Dedalus, Boulder's newest wine store, was born as a passion project out of the backroom of an IT business in Burlington, Vermont. You may be familiar with Dedalus, as it recently took over Cured, a specialty wine and food store located at 1825 Pearl St. Although the iconic storefront is under a new name, that doesn’t mean guests won’t find delicious wines and hand-selected food and cheese offerings. They will also find community.
“Dedalus is a more wine-focused business than Cured, but that doesn’t mean that the cheese counter or market are going anywhere,” says Ashley Bryant, chief marketing officer at Dedalus. “The shop on Pearl will continue to operate as a market, wine shop and full-service cheese counter. Dedalus will still offer sandwiches using our beautiful charcuterie, cheese and new local bread.”
The idea for Dedalus came about after founder Jason Zuliani had difficulty finding good wine in Vermont. So he turned his passion into a tiny bottle shop in the backroom of his IT business. A few years later, Jason jumped into the wine business full-time, and he hasn’t looked back since. Today, Dedalus has two shops in Vermont and now one in Boulder.
After meeting Will and Coral Frischkorn, the owners of Cured, Ashley says the similarities between Cured and Dedalus were clear and made the transition into new ownership seamless. “They started Cured for the same reason Jason started Dedalus—to bring people closer to the producers and products they fell in love with. Their passion for small producers, for wine and for beautiful food was palpable,” Ashley says. “Their connection to the community was clear as soon as you stepped through the door; it felt so familiar. It is the same energy people feel when they walk into our shop in Burlington. We both want to connect people with good food and good wine.”
What makes Dedalus unique is its focus on making wine accessible and bringing consumers closer to the vintners who make it. The shop also places an emphasis on sustainable wines because some of the best winemakers use organic, biodynamic and sustainable practices. Why, you might ask? Because the winemakers live on the land in which they grow their grapes and produce their wine.
“Their food grows in the valleys beneath the vines. It is not a trend or a marketing strategy for these farmers/winemakers. It is a way of life, a philosophy,” Ashley says. “It’s a way of respecting the land and future generations. And to be completely honest, it is the best way to get the purest expression of the grape into the bottle.”
Dedalus will bring new wines from regions around the world, ranging from Burgundy and Champagne to Alsace and Friuli, to our local community. “By bringing home a beautiful bottle of wine from Galicia, a tin of octopus, some Piparra peppers and crusty bread, you are able to experience far-off places in your own home. This is why we do what we do,” Ashley says.
Dedalus will also offer weekly wine tastings and monthly classes. Ashley says they also hope to eventually have a larger wine shop in Boulder—the current space is only 200 square feet—and a wine bar for people to gather and share stories over food and wine. While their purpose is to bring people closer to the maker, it's also to bring people closer to each other—to create connections and community and unforgettable evenings.
“We are on the precipice in the U.S. of something really exciting in the wine world—establishing our own wine culture. Sometimes all it takes is one glass or bottle and a lightbulb goes off. It makes you want to learn more, drink more, explore more. At Dedalus, we want to be the people that help guide you on that journey, to turn you on to new and beautiful things,” Ashley says. “We want to bring you closer to the people who create the products we love.”
