Wine School Sommeliers Help Build a Different Kind of Pennsylvania Winery

CanvasRebel’s Sept. 7, 2023 “Stories & Insights” profile, “Meet Kim McCullough,” featuring Cellar Beast Winehouse co-founder Kim McCullough.

When Kim McCullough and her husband, Aaron, opened Cellar Beast Winehouse during the pandemic, they wanted to build something different: a Pennsylvania winery centered on serious wine, education and an inclusive tasting-room culture.

As McCullough told CanvasRebel, Wine School of Philadelphia graduates became a significant part of making that idea work.

Head winemaker Matt Check is a Level 4 sommelier from the Wine School of Philadelphia. He works alongside Level 3 Wine School sommelier Brian Crew and UC Davis sommelier Mark Pagaliaro, using minimal-intervention winemaking techniques to produce traditional French-style wines. Cellar Beast sources grapes from growers in Washington, Oregon and California rather than relying solely on Pennsylvania fruit.

The Wine School connection extends beyond the cellar.

The tasting room is run by Aaron Gratch, another Wine School of Philadelphia sommelier. McCullough describes the experience there as deliberately educational but approachable: sommeliers guide customers through the wines, explain what they are tasting and encourage them to question assumptions about what kinds of wine they like.

That educational model has become central to Cellar Beast’s identity. McCullough says the winery has introduced customers accustomed primarily to sweeter wines to varieties and styles such as Carménère and Bordeaux blends. Barrel tastings allow visitors to follow wines through different stages of development.

Education also extends to the staff itself. McCullough said Cellar Beast invests in continuing education through sommelier training and educational travel.

The result is a winery where professional wine education doesn’t sit quietly on a résumé. It shapes the wine being made, the people serving it and the way customers learn to experience it.