Brandi Edmonds admits that she had limited knowledge about wine before she stepped in to assist her friend and former owner of The Wine Cellar, Annette Birchfield, at the shop.

But over time, Edmonds fell in love with wine culture and the Huntsville wine community, so much so that she and her husband Jason became owners of the business in 2021.

She learned about wine from Birchfield, wine distributors, and longtime customers, but the best way to get to know wine, she said, is to open the bottle.

Her adoration for wine is evident now with how she talks about some of her favorites, describing flavors as beautiful and velvety, gorgeous and silky, or crisp, fruity and bright. Wine has its own pomp and circumstance, Edmonds said. Sometimes people are afraid of it because they don’t know a lot about it and the wine culture can come across as snobby.

Current owners of Huntsville’s Wine Cellar, Brandi and Jason Edmonds

But Edmonds and her friendly, knowledgeable staff love wine and are happy to teach and make recommendations.

“Wine has a lot of terminology,” she said, “a lot of words people aren’t familiar with. They don’t know how to read the bottle and don’t know the terminology. If they don’t have a lot of experience in wine, they are too afraid to ask questions and say I don’t know much about it, and that’s what we can help with.”

Some of the more popular wines Edmonds sees trending right now are wines from Paso Robles, Calif., specifically the Vina Robles Cabernet. People are crazy about Paso Robles, she said. It’s a Southern California wine with a bigger, bolder, fruitier taste. The Vina Robles Winery sources fruit to the popular Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon, but is a more affordable, everyday bottle.

The biggest wine of 2023 was Renegade Lemonade, especially for sweet wine drinkers. It’s not made from grapes but – you guessed it – lemons. The Limoncello of wine, Edmonds said. It’s not offensively sweet but elegantly sweet.

Another fun favorite right now is Southern Belle – the label features skeletons under the Southern Belle’s skirt. Inside is a Spanish blend aged in Pappy Van Winkle barrels, packing a smokey tobacco bourbon punch.

“Jesus could have turned the water into anything, but he chose to turn it into wine for a reason,” Edmonds said. “It’s in the Bible in reference to the celebration of the wedding party. Wine was truly created for us to enjoy and to bring people together and to relax and enjoy each other. Everybody comes in from their day and you can see them all balled up with stress. A glass or two in, they’re completely relaxed and able to enjoy themselves and unwind from their day. We have so much stress as a society it’s like your world slows down when wine is introduced.”

While the Edmonds acquired the business in 2021, The Wine Cellar has been a Huntsville tradition for more than 20 years, founded in 2002 by Jim Harris and Rhonda Mitchell. After Harris’ passing, Mitchell passed the business to Annette Birchfield, who in 2021 passed it to Edmonds.

Before The Wine Cellar, Edmonds said there was not a place in Huntsville where you could get wine by the glass or attend a tasting. They have tastings every Wednesday and Friday and special tasting events year round. Friday’s $20 tastings include not one but two tables of wine plus live music in a very cozy, conversational home-like setting.

The shop is frequented regularly by some of the same loyal patrons who shopped at The Wine Cellar when it first opened. But is also beloved by newcomers moving into the city and seeking a local wine experience.

“Wine is a great uniter and brings people together,” Edmonds said. “There are people moving into our city every day who have no support system, no friends and don’t know anybody.They seek out their local wine shop to meet people, and when they come in we are able to get them integrated into our culture. Three or four months later, we see them hanging out with their friends at The Wine Cellar and being part of the Huntsville community.”

The Wine Cellar has more than 500 unique bottles of European and domestic wines, ranging from expensive cabernets to $16 bottles of Prosecco sparkling wine. Whatever your wine tastes, or if you don’t know much about it and want to learn, The Wine Cellar can help.

“A lot of people think, ‘I just like sweet wines, there’s no reason to go to a wine shop, those are for fancy wines.’ But there’s so many different choices no matter what kind of wine you like, whether you like a rosé that’s very dry that warms your body up for winter time or a really light rosé for easy drinks in the summer. I want to dispel the myth that if I don’t like French Bordeaux I don’t belong in a wine shop.”

In addition to public tastings, The Wine Cellar has an event space available for businesses to host happy hours or private tastings and deepen relationships with clients and colleagues.

The Wine Cellar at 2304 Whitesburg Drive offers wine by the glass, tastings, gift baskets, live music, event space and more. For more information visit their website thewinecellarhuntsville.com.