Check Out Danielle Harmon’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Harmon.  

Hi Danielle, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
My husband and I are entrepreneurs at heart, even though we’ve spent most of our working life in the corporate world. Through all of our travels, we’ve always dreamt of going out on our own and starting our own wine bar. We’ve definitely done the research! There’s not a city nor country we’ve traveled to that we haven’t tried at least a glass— or, in some cases, a bottle—of wine. We’ve made notes. We’ve made lists. We’ve created the “do’s” and “don’ts.” In the Fall of 2019, we even went so far as to label one of our favorite bottles of wine—a Papillon from Orin Swift—our “wine bar opening night celebration wine.” At that point, we decided to document the dream, fully expecting it wouldn’t be realized until after retirement. Fast forward to March of 2020. After some big life-changing events in our careers, we decided it was now or never. We could keep talking about it, enjoying all of our “research,” and hoping the day would eventually come when we could open the bar, or we could take a leap of faith. We decided to jump… and Alzavino Wine Tavern was born. After a long process through COVID and construction, we finally opened our doors in September 2021.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

We never imagined that COVID would cause so much upheaval in all of our lives. Once we made the decision in March 2020 to take the leap, that’s the same time that everything started shutting down. Once we were finally able to find our location in the Delano District, the construction process was long and arduous. COVID impacted the crew, supply chain, and our own personal hiring process. Once we felt like things were slowly starting to right themselves, the market took a huge hit…hiring continued to be a struggle, and inflation kept driving our costs higher and higher. We have had to stay focused on our marketing and keep wine in the front of everyone’s minds, and we’ve had to keep re-inventing ourselves so we continue to draw in new customers.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

Wine education has always been so important to us, so when we discovered these self-serve wine machines, it fit into our vision perfectly. I’m a level 1 Somm and have a tremendous passion for presenting new wines to our customers that might not be truly mainstream. Maybe the wine is made from an obscure grape; maybe they are from a different country than most would expect…either way, we want to show our customers the options that are truly available. It’s always so rewarding when we have a new wine drinker come in and start experimenting with different wines to see what they like. It has helped give young professionals more confidence so that when they start meeting with clients, they are educated on wines and wine pairings.

What were you like growing up?

I have grown tremendously in my 26-year career since I graduated from college. I have always been passionate about people and doing right for all people. I am an Enneagram 1, and it has shown itself even when I was younger. As I navigated through the corporate world, I followed a much different path from most…starting out as a corporate auditor before moving into an accounting role. That then led me to a 15-year career in information technology, where I eventually filled an executive role after doing everything from software development, project management, and acquisitions. I ended my corporate career in Human Resources, recruiting, hiring, and mentoring college students across the country for our extensive internship program. It was where I truly found my passion for mentoring, coaching, diversity, inclusion, and making a difference in a young person’s career trajectory. I have been able to continue those passions as we opened Alzavino, not only for the college students that we hire but also for other female business owners in our community.

Pricing:

• 16 wines for our customers to try from as low as $1.50 an ounce to almost $6 an ounce
• Serving by the ounce gives our customers the opportunity to try extremely high-end wines without having to commit to a full bottle

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alzavinowinetavern.com
• Instagram: alzavinowinetavern
• Facebook: facebook.com/alzavinowinetavern