Fast forward 55 years or so, and Wells — who retired after 38 years at General Motors — has one-upped his grandmother: he has opened JW’s Wine Cellar at 724 E. Main St. in Trotwood, from which he sells a dozen wines that he makes himself — a few using his grandmother’s recipes. His wines are now available in more than a half-dozen local restaurants, and he sells wines to retail customers from his retail storefront.
Unlike his grandmother, Wells doesn’t have any of his own vineyards. He purchases grape juice and fruit juices from winemaking supply houses in northeast Ohio and in Chicago, made from grapes and fruit grown mostly in New York State and Michigan, and makes wines in the back room of his business.
He used to make the wines at home, “but my wife kicked me out of the kitchen,” he said.
JW’s Wine Cellar is not a wine bar — “I’m too busy for that kind of thing,” Wells says — but he sells bottles to retail customers at his shop. He also creates custom labels for wines bottled especially for weddings, reunions, graduations, anniversaries and other events.
His wines range from nearly-dry cabernet sauvignon, merlot and chardonnay, to semi-dry fruit-grape blends such as Blueberry Pinot Noir and Peach Chardonnay, to two sweet Moscato wines, white and pink. More than half the wines sell for $8 a bottle, and many others for $10; his most expensive, his straight cabernet sauvignon, sells for $12.
“I try to keep my prices reasonable,” Wells said.
Now that JW’s Wine Cellar is up and running fully, Wells is looking to boost production, and to place his wines into more restaurants and wine shops. He has purchased larger fermentation tanks to accommodate the planned growth.
A 1967 graduate of Roth High School — where he occasionally played one-on-on games with Roth and later University of Dayton standout guard Donald Smith — Wells said he is poised to step away from a janitorial franchise business he runs and turn his attention to his growing wine business.
“I will dedicate all my time to this,” Wells said. “I hope to have my wines in 100 to 200 restaurants and retail stores by the end of next year.”
Hours for the store are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. For more information about JW’s Wine Cellar, call (937) 901-4223.
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