An urban winery in Delco has expanded its footprint with a new location in Media

The pair of longtime friends behind Tinicum Township winery John Robert Cellars has expanded its footprint in Delaware County, opening a location in Media.

The duo’s new tasting room at 115-117 W. State St. opened Aug. 8 on the ground floor of the Phoenix Building, taking over a space previously occupied by an insurance firm. Co-owners John Irving and Robert Goodwin, who have been friends for 50 years, hope their new location will capture some of Media’s foot traffic, especially during seasonal events like Dining Under the Stars.

The tasting room serves John Robert Cellars’ signature wines, along with beer from Sterling Pig Brewery, and select Pennsylvania-made liquors.

In addition to wine, the new Media tasting room serves a selection of shareable plates. While the menu is still being developed, current offerings include a cheese and charcuterie board ($20), shrimp tempura ($16), smoked duck breast pancake ($22), chicken wings ($14), fries ($5), and a selection of flatbread pizzas ($17 to $19).

Wine is available by the glass and bottle, with tasting flights served on Sundays. Prices for a glass of wine range from $8 to $13, while bottles run from $20 to $35. They can also be purchased to-go.

The 1,800-square-foot tasting room has total seating for 64 inside and features a 12-seat granite-topped bar, plus a small amount of outdoor seating. It has a minimalistic, somewhat-industrial look thanks to exposed ceilings and duct work.

While John Robert Cellars is known for its wines, the new tasting room is family-friendly.

Rather than grow their own grapes, Irving and Goodwin source them from across the globe and produce wine in their 5,000-square-foot Essington facility, which also has a wine bar. The vast majority of their grapes come from Northern California and are then sorted, de-stemmed, crushed, and fermented locally to produce roughly 1,500 to 2,000 cases, or 18,000 to 24,000 bottles, a year.

Irving and Goodwin expect that number to grow now that they’ve expanded their footprint, noting they have the capacity to make up to 5,000 cases annually.

The winery produces over two dozen varietals. White wine offerings include several chardonnays, a sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, and the Sparkling Rosetta, which has strawberry, raspberry, and pomegranate flavors with a green apple finish.

Red wines include a petite sirah, pinot noir, cabernet franc, several cabernet sauvignons, tempranillo, malbec, merlots, syrah, and meritage. There’s also a Delco Red that’s made with concord grapes sourced from Pennsylvania or New Jersey. It comes in a bottle emblazoned with a silhouette of the county.

The winery also produces over half-a-dozen sweet and semi-sweet wines.

John Robert Cellars is named for its two founders who have been friends for decades. They got into business together after making wine in Goodwin’s basement. Friends and family frequently told them they should sell it, and eventually they took that to heart.

Wanting to offer a different experience to the suburban and rural wineries in the region, they opted for an urban winery. They opened at 301 Wanamaker Ave. in Essington in 2018 and added a tasting room a few years later.

“We’re not the typical place where you can go and sit down in the vineyard and drink wine, but you can come and visit our winemaking facility for a little different type of experience,” Irving said.

To better understand the nuances of winemaking, Goodwin, who serves as the cellar’s wine craftsman, earned a degree in enology from Missouri State University and a certificate from the University of California, Davis. Irving, who is general manager, similarly took up additional studies at Wine School of Philadelphia.

The duo grew the business on top of their day jobs — Goodwin worked for a large produce company that also sold to winemakers, and Irving worked as an executive at an electrical contractor. Earlier this year, they both retired from their jobs and have turned their full attention to the winery.

John Robert Cellars’ Media location is currently open Tuesdays from 3 to 9 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 10 p.m., Fridays from 3 to 11 p.m., Saturdays from 2 to 11 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m.