On September 21, 2007 an intense fire at Mermelstein's Marketplace destroyed seven businesses, the hardest hit was the Maiolatesi Winery.  Maiolatesi Wine Cellars was the largest tenant of the building housing their main production, storage, and retail/tasting facilities.  Sal arrived at the winery after it was already engulfed in flames.  He rushed to the back of the facility to save his wine press, but it wouldn't budge.  The only thing he could do was sit and stare from the parking lot as fire trucks crowded the scene.

The fire took a toll on the Maiolatesi Winery.  The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture declared that all of the wine must be destroyed.  This amounted to approximately 40 barrels of dry red wines from the 2006 vintage that were aging in the cellar and the entire bottled wine inventory, approximately 70,000 bottles in all.  The 'OK' news for the Maiolatesi Winery is that they do have insurance that will cover a small portion of what was lost.

Fast forward to today and Sal is trying to focus on the future.  Sal has become a traveling winemaker, he has been traveling to wineries across the state to produce his wine at their facilities.  Although a difficult process, Sal is grateful for the gracious offer from these fellow wineries to allow him to work and stay at their facilities.

Sal continues to work tirelessly to get his business back up and running. Here is the latest update for everyone. Sal has purchased a piece of land for the new winery (address provided above).  The plan is to break ground in the spring (April or May) of 2008.  The winery would be under roof and the cellar operational by June 2008.  The goal is to have wine for sale in August 2008.

Sal has come up with something special for his customers.  When the new winery is opened Sal plans to release a limited collection of wine called the Phoenix Collection.  The collection will consist of three wines, the three wines are still being determined and an update will be provided when available.

The Past		The Future
The fire which destroyed the building housing the Maiolatesi Wine Cellar		The land where the new Maiolatesi Wine Cellar will be built.  The images were taken as if we were standing in the middle of the winery.  The first image is looking from the road.  The second image is looking towards to road.

You may be asking yourself why the "Phoenix" Collection, you just need to look at the definition of phoenix to see how appropriate it is.  The phoenix is defined as a mythical bird of great beauty fabled to live 500 or 600 years in the Arabian wilderness, to burn itself on a funeral pyre, and to rise from its ashes in the freshness of youth and live through another cycle of years:  often an emblem of immortality or of reborn idealism or hope.

Maiolatesi Wine Cellars will rise from the ashes and provide its customers with the great wine they have come to expect from Sal.

You can use the "contact us" page to contact Sal and get added to the mailing list.  Sal will be using the mailing list as the primary method for communicating updates to his customers.  The Maiolatesi family appreciates your continued support, and Maiolatesi Wine Cellars looks forward to providing you with exceptional wines very soon.