Pittsburgh wine enthusiasts finally have the kind of authentic wine bar they have long craved.
Since late October 2024, when veteran restaurant professionals and wine sommeliers Tyler Borne and Aaron Gottesman launched Solera Wine Co. in Lawrenceville, the positive response and buzz has continued to grow.
The shop sits on a little corner in a snug, two-story building that has long been a part of the Lawrenceville neighborhood. Borne and Gottesman liked the building’s beautiful and inviting red-brick façade, which offers big windows that let in plenty of natural light.
The partners renovated the inside with wine shelves, a custom-made bartop and back bar, green plants and seating for around 30. The building also offers a generously proportioned back patio with seating for at least another 30 customers during warm weather.
“We are hoping to provide a missing piece in the neighborhood while also filling a niche for wine drinkers in the wider area,” Gottesman says.
The goal is to provide a welcoming, relaxed ambiance to enjoy wine and food. To this end, Solera also offers an eclectic selection of board and card games.
When it comes to the wine selections, Borne and Gottesman embrace a simple and telling philosophy: “Drink Good Wine.”
“We don’t care about wine labels, brands and the origins of the wine, as long as it’s good, well-made wine,” Borne says. “We want to offer wines that allow us to start conversations with each and every customer.”
The shelves feature over 150 bottles, including white, orange, rose, red, sparkling, dry and sweet. Customers can buy bottles either for drinking at Solera or drinking at home. A couple dozen wines are featured by the glass at the bar.
“We try to have something for every customer even if they might not have heard of the wine before,” Gottesman says. “We meet each customer where they are in their own wine journey and try to understand what they like.
“We want to enjoy drinking the wine, most importantly. Then maybe we also teach them something while they enjoy the wine.”
The approach leads Borne and Gottesman to look for wines that deliver quality and excellent value, often from growing regions and wineries off the beaten path.
They like growers who work hard to care for both their vineyards and workers. And they also prefer winemakers who have compelling personal stories.
Solera’s owners honed their approach over many years in the hospitality business. Both started as restaurant dishwashers, with Borne growing up in Washington County and Gottesman starting out in Stamford, Conn.
While pursuing an undergraduate degree in philosophy from Washington and Jefferson College, Borne worked part-time as a bartender at Jay’s in Canonsburg, later becoming an assistant general manager at Primanti’s after graduating.
“Primanti’s fast-paced, high-volume environment really taught me how to run a restaurant effectively,” he recalls.
He went on to work front-of-the-house positions in Denver, then later on with Pittsburgh culinary luminaries including DiAnoia’s Eatery chef and owner David Anoia and Fet-Fisk general manager Heather Perkins.
He eventually landed at Richard DeShantz Restaurant Group’s Meat & Potatoes restaurant in the Cultural District, where he met Gottesman.
Gottesman started out at as a dishwasher at an Italian deli in Connecticut before obtaining a culinary degree to work first as a cook and then as a chef. He worked in Manhattan and then moved to the Philadelphia area, where he helped open Hearthside, a highly regarded wood-grill, fine-dining spot in Collingswood, N.J.
When Gottesman’s spouse took a position at the University of Pittsburgh, he moved west and took time off to parent their two young children at home.
When he joined Borne at Meat & Potatoes, they encountered beverage director John Wabeck, who they consider as an important mentor.
“Outside of wine distributor Joe Barsotti, John Wabeck is the godfather of wine professionals in Pittsburgh,” Borne notes.
Gottesman and Borne say that Wabeck, who currently serves as beverage manager at Downtown’s Del Frisco’s, made it fun and challenging to learn about wine.
For his part, Wabeck speaks highly of Solera’s partners.
“They are smart guys with a lot of enthusiasm for learning,” he says. “They are not afraid of taking risks. It’s great to see another good wine option in the neighborhood.”
With Wabeck’s encouragement, Borne and Gottesman studied with the Court of Master Sommeliers Americas, a highly esteemed organization that trains beverage industry experts in wine service, sales and general knowledge. While still with the Deshantz group, both passed the introductory first-level certification, and they now are pursuing second-level certification as certified sommeliers.
When Gottesman and Borne made the decision to leave the Deshantz Group, they incorporated the customer-focused approach favored by Wabeck and the Court of Master Sommeliers. It’s been working as it relates to their goal of creating repeat customers.
“We follow John’s philosophy of starting with good wines from good people with good stories,” Borne says. “Then we start a conversation with each customer. We now have customers who come in every week to pick up a bottle or two.”
When it comes to Solera’s food menu, Gottesman selects every item for a specific purpose.
“We offer salty small bites and snacks that are uncomplicated but delicious,” he notes. “But each item is intended to pair well with any of the various wines that customers may decide to drink.”
For example, the tasty gildas ($11), a classic Spanish tapas, puts mildly salty green olives, slightly spicy little green peppers and briny anchovies on a little cocktail stick for a perfect bite. It pairs beautifully with the 2022 Brisa Sauve, Vinho Verde, Portugal ($11 per glass; $38 per 1-liter bottle to drink in-house; $23 per bottle to go).
This is a delightful, fun white wine made from the generally unfamiliar grapes of Loureiro, Arinto and Trajadura. The easy-drinking wine offers delicate citrus and floral aromas opening to citrus, green apple and pear flavors balanced by zesty freshness. It’s only 10.5% alcohol by volume.
The menu also offers Valdeón-stuffed dates with speck ham ($11). Valdeón is a pungent blue cheese dating from the Roman era. It comes from cow’s and sheep’s milk from high up in the Cantabrian Mountains in northwestern Spain. The cheese’s flavorful, creamy texture is a nice foil for the sweet dates and slightly salty, smoked speck ham from Alto Adige in Northern Italy.
It pairs well with the N.V. Denny Bini, “Festa” Lambrusco Dell’Emilia, Italy ($16 per glass; $47 per bottle; $36 per bottle to go), a slightly effervescent red wine made in Italy’s Parma region. Unlike the light, sweet lambrusco wines that once enjoyed great popularity in the United States, this delicious red wine finishes dry, yet fruity.
It has a dark ruby color and offers aromas of black cherries and currants. On the palate, zesty sour cherry and light earthy notes wrap in zesty, fresh acidity and a soft finish. It’s 11.5% alcohol by volume.
Another white wine that both Borne and Gottesman recommend, the 2020 Domaine Weinbach, “Les Vignes du Prêcheur,” Vin d’Alsace ($44 to go), comes from Famille Faller, one of the Alsace region’s most respected and accomplished winegrowing families. Borne loves that the wine comes from a classic “field blend” of Riesling, Auxerrois, Pinot Gris, Muscat, Sylvaner and perhaps a few other grapes.
“The winemakers really don’t know each year exactly what’s in the blend,” Borne says. “But they really don’t care because the wine is meant each year to be the epitome of an easy-drinking, fresh food-friendly white with just a touch of residual sugar.”
This charming wine has marvelous aromas of fresh white flowers, peaches and ripe apricots. On the palate, a fruit bowl of grapefruit, ripe stone fruits and a touch of tropical fruits is balanced with splendid fresh acidity and a soft, fruity finish. Pair it with Solera’s delicious cheese selection ($27) from Chantal’s Cheese Shop in Upper Lawrenceville.
From the so-called “orange” wine list — made with white-skinned grapes that spent significant time fermenting on the skins to give a deeper hue — the 2022 La Clarine Farm, “Amber,” Sierra Foothills, Calif. ($49 to go) stands out as an excellent example. The wine comes from a Grenache Blanc and Petit Manseng blend with 10 days of skin contact.
It opens with fresh, beguiling aromas of ripe peaches with subtle floral notes. On the palate, lovely tropical fruit flavors (guava, mango) and peach notes meld with laser-focused acidity and a long and opulent dry finish — just lovely.
As for the remainder of Solera’s intriguing wine list, there are simply too many excellent possibilities to do it justice in a concise introduction. The list of reds is particularly strong with Italian wines made from either Aglianico grapes from the south or Nebbiolo grapes from the north.
Southern French reds from the Languedoc-Roussillon region are also well represented.
My best advice, though, is to do as I plan to do: Visit Solera Wine Co. frequently to chat with Borne and Gottesman to discover the diverse and abundant wine and food pleasures on offer in a relaxed, authentic wine bar experience.
Cheers!
Dave DeSimone (daveswinecellar.com), a Pittsburgh-based freelancer, is a certified French Wine Scholar who has been writing about wine, food and travel for more than 30 years.
First Published: January 31, 2025, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: February 3, 2025, 1:10 p.m.