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DINING

New wine bar in Rehoboth Beach provides an immersion in wine

Jeff Neiburg
The Daily Times
The Vineyard Wine Bar & Bistro Joe Lertch, Owner, stands in front of a portion of the wine selection offered. Tuesday, July 18, 2017.

The turning point in Joe Lertch's life and career started in humiliation but has turned into a fulfilling and profitable journey in a life of wine love.

Lertch, a central New Jersey native, caught the wine bug around the time he was 24. He would read, drink and learn about grapes and the cultural aspects of wine. It was a hobby while, at the time, he was employed by Frito Lay.

A trip to a high-end wine store changed everything. 

He went to the shop and realized that on that particular day a private tasting was going on. Dressed the part in a sports coat, he was welcomed in and assumed to be a guest of the event. So he took advantage and got a glass, walking around the room to observe others, figuring he was going to have a great day of wine immersion.

But after he approached a group of three men swirling their glasses and conversing, he asked a question that inspired laughter.

“At that point in time I realized that wine is a very, very snobby beverage,” Lertch said. “Most of the people at this time drinking fine wine had their glasses in the air and their noses up in the air right alongside it. I felt humiliated. I felt absolutely horrible.”

So he left, thinking at first he'd find a new hobby.

In his words, he decided then that: “Someday I’m going to know more about wine than everyone I can have a conversation with, and when I get to that point, I’m going to continue to learn, continue to study and share that knowledge with anybody who will listen to me and try to help them take the snobbery away from wine and enjoy it as beverage and a cultural beverage.”

He’s spent the last eight years, after working in various positions in the industry, doing that at his award-winning Vineyard Wine Bar in Havre de Grace, Maryland, and is doing so now in his second location, at 28 Wilmington Ave, in Rehoboth Beach, which opened about a month ago.

Some of the offered wines at The Vineyard Wine Bar & Bistro located in Rehoboth Beach, DE. Tuesday, July 18, 2017.

Vineyard Wine Bar and Bistro took the location of the old Espuma, the 10th location Lertch looked at after a seed was plant about five years ago when many of his customers-turned-friends said he needed to come to the beach. Lertch got a hold of the building around Labor Day, and it took nine months to strip it down and build it back up to what it is now.

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The restaurant is almost entirely like his Havre de Grace spot, down to the food and wine menus, save for about five wines he can’t quite get in this market.

“But, having the background in the wholesale end of the business, I am working on getting those items down here,” Lertch said with a laugh.

There are about 80 wines on the menu at Vineyard from all around the world. Most are available in half glasses so guests can learn about different wines without purchasing a full glass.

The food menu is tapas style and also features salads and flatbreads. The "small plates" section is aptly separated into sections titled Light Bodied, Medium Bodied and Small Bodied. The menu has many flavors to go with the many wines, like cheeses, lamb, pasta, fish and more.

The original Vineyard in Havre de Grace has consistently been awarded No. 1 ratings by Harford Magazine and, on a bigger scale, has been hailed by Open Table as a constant Diners Choice winner for ambiance, wine and food. Wine Spectator has also yearly recognized Vineyard for having one of the "Most Outstanding Restaurant Wine Lists in the World." 

The Vineyard Wine Bar & Bistro located in Rehoboth Beach, DE. Tuesday, July 18, 2017.

Lertch is hoping the same happens in Rehoboth. 

The restaurant, open daily for dinner, features a happy hour beginning at 3:56 p.m., a nod to Lertch, a car aficionado, and his desire to one day own a Porsche 356.

"I know there are a lot of really good restaurants down here," Lertch said. "I know that we have to sharpen our knives and be very, very fine-tuned with our approach in this great area of culinary treasures."

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He said all has been positive since opening a little more than a month ago, but he expects to be busier once the summer ends. Vineyard, without high chairs or a children's menu, is not geared toward a family environment.

"Do I want to turn away the money? Absolutely not," Lertch said. "It’s cost us a lot of money to put this place together. The bills are very high. I don’t want to turn a dollar away. But, at the same time, I know who we are and what our identity is and I’m not going to try to be all things to all people."

Lertch grouped the clientele in Rehoboth into two categories: one comprised of vacationers and families.

“The other group is a very highly-sophisticated, very educated group of people that are retiring down here or have second homes down here,” Lertch said. “People that like the finer things in life, that are well traveled and find living down here very soothing to their needs.”

To help soothe their needs, Lertch anticipates in the future doing something similar to what he does in Maryland with his wine education classes, comprised of 24 people, that typically sell out.

He also organizes trips and will next year be taking a group to Italy to explore wine in Piedmont and Tuscany, sharing the knowledge and experience with others that the three men in Jersey refused to share with him.