Turks Head winery adds a restaurant to its West Chester tasting room
Turks Head Wines' mission was to bring a California tasting room experience to Pennsylvania. Now that they've achieved that, they've added a restaurant and hired a chef.
Turks Head Wines may have its headquarters in West Chester, but everything about its tasting experiences evoke Napa, with both its wines and serene aesthetic of its space. As of this month, it has morphed from a winery to a winery-restaurant.
Founder Allison Owen, 47, opened Turks Head Wines after spending 20 years in human capital management and cloud software consulting. In 2022, she left, longing to enter the wine world. “I had lost the fire in my belly and was looking for a new challenge,” she said.
“I started a California wine label while living in West Chester, with the concept to really bring the West Coast wine tasting experience to the East Coast,” she said. The label is named for West Chester’s historic moniker, which was a nod to a watering hole called Turks Head Inn (also known as Turks Head Tavern), built in 1769. “I felt like there were a lot of people that are very curious about learning more about wine, but aren’t necessarily ready to invest in making a trip across the country. So I decided to bring the California wine world to them.”
Owen opened her tasting room in 2024, after construction was completed on a building that has known many lives: Built in 1880, it was once a market house. During World War II, it was a packing plant for the penicillin produced in West Chester. It later became a mechanic’s garage and then a co-working office space.
All Turks Heads’ wine is produced and bottled in California and sent via refrigerated trucks to Pennsylvania. The arrangement is permitted due to Owen’s Pennsylvania limited winery license as well as her California wine manufacturing license. Turks Head Wine houses many plush, tasting lounges within its cavernous space, some only open to members of their wine club.
The barrels in their basement sit empty, but are labeled with bronze plaques of their wine club’s founding members — the first 46 people to join. (One barrel bears the names of Anna Congdon and Saquon Barkley.) Wine club members commit to purchasing 12 bottles per year. New wines are released every spring and fall.
Initially, Turks Head Wines’ tasting room only served cheese and charcuterie to pair with their portfolio of 30-something wines, which include whites, reds, and rosés. “But people wanted us to offer more,” said Owen.
She added a hood system and hired a chef, Dave McDonald, who previously worked at Laurel Creek Country Club in Mt. Laurel and Helm BYOB. Unlike most restaurants, where wine pairings are meant to complement the food, at Turks Head Wines, the food is intended to pair with the wine. They now offer two prix-fixe menus, a three-course menu for $55 and a four-course menu for $75. Current fall offerings include a gnocchi sardi with butternut squash and Kennett Square mushrooms, roasted chicken breast, braised pork shoulder with a Turks Head red wine porcini sugo, and an array of desserts and small plates. The wines themselves are frequently integrated into the dishes, whisked into vinaigrettes and sauces.
“The prix fixe menu feels like a natural extension of how we want people to experience Turks Head Wines,” said Owen, “We want guests to settle in, try a few different dishes and wines, and make an evening of it. Wine is always our starting point, and this gives people the freedom to build their own experience around what they’re excited to drink and eat.”
Turks Head Wines’ tasting room and restaurant are open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturdays from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Turks Head Wines, 120 N Church St., West Chester, P.A., 610-350-4183, turksheadwines.com
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