Erin Keene: Second Bottle Wine Shop

A veteran of New York City's fine dining world, the pandemic
forced Erin Keene to take a step back and reset her life. That
reset landed the Pennsylvania native in Richmond, Virginia, where
she opened Second Bottle Wine Shop in Richmond's Church Hill
neighborhood.


"I was in a place where I was ready for a big jump. Life as I
knew it had really just shut off [in New York City]. In that
time, I started formulating the plans for this wine shop," Keene
said. "While I was on the journey to find where the best place or
where the best fit would be for it, I had a camping trip planned
down here to visit a good friend of mine. We're sitting around
the campfire and she's like, 'What about Richmond?' It was like
huge fireworks. I had never thought about it as a place that I
wanted to live. But all of a sudden, I was like, it makes so much
sense in so many ways."


Keene made the move to Richmond in 2020 and opened Second Bottle
on N. 27th Street in Church Hill in 2021.


"I was very struck by Church Hill," Keene said about her decision
to locate in that particular Richmond neighborhood. "The green
space was a big part of that. I have a dog, so that was
appealing, all these parks that are very close by, within walking
distance. And then the food scene really. What I had experienced
of it was exciting The fear of leaving New York is always that
you'll be bored or there won't be enough things to excite you and
I didn't feel like that would be the case here. And that is
exactly what I've experienced."


For people who don't live in the neighborhood and are unsure
whether it's worth a drive to Church Hill to buy wine, Keene
offered this pitch.


"One of the biggest things we offer, or what we aim to offer, is
our service and hospitality while you're here," she said. "If
it's the end of a long day, and you don't want to talk to anyone
you don't have to, but myself and Garrett, who works with me,
strive to get to know you and get to know your palate and what
you like to drink and what you like to cook and what you've had
before that you liked or maybe didn't like, so that you get that
customized service or help when you come in. It's what love about
it, actually."


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