Melted Wings Winery Opens This Week in Old Brooklyn

The building at 4861 Broadview Road in Old Brooklyn has been home to a lot of businesses over the span of its existence – a deli, a dentist’s office, a communications store, a computer store, a cleaning supply store – but it has never been home to a winery.

Until now. On Thursday, June 11, Melted Wings Winery will open its doors, adding an urban winery to that neighborhood’s growing roster of food, beverage and entertainment options.

Partners Nico Papafil, Stamati Tripodis, Nick Tripodis, Chris Tripodis, Stamati Tripodis and Steve Roditis are following in the footsteps of their extended family, which have roots in the Greek islands where Icarus took his ill-fated flight with wings of wax.

“It all started with the island of Icaria, which is where my wife’s family is from,” Papafil explains. “My father-in-law and his brother would make wine in their basement and that’s where we learned the art of wine making: the crushing, the pressing, the racking, the barreling and just enjoying the wine.”

But as any hobbyist will tell you, art will only get you so far. To make good, consistent wine – that requires science.

“When we combine the chemistry and the art of winemaking, it makes the wine even better,” adds Papafil.

Papafil and his partners have spent years transforming the old building into one suitable for winemaking and appealing to visitors. The lower level is a temperature-controlled cellar where the wine is fermented, aged and bottled. The fruit is sourced not from an Old Brooklyn vineyard but rather a selection of estates in famous wine-growing regions.

“We are an urban winery, so we are serving wines that are made right here in Cleveland, but we bring in grapes from areas and wineries from across the United States,” Papafil explains.

Most of the white wine grapes hail from the Finger Lakes while the reds originate in Washington and California. When the winery opens to the public, the offerings will include sauvignon blanc, semi-dry reisling, chardonnay, sparkling rose, cabernet sauvignon, tempranillo and merlot. The old-vine zinfandel goes into the slushy machine and comes out frozen and refreshing.

Wines will be available by the glass and bottle. For food, the winery has partnered with the Greek bakery Despina’s to provide a selection of pre-prepared small plates with items such as pizzettes, stuffed grape leaves, dried fruit and more.

“It gives our guests that opportunity to pair authentic Greek flavors with our wines,” adds Papafil.

When asked if Melted Wings makes Greek wine, Papafil likes to respond, “The answer is no, we’re not serving Greek wine in the traditional sense. We say that we make it Greek-style based off traditions and how we learned how to make wine. Everything is done by hand. We don’t have big equipment. We put every cork in by hand. We put every capsule on by hand. Every label was put on by hand until a few weeks ago when we finally bought a machine.”

The winery has both indoor and outdoor seating.