From Beck to Bordeaux, Michael Dorf has had quite the career. He launched the iconic Knitting Factory in New York City, and his most recent venture combines his experience as a live music promoter with his passion for winemaking. City Winery is a uniquely urban mecca for wine and music lovers alike. The winery and concert venue hybrid is now open
at City Foundry STL.
City Winery isn’t your first business venture. How did you get your start?
I started in music at Washington University, helping the concert committee put on shows in Graham Chapel. I then began managing my friend’s band from Wisconsin, which led to The Knitting Factory in New York. I was 23 years old when I opened the club, and we quickly became a very important avant garde meets experimental rock club. Because of my naïveté as a live music promoter, I offered artists a very simple deal. It was a straight 75% on the box office. Word spread, and all of the sudden the jazz scene from Brooklyn came my way. The same thing happened on the rock side with artists like Sonic Youth and Beck.
Where did the idea for City Winery come from?
I did three important things in 2004. I established a Hebrew school in Tribeca, and I started Michael Dorf Presents The Music Of, which is a concert series at Carnegie Hall that has raised $1.7 million to support music education. The last thing was making a barrel of wine in California. I drank the Kool-Aid and fell in love with the art of winemaking. My family are New Yorkers. I couldn’t get them to move out west, so I came up with the idea of starting an urban winery. I had to bring music into it, and City Winery was born. The first location opened in New York in 2008.
Since you’re in the wine business, how often do you switch up your favorites?
I have so many favorites. It’s a little like asking who my favorite child is. It’s a hard question, and while I might have a favorite, I’m not going to ever say it.
What makes good wine?
There’s a saying that wine is made in the vineyard. It starts with the quality of the grapes. You can’t make good wine from bad grapes, but the great thing about wine is it’s one of the most subjective things in the world. If you like a particular bottle of wine that’s five bucks, that’s great. I’m not going to judge someone for what they enjoy.
What do you think of winemaking in Missouri?
The wine industry in Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin is really young. There’s still a lot to be learned about what types of grapes are going to be able to thrive in these conditions. What’s great is that there is such enthusiasm about winemaking and learning the best farming practices. There’s a romance to owning a vineyard, so people are excited to get to enjoy both the process and the product.
Tell me about the new City Winery location.
I love City Foundry and that part of town around Saint Louis University. It’s a hospitality destination, and we’re proud to be part of that. Our goal is to make wine more accessible. It’s about enjoying and having fun with it. Sometimes, you might be afraid of ordering wine when you’re out because you’re not sure if it’s good or bad. You don’t have to worry about that at City Winery. We want to teach you. What we do is edutainment.
