A bottle of wine should tell a multi-layered story. There’s provenance, winemakers, a variety of grapes, weather, the challenges of harvest, and the finished product that may – or may not – complement your dinner of oak-grilled New York strip or leftover pizza.
A decent bottle of wine isn’t something to fear, either. Some countries have rules about the story a wine’s label should tell, and some do not. Some wines are made from grapes that happen to grow in more famous dirt than the same grape on the other side of the road. It’s not so much complicated as it is amusing. No one in Greenville knows this better than Liz Dowty Mitchell, owner of Camino Wine Merchant.
Open a year now, Camino is a welcome addition to our town’s blossoming culinary hub in the Overbrook area.
I recently met Bruce Wise, wine director of The Anchorage, at Camino. Liz offered us a glass of a recent acquisition, an “orange” wine from Slovenia. This style of wine isn’t made with actual oranges but rather it receives its Tropicana-style hue from extended contact with the grape’s skin. Liz informed us that Slovenia and its surrounding area is the ancestral home of orange wines.
I had only recently even heard of orange wine and wasn’t sure what to make of it but Liz offered up their history and appeal in just a few minutes, without consulting her phone. Bruce nodded approvingly as she did so. Liz received a phone call and excused herself briefly, and Bruce mentioned that Liz has an amazing knowledge of wine and holds multiple awards and certifications in wine. But don’t let any of that scare you away because Liz is charming and open to helping those with only a cursory interest in wine find something new and delicious, even though wine wasn’t her first love.
“I spent a lot of time in New Orleans, working in hospitality, and my dream was to open a restaurant,” she said. “I left New Orleans after Katrina for Southern California and while there I was introduced to the business of wine. Import, export, shipping, sales and so on, the whole business of wine, and realized this was where I fit in. This would be my future.”
When I was buying wine for my own restaurant, I loved a bottle of wine that came with a memorable story as that made it easier to sell. Liz agreed.
“A lot of what I do now is storytelling because a great bottle of wine should come with a great story. And much of this business is educational, for me and my customer.”
When you stop in at Camino, ask Liz to pour you a glass of something with a great story then admire her ability to make your glass of wine something much bigger than six ounces of fermented grape juice.
Camino Wine Merchant, at 1622 East North Street, is open Monday through Saturday. For more information, visit caminowinemerchant.com.
“City Juice” is a colloquial term for a glass of tap water served at a diner. John Malik is a restaurant and hospitality consultant. He can be reached at chefjohnmalik@gmail.com.
