Matt and Misty Stallard have been making wine for almost the entirety of their 23-year marriage. At first, they’d make small six-gallon batches. But a couple decades later, their third Rowan Asher Winery & Hard Cidery location is lined with barrels of wine, aging until just the right moment.
The Stroudsburg-based winery and hard cidery opened a tasting room in Tatamy back in April, adding to their two locations in the seat of Monroe County government — one a Main Street taproom and the other the home of their main operation. Rowan Asher Winery, more colloquially known as RAW, hopes the Tatamy location is a successful step in expanding the family business.
The RAW team prides themselves on being an urban winery — there are no stretches of vineyards RAW maintains, just the concrete jungle of their surroundings.
“We’re not farmers,” Matt Stallard said. “Someday would I love to have a farm of vines? Yes. Am I a farmer at heart? No, I’m a winemaker.” They get their grapes imported from across the state and the globe, but the whole wine-making process happens under their roof.
Expanding into Tatamy was a venture that began at the beginning of 2021. They rented out a space at 70 S. Eighth Street in the Northampton County community in February, and by April, they were ready to go. Located in a spruced-up warehouse with indoor and outdoor seating, it’s currently open on Fridays from 3 to 8 p.m., and on the sporadic Saturdays. There are also occasionally food trucks to provide some good eats as well, though when there aren’t, the tasting room is a “bring your own food” establishment.
But in just over two months, they’ve become a popular spot. “We love the community here,” Stallard said. “We get a lot of the same people every Friday night. A lot of them walk. It’s very cool, we feel very supported here.”
RAW’s Tatamy tasting room is located just on the edge of the suburbs with a great variety of drinks, so what’s not to love? Obviously, the wine is the main draw, and the tasting room’s menu boasts a sizable list of reds and whites. Most are dry, as that’s the winery’s specialty, Stallard said, but there are a number of sweeter wines as well. In addition, they have hard ciders. They have three on tap — the flavors include blackberry, hibiscus and toasted marshmallow — and all have a much more unique taste and feel than your run-of-the-mill hard cider.
Those are all RAW-produced drinks, and they have a full bar for cocktails plus Pennsylvania beers, mostly from in and around the Lehigh Valley.
The Stallards like to keep things local; they’re a heavily family oriented operation.
Matt and Misty named the winery after their two sons, whose middle names are Rowan and Asher. Matt, who grew up in Roseto in the Slate Belt, got his love of wine from his family, who always had wine at the dinner table. That’s something that continues today. His grandfathers came to Pennsylvania in the early 20th century from — wait for it — the town of Roseto in Italy’s Abruzzo region, and they were always making wine for their family.
The Stallards’ sons aren’t quite of age yet, but they’ll surely find their way into the family business sooner or later.
In the meantime, RAW’s Tatamy satellite is situated in a nice mid-point between Stroudsburg and the central Lehigh Valley, an area Matt Stallard sees a lot of untapped potential in for wineries, particularly of the urban variety. And they’ve partnered in the past with some of the area’s favorite breweries and bars, like Easton’s Weyerbacher Brewing Co. and Porters’ Pub.
But for now, they’re going to focus on the near future: “July, August and September,” Matt Stallard said, “those are the three busiest months of the year.”
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Connor Lagore may be reached at clagore@njadvancemedia.com.
