CoolVines’ new wine shop at Modera Lofts is hosting a grand opening party this weekend.
The shop, which has been in soft open mode for the past few weeks, will host all-day wine tastings on Saturday accompanied by free coffee and drinks from its new cafe.
Located on the corner of 350 Warren, CoolVines Powerhouse is twice the size of CoolVines’ Grove street location. It features an expanded market/grocery area, gift aisle, and an art gallery. There’s even a doggie valet area where customers can leave their pets while they shop.
As for the wines, each bottle at the shop is carefully vetted by CoolVines’ wine council, who eschew mass-produced wines in favor of small-production viticulture.
“We wanted to create a place where people can be more adventurous and try new things,” says CoolVines CEO Mark Censits.
A Wine Shop with Coffee & Tea
CoolVines Powerhouse is the only wine shop in Jersey City with a built-in cafe where you can enjoy coffee from New York’s Forty Weight Coffee Roasters or tea from SerendipiTea.
Customers at the cafe can also enjoy any bottle of wine, beer, or food purchased at the store.
Censits, who admits to being a coffee geek, says he’d also like to use the cafe as an events space in the future.
“I’d love to see music and poetry readings happening here,” says Censits.
In addition to pastries, CoolVines Powerhouse will also stock prepared foods and treats from local businesses like Bucket & Bay, Choc-o-Pain, and Dolya. In the near future, they will also offer prepared organic dinners from Busy Bee Organics.
A New Gallery for Local Artists
Jersey City is home to some of the most creative and inspiring art and CoolVines wants to help showcase some of that talent. The new shop has an art gallery that will allow local artists to sell and show their work at the shop. Currently, CoolVines’ is displaying the work of its art director, Dave Schurtman.
Schurtman, who creates the illustrations for CoolVines’ tastings, is showcasing his 20 favorite illustrations. Proceeds from this weekend’s silent auction will benefit the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy, which helped preserve Modera Lofts.
An Extension of Modera Lofts
Like Modera Lofts, CoolVines’ new shop sports an industrial chic interior complete with exposed brick walls and massive brass doors that guard the store’s entrance.
The shop’s primary designer was Censits’ daughter, a graduate of New York’s Parsons School of Design. She did all of the fixtures, aesthetics, and design work, says Censits.
From the coziness of the new cafe to the spacious art gallery, the new shop is made to make customers feel at home.
“We want people to come here and linger and stay,” says Censits.
