Wine’s Anti-Hero
An interview with Don Andreas of Clever Girl Winery
In the end of July of 2024, Clever Girl Winery closed the doors of its tasting room in Bangor, PA and relocated to the Commodore Building at the corner of Easton, Pennsylvania’s free bridge.
After spending just a few minutes with its owner and winemaker, Don Andreas, you quickly get the sense that he’s not your common winemaker. And while I mean that as a compliment, I also mean it in the way that he is rather uncommon (in a good way).
Much like his tasting room, there is zero intimidation when speaking with Andreas. Even when discussing his wines. So, for a wine novice like me, having a conversation with a commercial winemaker of five years, it went much smoother than I expected.
I had to begin by asking where the name “Clever Girl” came from.
“It’s a line from the original Jurassic Park movie,” Andreas laughed. “I liked the ring of it, and for me, it suggested something fun. I have one of those last names that isn’t pronounced the way it’s spelled (it’s pronounced ANN-dreez), so I didn’t want to own a winery where its name would be mispronounced on a daily basis. Not to mention, most wineries with a last name attached to it suggest many years of being in the wine business and their tasting rooms are very fancy. I’m a little too basic for that. In fact, we have a motto at our shop of ‘fun over fancy’. We want you to be relaxed and have fun when you’re here with zero intimidation.”
Andreas is a down-to-earth guy that emphasizes creating relationships with his customers as much as he does in making quality wines.
“You would think that making great wines is everything in this business,” he explained. “But I feel that making connections with our customers and providing a great atmosphere to enjoy them in is just as important, if not more.”
Much of Andreas’ business philosophy comes from his own personal experiences with discovering wine.
“I was a beer drinker, and my wife started introducing me to wine about 12 years ago”, he recalls. “I started out with sweet concords and fruit wines like many people begin their wine journeys. Once I decided I wanted to explore some drier wines, I found that, for me, the descriptions that I was reading at the local wineries weren’t really helping me. Putting a description on a wine menu that says 'Lemon Grass' or 'River Rock', I mean, I have no idea what any of that is supposed to taste like. Some places had eight or nine characteristics to describe one wine. I’m just not that complex. I knew I wasn’t an expert on wine, but I was certain that I was an expert on what I liked. And I feel that everyone is an expert at what they like, right?”
So once Andreas started Clever Girl, he wanted to provide that same opportunity for customers to find wines that suit their likings. The wine descriptions on Clever Girl’s tasting menus are very brief, most times simply letting the customer know what varietal the wine is made from.
“I believe people who like, say, Sauvignon Blanc, should simply try ours in a wine flight. They can decide what they experience in the wine and if they enjoy it. I could say that ‘you’ll experience aromas of freshly cut grass, peas, and asparagus’, but what if the customer doesn’t experience all of them? Or any of them? Does that mean that the wine is bad because they didn’t sense any of the flavors listed? Or does it make the customer feel ‘wine dumb’, because somehow wine and wine knowledge tend to make everyone feel inferior?”
“I don’t try and teach you about wine”, Andreas explained. “I try to show you that you know more about wine than you think you do. We can all easily understand dry versus sweet, acidity, etc. I feel there’s so much emphasis on what you don’t know about wine that everyone needs a sommelier to explain it. While they may be a wine expert, remember that you are the best expert at what YOU like and don’t like.”
I found that to be an interesting perspective and asked him to elaborate on it.
“When I was going through my journey of discovering wine, I remember I asked a staff member at a winery about why my tongue felt coated like I was drinking black tea. They informed me that it was from the tannins in the red wine, and also, that particular wine was very high in tannins. I didn’t interpret that as ‘Now I know what tannins are’, but instead, ‘I now know that I don’t like high tannin wines’. Because I’m an expert in what I like and don’t like”.
“Tannin, body, legs, finish,” Andreas chuckled. “Wine is a lot like tennis. 15-love, 30-all, Deuce. It’s a whole lot of fancy for a game that’s simply ‘the first one to get to four points and be ahead by two, wins’”.
Andreas concluded that thought by adding, “I always felt out of place back then, and I never want anyone to feel intimidated or out of place in my tasting room.”
We then discussed Clever Girl’s wine list which presently offers 20 different wines that feature, as Andreas describes, “Something for everyone. Dry through sweet, reds and whites.”
“Sometimes we slide our tasting list to a customer, and they’ll pick it up and flip it over,” Andreas smiles. “To see if there’s more wines listed on the back. You go to some wineries and see a list of 35 or 40 wines on them. Some people see that as impressive, but to me, I see a lot of wines that aren’t selling. Every winery has a handful of wines that make up a majority of their sales. The old 80/20 rule applies. Not to mention that price point matters to almost everyone.”
Clever Girl’s wine list doesn’t include a single wine over $25, unless they pull something special out of their cellar. Recently, Clever Girl has offered two reserve wines that were bottled in 2021 for $30 a bottle.
“I don’t know who we’re kidding here, but price point matters,” Andreas explains. “There comes a point for everyone where it doesn’t matter how much you love a wine, you are only going to pay so much for it. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not paying more than maybe $50 for a bottle of wine… ANYWHERE… winery, state store, restaurant. Regardless of how much I love it or want it. I’m certainly not knocking anyone with a high price point on their wines. I’m sure they believe they are worth it, and they probably are. But for my wallet, I will find something I like equally or almost equally in a price point that fits my budget. Think about the car you drive versus the car you’d love to drive. Most of us love the car we drive, but if money wasn’t a concern, we’d probably all drive something different. If I’m missing the boat on that, so be it. But I think price point matters. I’d actually like to sell my wines for a little less than I do, but being such a small winery, I don’t get the best discounts when buying juices and bottles in smaller quantities as the larger wineries get in bulk.”
Speaking of juices, that brought up another interesting topic for Andreas, “Pennsylvania wines”.
“Ah yes, Pennsylvania wines,” Andreas shakes his head. “Since moving to Easton, I suddenly get a customer now and then who asks if my wines are ‘Pennsylvania wines’. There seems to be this notion for some that Pennsylvania doesn’t make good wines. First off, Pennsylvania is a top ten state in terms of wine production and wineries. Secondly, I can assure you that there are plenty of great wines being produced in Pennsylvania. Third, and probably most relevant to this notion, I am what’s called an ‘urban winery’. That means that I don’t grow any grapes, and I source my juices from elsewhere. So even if you think that there are no great wines in this state, come try my Sauvignon Blanc which I get the juice from Washington state. Or try my Syrah that I have juice brought in from Chile in South America. Did I produce the wine in Pennsylvania? Yes, but it all starts with the juice. And if you think Pennsylvania doesn’t grow and produce great juices, just know that my best-selling dry white is our Pinot Grigio that is grown in central Pennsylvania.”
In finishing up, I asked Andreas what else he wanted to share with everyone.
“I’d like people to know that we offer more than just wine,” he laughed. “I realize that not everyone is a wine person, and also, even wine people are sometimes in the mood for something else. In addition to our 20 wines, we make great sangrias with them. We also have a selection of draft and bottle beers, plus a small list of cocktails, mocktails, and martinis. Just like the variety in our wines, we like to have something for everyone. We also offer a menu of cold shareables to nosh on with your drinks. It’s just a great place to spend some quality time in a friendly atmosphere.”
As I was saying my goodbyes with Andreas, I had to mention all the disco music that was playing in the tasting room during our time together.
Andreas smiles, “Yeah, I found the disco channel right as we opened Easton and I thought, ‘This is the vibe I want here’. I used to change the channel every weekend when we were back in Bangor to switch it up, but I love this station. Plus, it’ll mix things up on its own now and then by throwing out a total 80’s gem. We get a lot of compliments on the music.”
