Revel Winery offers a broad array of red and white wines
VISIONARIES OF THE VINE How Revel OTR Evolved into an Urban Interlude Written by Matthew Millett We are not hard-pressed in Cincinnati to locate the ubiquitous brewery. Practically every neighborhood is awash in a river of hoppiness of German beer lore, and brew lovers relish the Big Beer Bash of Zinzinnati Oktoberfest. Beer rules, right? But should it? I think not. For the last five years, Revel Urban Winery has been crushing it, literally and figuratively, by offering up some of the most delectable wines in the most affable and coziest of settings. A true urban gem, Revel excels in so many ways. Its exquisite wine is the delicious by-product of its impassioned crew, Anthony Maieron, John Coleman (JC), and Alex Sena, each bringing their unique and essential twist to the winery. Anthony Maieron, whose business card reads “Founder & Resident Troublemaker,” is the impetus behind Revel. As the first-generation son of Italian immigrant parents who came to the United States after World War II, his family’s history is as warm and charming as Sunday dinner. His parents lived in Philly and met at a wedding there; she was the maid of honor, and he was the best man. He had a car, and that sealed the deal. After they married, the senior Maierons moved to a farm in Kokomo, Indiana, where his mother would cook legendary Neapolitan meals and his father would serve the wine he made in the garage, which came from a recipe his father used in Italy. 66 slmag.net
His father would drive to Michigan to buy his grapes, and they shared the garage wine with family and friends, a delicious hobby with quaint ancestral origins. After college, Anthony took a job in Portland, Oregon, which introduced him to the viniculture of the Northwest, and where the kernel of an urban winery began to take shape. Then, asking his dad for direction on the intricacies of winemaking, Anthony relocated to Cincinnati for a job with Cincinnati Bell. He began making wine in his own basement, tweaking his family’s recipe and upgrading the quality of grapes and yeast. In the move to Cincinnati, Anthony connected with Finneytown native John Coleman (JC), a co-worker at Cincinnati Bell in the communications office. Literally the only person Anthony knew in the Queen City, JC was captivated by the legacy of the Maieron family and saw an urban winery as a multifaceted game-changer for OTR. It is no wonder that JC’s business card reads “Co-owner, Community Crusader & Ambassador of Buzz. JC excels at ensuring that the Greater Cincinnati community is fully aware of the fluid vibe that is Revel. While wine is truly their jam, they strive for and achieve inclusivity among urban-dwellers and locals and for the suburban and exurban crowds seeking comity while lingering over an audacious bottle of wine.
