8 minute read
OBSCURE WINE COMPANY
If you like good vibes, good wine, and ‘drinking for yourself,’ Obscure Wine Company is calling your name – and you must go. Owner and Sommelier Wellie Bethea and Former United States Air Force combat controller turned Executive Chef Robert Bethea have poured themselves into their Central Avenue wine bar and shop. ‘Obscure’ is a nod to the lesser-known and harder-to-get wines around the world. “I want to bring people wines that are obscure, that are indigenous because [...] that to me is as natural as it can get.” Obscure will offer an ever-changing selection of wine by the bottle and glass, private wine courses, a wine club, and a supper club.
“This was a big passion project for me, and I wanted to make sure it was as authentic as possible,” Wellie said. “I want to bring great wine that is quality, that I know is ethically made. I want to change people’s minds about brands.”
PURSUING SOM-THING SPECIAL
Wellie grew up in Orlando but said Winter Haven was an ‘easy choice’ for their passion project. “I love Winter Haven. I grew up not too far from here. Winter Haven is the first place that I’ve spent time that I feel real, genuine support. Here, I felt like everybody just wanted to see the community grow and for others to succeed.”
Hailing from three generations of restaurateurs, Wellie grew up helping her parents work in their restaurants. “I’ve had my hand on every aspect of hospitality. […] I’ve experienced Michelin all the way to fast-casual and in our food truck,” said Wellie. When it was time to go off to college, her parents gave her three options for study – engineering, law, or medicine. Wellie decided on engineering and soon found that she didn’t enjoy it. “I had enough chemistry credits that I used them when I found out that I loved wine, on getting a certification in winemaking and viticulture,” she said. “The one thing I hated brought me to what I loved.”
Wellie worked for Premier Safaris, a company that was partially bought out by Benjamin Rothschild, part-owner of the acclaimed and coveted wine brand Château Lafite Rothschild. Her interest was piqued. She wanted to know what drove the cost and value of an expensive wine like Lafite Rothschild.
Looking to slake this ‘thirst’ for knowledge, Wellie took her first sommelier exam with the Court of Master Sommeliers. After studying over more than a few glasses of wine on
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Halloween night with friends, Wellie passed the test. She is now a level 3 sommelier with credentials through the Court of Master Sommeliers, the Wine and Spirits Education Trust, 3iC Italian Specialist, and U.C. Davis Certified in Winemaking and Viticulture. She was recognized in Wine Spectator magazine for her award of excellence as a beverage director. Before the pandemic, Wellie was mentored by one of Italy’s most renowned wine experts and journalists, Ian D’Agata. D’Agata is a regular contributor to Decanter, among other publications, and serves as the scientific advisor of Vinitaly International, the director of the Vinitaly Academy, and lectures on Italian food and wine cultural history for New York University’s Food Sciences Master’s program. Wellie’s Wine and Spirits Education Trust credentials also certify her as a level 3 in spirits. She was a mixologist before becoming a sommelier and wants her Obscure Wine Company customers to know they can come to her for spirit recommendations too.
OBSCURE BEGINNINGS
In 2019, Robert and Wellie left their corporate jobs to start Happy Ending Food Truck, where Robert served as the executive chef and Wellie as director of operations. The food truck was a gourmand-go-to around Central Florida for the Betheas’ piquant pairing of Hawaiian and Taiwanese cuisine. In March of this year, they parked their food truck to pursue another labor of love.
Was a brick-and-mortar wine bar and shop always the end goal for the Betheas? “It was, but it wasn’t,” said Wellie. The couple had been looking for a space for the last year, unsure what form it would take on. “I knew that I wanted it to take me to my ultimate goal, which is to one day have a vineyard that I could retire in,” she said.
Wellie remarked on her love of travel, meeting new people, getting to know soil types, and “why wines come out the way they are and who actually has their hands on them.” She said, “That’s my real passion, and I feel like this will take me there.” But more on that later. Obscure Wine Company aims to “focus on producers and farmers who practice biodynamic, sustainable organic, or la lutte raisonée, along with ethical business operations.” Wellie prefers to drink from integrity-driven winemakers who don’t add a little sugar here or bump up the alcohol by volume there. “La lutte raisonée […] literally translates to “the reasoned struggle” which speaks on how in farming you are subject to what nature intends to give you and only intervening when absolutely necessary,” Wellie said. “I find this way of farming to be very much like life. I find that there are those who must always be in control of every step, and then there are those who go with the flow and find the beauty in the hardships.”
“The most beautiful thing about wine, in my opinion, is that it’s ever-changing. Bottle to bottle, it’s different. Vintage to vintage, it’s different,” said the Obscure Wine sommelier. The winemakers who care are “giving you what the earth gave them, and that’s important to me.”
FLOWER POWER
From the calming deep green walls to the ‘Drink for yourself’ neon sign above the bar, the Betheas say no detail was chosen lightly – down to the scents (or lack thereof). Wellie has stocked unscented dish soap to avoid any olfactory interference when sipping wine there. The music was intentionally chosen as well. “Music can change your palate,” said Wellie. “Key of C will make everything a lot sweeter, and minor tones make things more bitter and umami.”
The savvy som intends to bring biodynamic practices into her tastings as well. Taking a page from the “Farmers’ Almanac,” Wellie uses a biodynamic calendar to plan wine tastings. “Those days line up with how wine is tasting,” she said. For instance, a flower day is the best day to taste wine (those will be tasting days). A fruit day is second to that, followed by lack-luster leaf days, and not-so-great root days. Wellie joked that you might want to stick with a Coors Light on a root day.
The atmosphere is cool-casual, with positive messaging all around. The space is studded with stylish vintage pieces, like a cozy restored 40-year-old couch and a dining table inviting friends to gather over a glass or two. “I want people to feel good when they leave,” said Wellie. “When you feel good in a place, you always want to come back.”
A section of the wine bar is dedicated to retail (including a very cute Veuve Clicquot shirt). Proceeds for some of the retail will go to Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.), a Utah-based nonprofit that exists “to rescue children from sex trafficking and sexual exploitation,” according to their website. This cause is especially important to ex-USAF combat controller Robert and mother of four, Wellie. Sales of bracelets made by victims of human trafficking in Thailand will go directly back to those victims, according to Wellie.
WINE CLUB AND BLISS POIGNT
The Central Avenue wine bar will have light bites, including an artisanal cheese board, along with a few dips and wraps. Eventually, Obscure Wine Co. will host a supper club called Bliss Poignt. “Bliss point means the perfect ratio of salt, fat, and sugar. It triggers the pleasure center of your brain,” Wellie said. She added the ‘g’ because she thought of the word ‘poignant’ which evokes emotion.
The monthly supper club will accommodate eight guests with a seasonal multi-course meal and complete wine pairing. The exclusive dinners will be reservation-only, with wine club members calling first dibs. The supper club will lead to an invitation for members to partake in vineyard tours abroad with Wellie. “I want people to see the beauty in some of these smaller producers that don’t ever get to the States,” she said.
The Wine Club is in such demand there is already a waiting list. First tier members will receive a $50 bottle of wine based on their preferences. “I sit down with everybody that joins and evaluate their palate. I’ll get into what they like, what they don’t like,” said the Obscure Wine sommelier. After navigating a wine tasting, Wellie will choose a wine for them each month. This includes invites to all Obscure events and one free wine class per quarter.
“I believe that you can’t figure out someone’s preferences through an impersonal online form that you fill out. I believe that you have to sit down and connect with each person to really figure out what they’re going to love,” Wellie said. “That connection brings a deeper understanding of who that person is and how they will develop as a taster. I’ve yet to see this kind of personal touch on a wine subscription.”
Wine Club tier two includes all of the aforementioned but will receive three bottles. Bon vivants will want to join the third tier, which boasts six bottles of wine, one of which is a special allocated bottle (and first dibs on supper club reservations). On the first Tuesday of each month, Obscure will close for a private Wine Club member tasting in which these top-tier wine appreciators will bring out their best bottles.
But don’t think you need to be a total wine snob to feel comfortable at Obscure – that’s what the ‘Drink for yourself’ sign is all about. “I’m not the place you’re going to find those big, bulk name brands that you would see everywhere else. I don’t want people to feel discouraged or uncomfortable ordering. What I want them to feel is comfortable trying something new and drinking exactly what they love,” Wellie said. “That’s what it’s all about – creating a safe and nonjudgmental environment for people to go outside of their comfort zones, ask questions, and try something new.”
