Heard it Through the Grapevine

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The story below is from our May/June 2024 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you! 

Wine bar Stave & Cork serves boutique pours, solid nosh and tasting room vibes in downtown Salem.

One of the marks of a memorable restaurant or bar experience is the element of surprise. When I took a sip of Furnace Mountain Red from Leesburg winery 8 Chains North, it elicited the kind of taken-aback “Oh!” that follows a delightful yet unexpected taste sensation. The possibility for such moments is high at Stave & Cork, a wine bar that Salem residents Susan and Bobby Baker opened in downtown Salem on September 13, 2023.

Prior to opening Stave & Cork, the couple racked up many memorable moments of their own visiting wineries in Virginia and across the U.S. While sipping vintages and snacking on charcuterie, they’d often entertain the fantasy of what they’d do if the winery’s tasting room was theirs, like how they’d create ambiance or structure tastings. The dream even inspired a business plan Bobby developed while attending graduate school at Radford University, but it wasn’t until the couple became empty nesters that they dusted off the idea. Once the space at 155 East Main Street became available, the Bakers made their wine bar dreams a reality. 

One of the things that sets Stave & Cork apart from some area wine lists is their focus on small, family-run wineries, with a frequent emphasis on those that are female-led. Three wine flights are offered monthly, each centered around a different themed destination: Local (Virginia), Domestic and International. “You can come here and sample, on any given day, 12-plus wines through our flights,” Bobby says. “And you get to taste all kinds of different locations and areas, some of which many people, including ourselves, will never make it to.”  The curated list is ambitious too in that around 80% of the tasting flight wines change monthly. “If you came in once a month and just did our three flights, you would experience 144 wines in a year. At least,” Bobby says.

Each wine flight consists of four, two-ounce pours, typically comprised of two whites and two reds, arranged from light to dark. But guests also have the option to “fly solo,” mixing and matching wines across flights to better suit their palate’s preferences. Everything on the tasting menu is available by the glass as well as by the bottle, which can be consumed on site or at home. “Being able to bring wines from all different areas across Virginia, the U.S. and internationally gives you an opportunity to do a tasting to see if there’s something you like before you buy a bottle of it,” Bobby says. “As opposed to going to a big box store and taking your chances on what the label says or what it looks like.”

Each wine tasting flight is accompanied by a slip of paper with the winery’s tasting notes; but not because the Bakers want to tell you what to taste. They appreciate how personal and subjective taste is and enjoy comparing notes with guests. “One Sauvignon Blanc, I actually got asparagus and green chiles, and somebody else would get the green apple and the lime,” Susan says of a recently poured Chilean wine. “It was so neat, the whole discovery of differences in our palates and what we actually perceive what we taste.”

Providing printed tasting notes frees the staff up to share more behind-the-scenes details about the winery or anecdotes about the winemakers. One Virginia winery they featured early on was Barren Ridge Vineyards, a fourth generation, family-run estate where the Bakers got married. Or take Napa’s Hendry Vineyard, which has been continuously farmed by the same family for the last 85 years, helmed until recently by a tractor-riding nonagenarian matriarch. “People resonate with a story as much as they do with a wine,” Bobby says.

But the Bakers recognize that not everyone who stops in is a wine lover. “I can always tell, because they don’t make eye contact,” Susan says laughing. “If they’re open to trying something, I always pour a Moscato d’Asti. It has effervescence; it’s very approachable.” The sparkling white skews sweet, so judging from the drinker’s response, Susan can continue to refine her recommendation. But there are also those customers with firm opinions. For the self-avowed members of the ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) Club, Susan keeps bottles of Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris stashed in the fridge. But she’ll often steer them to a Viognier, a white wine with low acidity made from a varietal that grows particularly well in Virginia. “It’s our job to help guide them to something that maybe is similar to what they’d normally drink, but maybe from a place they’ve never drank it from,” Susan says. “And open up their eyes to some new varietals.” For example, I wasn’t familiar with Tannat, which, along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot, made up the Furnace Mountain Red I sampled. The tasting note that sprang to mind was “fruit leather,” and I was surprised by the way its light acidity helped to cut the richness of the McAfee Knob panini, a turkey-and-cheddar number slicked with pesto mayo.

 The paninis anchor about half of the “noshery” menu, each of which is named after a different area hike. “The ‘eat, drink, shop local’ is really important to us; it’s on the back of our T-shirts,” Susan says. “We wanted people to feel like this is home.” Bobby’s favorite panini is the Peaks of Otter, a pulled-pork-and-Swiss sandwich that nods to a Cuban, while Susan gravitates to the Devil’s Marbleyard, a riff on a Muffaletta that’s stacked with smoked ham, Genoa salami, Provolone and olive tapenade. The menu is rounded out with two sizes of charcuterie boards, featuring an assortment of meats and cheeses served with crackers, olives and assorted accompaniments, as well as Susan’s homemade dips, like the fan-favorite jalapeno-spiked pimento cheese, or much-raved-about smoked trout dip.

Besides delivering on wine and nosh, both vital components of the tasting room experience, the Bakers wanted to create a unique atmosphere for their wine bar. In part, this meant honoring the historic nature of the building, which traces its roots back to the 1900s when it was Brown Hardware Co. (Prior to Stave & Cork, the space housed the restaurants Mucho Allegre and Salem Pizza and Subs.) The space’s clean lines and minimalistic vibes highlight architectural elements, like original brick and original tin ceiling (though it had since been painted). Apart from hanging a world map with pushpins denoting wineries from which they’ve poured, the pair eschewed adorning the walls with artwork and forwent TVs and Wi-Fi. “We want people to sit here and have a conversation and relax and enjoy the space and each other,” Bobby says.

Locals are discovering many ways to enjoy the space and discover community, too. Some people stop in to have a panini and perhaps a glass of wine at the bar for lunch, while others meet friends in the early evening for after-work drinks. Dropping in for an appetizer and a glass of wine as part of a progressive dinner, or before an event at Roanoke College or the Salem Civic Center, is also common. “We’ve got groups that are repeat customers that literally meet here the same day, same time every week,” Bobby says. At the back of the space, there’s plenty of seating and room for hosting events such as office gatherings or baby showers. After the success of Sunday offerings such as live music and Mimosas on Main, as well as one-off events like a recent mystery night and a succulent party, the Bakers hope to add more unique events soon. “We’re trying to do some things to not only come here and enjoy the atmosphere, but to do something a little different.”

The story above is from our May/June 2024 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!