” Steve said. “When I approached him and said, ‘hey, i’m opening a wine bar, would you like to move your gig from there over to my place?’ that kind of kickstarted the idea of some jazz.”

Eckles describes Steve’s trumpet playing happily, remarking on his humbleness when it comes to trumpet. He said Steve is an incredible trumpet player and performer but won’t admit it. In regard to performing together, Eckels said he was discussing options for live streaming with Steve at the wine bar and giving the people something to enjoy. “We’re in the process of fixing, in fact, you beat me to the punch, I was gonna call him this morning trying to figure out the best way to get audio into the video and we’re thinking about doing the “COVID Sessions,” Eckels said. “We physically distance, of course. But he’s got a beautiful grand piano there. Maybe a duo or a trio and Steve and the engineer and we stream live from there.”

There are many musicians who want to play at the bar, and it has been a go-to spot for many UNT jazz professors. With a welcoming, familial atmosphere where locals flock, Eckels has described the bar as “Denton’s ‘Cheers." With the role Steve and Karen play in contributing to Denton’s noteworthy music scene, giving musicians a platform to perform is still important. While the music scene has gone quiet in Denton, as has much of the life here, jazz still finds a way at Steve’s Wine Bar.

Steve has always been a dreamer. In the future, he hopes to spice up the Denton Jazz scene even more, maybe introducing new events. Like many other small businesses in the area, he’s got big plans he wants to put into motion. “I’d love to come up with a little Industrial Street Jazz Fest,” Steve said. “I think that'd be a lot of fun.”


Jeffrey Eckles passed away in July of 2020. We all miss him very much. He was the driving force behind the musical experience people now have when visiting Steve's Wine Bar. Some of the most incredible music happens during the live performances and customers are always amazed at the talent and music they see and hear while enjoying their evening at Steve's. 

The Mosaic Service continues at FUMC but is now at 9am.

Steve's Wine Bar is still hosting live music on a weekly basis. The schedule of events can be found on their webiste under Events or on their Facebook Events page. 

 

Time Posted: Jul 8, 2022 at 8:01 AM Permalink to A Look Back on 2020 Permalink
Steve Severance
 
April 19, 2022 | Steve Severance

Best of Denton Nominations

It's time to NOMINATE your favorite Wine Bar here in Denton.....and all your other faves as well. 

Please take a moment and log on to https://bestofdenton.com/#//

If you don't see Steve's Wine Bar listed in a category you feel we should be considered, please write us in. Some of the areas I see that we should be considered are:

  • Bars and Night Life - Best Bar, Happy Hour, Live Music, Patio, Wine List.
  • Shopping - Best Wine Shop

Thanks in advance for doing this. Here's to another successful Best of Denton election!
 

Time Posted: Apr 19, 2022 at 9:32 AM Permalink to Best of Denton Nominations Permalink
Steve Severance
 
April 5, 2022 | Steve Severance

A Month of Opolo

 

A Month of Opolo

Reserve your spot at the tasting party on April 26th

For the month of April, we are featuring 5 wines from our friends at Opolo. We have these wines available by the glass and by the bottle through April. We will be tracking the sales of our Opolo products and for those who come in and enjoy these wines, we will be entering their names into a drawing for a Magnum of Summit Zinfandel.

Opolo’s estate vineyards were established in 1995, with sites on both the west and east side of Paso Robles. The topographically diverse, coastal landscape of the westside vineyards provides for an intense and unique flavor profile. The heat and dryness of the east side vineyard make it an ideal microclimate for growing Bordeaux varietals. Home to a wide range of varietals, the estate vineyards help allow the team at Opolo to create many unique single varietals as well as award winning blends.

Most important in making high quality wine is starting with high quality grapes. Opolo’s vineyard team carefully monitors each lot of grapes throughout the season in order to produce the highest quality fruit possible. From taking leaf, petiole, and soil samples, to monitoring water uptake in the vines, all aspects of viticulture is carefully notated and examined with the intent of producing only high quality fruit for our winery. The entire Opolo production team works together every year to provide the best quality product possible.

"At Opolo we believe a strong, cooperative relationship with the land and our environment is crucial.  We practice sustainable methods in both the winery and vineyard operations in order to preserve our environment, water and local wildlife. Opolo is a “SIP” Certified operation as well as certified organic by “CCOF” in our 64 acre walnut orchard.  We continue to be great stewards of the land and invite you to come to our vineyards and see our operations!"

Opolo Vineyards has a long established reputation of growing and producing award winning wines in Paso Robles, California. With nearly 300 acres of vines on the east and west side of Paso Robles, Opolo Vineyards is privy to a wide range in climate, soil and growing potential—allowing extensive range of varietals to flourish. This variety combined with the passion behind the brand has made Opolo a favorite of wine enthusiasts everywhere.

Check out this video of their vineyards and property.


 

NV SPARKLING

2018 GRAND ROUGE

2020 SUMMIT CREEK CABERNET SAUVIGNON

2020 SUMMIT CREEK ZINFANDEL

RHAPSODY RESERVE



Purchase Opolo Wine by the glass or the bottle and we will enter your name into our drawing for the Magnum of Opolo wine on the 26th. 

We will be rotating the wines by the glass. We have started the month with the Opolo Sparkling and the Cabernet.

We will host a party/tasting event the evening of April 26th. Jeff Faber will be in town to party with us and personally do the drawing for the Magnum of wine. You will not need to be present to wine the Magnum. We will have other giveaways that night which you will need to be present for those prizes. Reservations can be made here: Opolo-Tasting-Event


Our special guest on the 26th will be VP of Sales and Marketing from Opolo, Jeff Faber.

A proud native of Chicago, IL. Jeff Faber grew up on the North Side of the city and moved to California in 1993. He spent many years in Broadcasting working behind the microphone for CBS and ABC radio before launching his own start-up company. Like so many people whose breath is taken away when they visit the California Central Coast, Jeff fell in love with the area and quickly learned that almost everyone you know either owns or a winery or an olive oil ranch. 

"The most beautiful part about this area is how willing everyone is to share their knowledge of their craft. You work a few harvests, turn off your cell phones and lose yourself in the magic. You literally feel yourself decompress. What compelled Jeff to give up his company and start working for Opolo was that he wanted to learn the business from the ground up. “I literally knew very little about wine and wanted to stomp grapes, pour yeast into the tanks, experiment with blends, see the effect dry farming has on the flavor of grapes, etc"…At Opolo, they encourage you to do everything which is the very best way to learn a skill set. 

For the past 14 years, Jeff has been the National Spokesperson for Opolo, meeting people in city after city acting as a full-time “palate hunter” and helping folks have fun and learn a little more about themselves and of course, wine!

Here is a fun video of Jeff at the 2012 Opolo Crush. 

Time Posted: Apr 5, 2022 at 1:59 PM Permalink to A Month of Opolo Permalink
Steve Severance
 
February 2, 2022 | Steve Severance

Winter Weather Schedule Notification

Winter Weather Plans for the next couple of days:

1) Stay safe and warm


2) Today (February 2nd) we will open early at noon.


3) We will close at 6 tonight.


4) We will be closed on Thursday, February 3rd.


5) Based on the current forecast for Friday and the temps here in Denton to stay below freezing, we are still up in the air on how the day will play out. So please stay tuned to our Facebook page and website for updates Friday morning.

We will be open as usual on Saturday. We have a killer band playing that night, so take a moment and visit our website to learn more and reserve your seats!

/Content-Page/Events
 

Time Posted: Feb 2, 2022 at 9:53 AM Permalink to Winter Weather Schedule Notification Permalink
Steve Severance
 
August 14, 2021 | Steve Severance

Rodney Strong Wine Tasting

Time Posted: Aug 14, 2021 at 12:00 PM Permalink to Rodney Strong Wine Tasting Permalink
Steve Severance
 
July 27, 2021 | Steve Severance

District 7 Wines and Fender Guitars

VIBRANT AND DELICIOUS

Family-owned, Certified Sustainable and 100% estate grown wines from beautiful and diverse Monterey, California.
CALIFORNIA HAS 17 GRAPE GROWING DISTRICTS; MONTEREY COUNTY IS DISTRICT 7

Surrounded by coastal beauty and rich farming heritage, Monterey is recognized as one of the most beautiful and diverse winegrowing regions in the world.

Monterey County is a good place to call home for District 7. Their wines are thoughtfully crafted to reflect the best of what Monterey has to offer: vibrant fruit, complex flavor and excellent structure. We are serving their Cabernet, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay. And what’s additionally special is that we are doing a raffle in the near future on a special guitar hand painted guitar. More details on the instrument to come in future communications, but for every bottle, or 5 glasses you consume of District 7 wine, you will have a ticket put in for the drawing. We plan to sell 40 cases of District 7 wine before we will do the drawing. So stop in and enjoy by the glass or buy a few bottles.

Cabernet - A big, fruit-packed wine with aromas of blackberry, raspberry and cassis. Smooth and balanced with a lingering black fruit finish.

Pinot Noir - Smooth and silky, with aromas of raspberry and cherry, a palate of bright red fruit and subtle notes of toast on the finish.

Chardonnay - A bright wine with a lively array of melon, passion fruit and citrus flavors and refreshing, crisp acidity.
District 7 Wines

Time Posted: Jul 27, 2021 at 4:18 PM Permalink to District 7 Wines and Fender Guitars Permalink
Steve Severance
 
March 6, 2021 | Steve Severance

Virtual Tasting with Sean Minor - Saturday March 13th, 7pm

March 13th, 7pm

Join us for a fun evening tasting four fantastic wines with owner and wine maker Sean Minor. Along with Sean, his wife Nicole will be joining us from her kitchen while she cooks up something fun to taste along with our wines. We have chosen 4 to taste from their collection of wines from the North Coast of California.

Sean Minor Sauv Blanc 4B Series - Vibrant and juicy, our Sauvignon Blanc has light, refreshing flavors of kiwi, green apple, pink grapefruit and peach. An Ideal aperitif or summer sipper.

Sean Minor Pinot Noir Signature Series - Just like a little black dress, Pinot Noir is a classic choice for any occasion and goes with almost everything. Alluring aromas of wild plums and cloves mingle with flavors of vivid red cherries, spices, earthy notes and vanilla.

Sean Minor Nicole Marie Red Blend - Graceful flavors of warm blueberry pie and dark cherry compote mingle with hints of vanilla and cassis. Silky smooth tannins round out this refined, balanced wine. 51% Merlot - 25% Zinfandel - 24% Petite Sirah

Sean Minor Cabernet Signature Series - Sophisticated and refined, Cabernet is always a dinner party favorite.  Indulge in a rich bouquet of ripe raspberries, blackberry pie, oak and savory spices. Delicate, soft tannins provide structure and linger elegantly.

Tasting of all 4 wines - Take home a tasting of each of these great wines in our 2 ounce to-go cups.

To join the Zoom call with Sean and Nicole, simply purchase two or more of these tasty wines and/or pick up two or more tastings to-go. We are pre-selling the wine this week (March 6) for pick up on Friday March 12 or Saturday March 13. After you have placed your order, you will receive an invitation to join the Virtual Tasting via email.

Click here to purchase

If you are interested in putting together the special dish Nicole will be making during the tasting, simply click on the recipe link and prepare to enjoy some tasty treats with your wine. Recipe for Sausage Crostini with Rosemary

Not long after we met, we quickly bonded over our love of wine. That was 31 years ago, and not much has changed. We like to enjoy wine in our everyday lives - with dinner, catching up with friends and family, and celebrating life’s most special events. In fact, we believe there are few moments in life that aren’t paired perfectly with a great bottle of wine.

After we married and Sean had spent a number of years in the wine industry, we noticed that there was a gap in the market. We were yearning for wines that were easy to enjoy, highlighted the amazing fruit of California, and didn’t break the bank—so we made them.

Initially, our brand was called Four Bears and we love sharing the story behind the name. We have four children - three sons and a daughter. Early on, we would convene at the kitchen table to taste various lots of wine, play around with potential blends and talk about what we liked and didn’t like. At one point, our 4-year-old likened this practice to the idea that we were like Goldilocks searching for just the right bottle.

We began by producing wines from premier appellations throughout California, sourced from vineyard sites strategically located near the cool, marine influences of the sun-filled California coast. With the help of a family friend and colleague, Will Bucklin, our initial production featured a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Central Coast Chardonnay, and Dry Creek Sauvignon Blanc.

Fast forward to today - our children have grown up, our business has evolved and our name has changed (we now go by Sean Minor Wines) but our dedication to producing quality wines at an approachable price has remained. Since we don’t own vineyards, we work diligently with sustainable, experienced farms throughout California and Oregon. We’ve developed strong relationships with some of the best growers in the industry so that we can contract the finest fruit. Today, you can find our wines at restaurants and gourmet grocery stores in 49 states and, of course, here on our website. Our family and team have grown, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds.

 

Time Posted: Mar 6, 2021 at 8:10 AM Permalink to Virtual Tasting with Sean Minor - Saturday March 13th, 7pm Permalink
Steve Severance
 
February 24, 2021 | Steve Severance

Opolo Virtual Wine Tasting 2021

 

Tasting Event: Saturday March 6th, 7pm Central Time

Join us for a fun online tasting event with Jeff Faber, VP of Marketing with Opolo Vineyards. We will be presenting 5 of their incredible red wines during this tasting event. Purchase two or more bottles of these wines online for pick up on March 5th or 6th, and/or purchase a tasting of all 5 wines to enjoy at home while participating in the tasting event.

Opolo’s estate vineyards were established in 1995, with sites on both the west and east side of Paso Robles. The topographically diverse, coastal landscape of the westside vineyards provides for an intense and unique flavor profile. The heat and dryness of the east side vineyard make it an ideal microclimate for growing Bordeaux varietals. Home to a wide range of varietals, the estate vineyards help allow the team at Opolo to create many unique single varietals as well as award winning blends.

Most important in making high quality wine is starting with high quality grapes. Opolo’s vineyard team carefully monitors each lot of grapes throughout the season in order to produce the highest quality fruit possible. From taking leaf, petiole, and soil samples, to monitoring water uptake in the vines, all aspects of viticulture is carefully notated and examined with the intent of producing only high quality fruit for our winery. The entire Opolo production team works together every year to provide the best quality product possible.

At Opolo we believe a strong, cooperative relationship with the land and our environment is crucial.  We practice sustainable methods in both the winery and vineyard operations in order to preserve our environment, water and local wildlife. Opolo is a “SIP” Certified operation as well as certified organic by “CCOF” in our 64 acre walnut orchard.  We continue to be great stewards of the land and invite you to come to our vineyards and see our operations!

Opolo Vineyards has a long established reputation of growing and producing award winning wines in Paso Robles, California. With nearly 300 acres of vines on the east and west side of Paso Robles, Opolo Vineyards is privy to a wide range in climate, soil and growing potential—allowing extensive range of varietals to flourish. This variety combined with the passion behind the brand has made Opolo a favorite of wine enthusiasts everywhere.

Check out this video of their vineyards and property.


 

Join us as we feature 5 of their wines for this tasting

(Click on each wine to learn more about the wine and pricing)

2017 SUMMIT CREEK MERLOT

2017 GRAND ROUGE

2017 SUMMIT CREEK CABERNET SAUVIGNON

2018 SUMMIT CREEK ZINFANDEL

2014 RHAPSODY RESERVE 

TASTE ALL 5 WINES ($15 a person)



There are two ways to join in the tasting:

1) Simply purchase two or more of these extraordinary wines and we will include you in our Zoom Tasting event

2) Order a tasting of all 5 wines to pick up and enjoy at home on Saturday March 6th during the Zoom Call.

 

Purchase your wine here.


Our guest speaker and presenter for the evening is Jeff Faber.

A proud native of Chicago, IL. Jeff Faber grew up on the North Side of the city and moved to California in 1993. He spent many years in Broadcasting working behind the microphone for CBS and ABC radio before launching his own start-up company. Like so many people whose breath is taken away when they visit the California Central Coast, Jeff fell in love with the area and quickly learned that almost everyone you know either owns or a winery or an olive oil ranch. 

"The most beautiful part about this area is how willing everyone is to share their knowledge of their craft. You work a few harvests, turn off your cell phones and lose yourself in the magic. You literally feel yourself decompress. What compelled Jeff to give up his company and start working for Opolo was that he wanted to learn the business from the ground up. “I literally knew very little about wine and wanted to stomp grapes, pour yeast into the tanks, experiment with blends, see the effect dry farming has on the flavor of grapes, etc"…At Opolo, they encourage you to do everything which is the very best way to learn a skill set. 

For the past 12 years, Jeff has been the National Sales Manager for Opolo meeting people in city after city acting as a full-time “palate hunter” and helping folks have fun and learn a little more about themselves and of course, wine!

Here is a fun video of Jeff at the 2012 Opolo Crush. 

Time Posted: Feb 24, 2021 at 8:43 AM Permalink to Opolo Virtual Wine Tasting 2021 Permalink
Steve Severance
 
February 14, 2021 | Steve Severance

Snow Day!

Due to the inclement winter weather, Steve's Wine Bar will be closed Sunday 2-14. 

Sadly, this also means the Private Valentine's Day Wine and Chocolate event is cancelled. If you have reservations, you should have received an email from us with details on picking up your wine and chocolate. Contact us via email or phone if you did not receive your notification.

In the meantime, shop online with us and use this special coupon through Tuesday 2-16.

Snow30

Visit our online store and shop for wine and other products. When checking out use our Snow30 Coupon to receive discounts on many of our products.

steveswinebar.com/Our-Wines-and-Products

Note: Not all products are eligible for this discount as they are either already discounted or not approved for discounting. All products are to be picked up at Steve's Wine Bar, 111 Industrial Street when ready. We will notify you by email when your order is ready for pick up.

Time Posted: Feb 14, 2021 at 1:58 AM Permalink to Snow Day! Permalink