A wine bar and bottle shop on Portage Road. Serious about the wine, casual about everything else. Twenty-five years in the same spot.
Opened
Wines in stock
Portage Road
In September 2000, Montavino opened as Wooster's first wine bar and bottle shop. It has been on Portage Road ever since.
Before Montavino, Ray spent years in downtown Wooster's social scene and ran the state liquor store in town. In 1999, he and his partner Steve saw the gap: Wayne County had no shop built around wine. Grocery store shelves carried sweet local bottles and not much else, and no one behind the counter to point you past them.
So they built one. A store with real range and real advice, a bar where you could open something good and stay a while. Steve brought the travel and the wine obsession. Ray brought the retail know-how and a read on the town. Steve left the business in 2010. The shop kept its footing, and the wine list only grew.
Twenty-five years on, the idea has not changed much. Good wine, plain talk, a glass with friends. That is still the whole pitch.
Montavino is owned and run by Ray and Tiffany. Between them they cover the floor, the bar, and most of the wine knowledge in the building.
Owner · Founder
Ray opened Montavino in 2000 after years in downtown Wooster's social scene, including a long run managing the state liquor store in town. He had seen what the local market offered and what it didn't.
His partner Steve came at wine from travel and the pure pleasure of it. Ray came at it from the business side and from watching Steve. That mix is what got the doors open. Steve moved on in 2010. Ray's interest in the wine trade has not let up since.
Owner
Tiffany grew up in Orrville and is a licensed attorney in Ohio. She started at Montavino part-time in 2016 and kept working the shop floor while finishing law school at Ohio Northern University.
Those years gave her a working knowledge of wine and a real attachment to the business and its regulars. She is now an owner.
Buy a bottle to take home, or pull up a seat and order by the glass. Both sides of the room run on the same wine list.
500+
Wines from regions worldwide, local Ohio producers included.
20+
Pours by the glass at the bar, alongside a craft beer selection.
10%
Case discount on any purchase of six bottles or more.
25 yrs
In the same Portage Road spot, serving Wooster since 2000.
Stop in for a glass, grab a few bottles for the weekend, or check what's on the calendar. We are open Wednesday through Saturday.
