Unwine Vineyards: Blending wine, art into a Bethlehem business

When Joel Ritter and Mary Reshetar met, Ritter had the wine and Reshetar had the art. It was the perfect marriage. 

As fiancés, the two share more than creativity. Together, they blended their passions into Unwine Vineyards Bar & Art Emporium, a cozy spot at 309 E Third St. where customers can enjoy art, sip wine and explore crafted herbal goods.

As Ritter and Reshetar launched their venture, they found their work to be less about labor and more about leisure — a realization that inspired the name “Unwine.” 

“Every time we went up to work, it seemed it was a chance to chill and just relax, so we came up with unwind,” Ritter said. “As we were looking at the grapes one day it was kind of unwinding.”

But their partnership started long before they blended wine and art into their shop. They met in a classroom after bumping into each other while working at the same school. 

Ritter teaches law enforcement to high school students at Upper Bucks County Technical School, while Reshetar is an educator with Workforce Development at Bucks County Community College. 

As part of her job, Reshetar visits high school students to teach about career readiness and was assigned to one of Ritter’s classes. 

The two hit it off, discussing their passions and competing in duathlons and triathlons before deciding to build a business together. 

“She’s like my best friend, and it’s weird, now we can almost finish each other’s sentences,” Ritter said. “We’re like the yin and yang.”

Reshetar said she and Ritter are both passionate about their work with students and their creative pursuits. Even though they may not see eye to eye sometimes, they’re committed to building their brand and rooting its foundations in Bethlehem. 

Ritter said they chose Bethlehem because it’s an energized, up-and-coming area. He enjoys seeing people from different backgrounds come in and enjoy themselves. 

After growing up in the Southern Lehigh region, he began his career in South Bethlehem as a police officer. 

“For me, it’s like coming back home,” Ritter said. 

They said their business feels like their baby. 

Ritter said he feels like he’s been making wine forever and it’s something he’s always enjoyed. 

He said if his wine was good enough for friends and family, it was good enough for the public. So he stopped cutting hay at his property in the Finger Lakes region in New York and planted grapes instead. 

In 2012, he received his license to make wine. 

Ritter said he prides himself on offering a “winery without the snobbery,” but acknowledges that he had to play the game to enter certain industry circles. He took courses, some affiliated with Cornell University, which helped him enter the wine business. 

He said it takes about seven to eight years to grow high-quality grapes. The Finger Lakes region relies on heavy snowfall from Lake Ontario because it insulates vines from freezing temperatures. 

He said on the East Coast it’s nearly impossible to grow grapes organically because growers must fight mold, mildew and pests. Rather, the drier West Coast climate produces grapes with higher sugar content that results in stronger, richer wines.

Ritter also said it’s often easier to buy grapes from another grower and focus solely on the winemaking process. 

Beyond the technical side, Ritter said the experience he creates for others is what matters most. He said Unwine offers customers the chance to purchase an original painting and enjoy a glass or bottle of wine without an expensive price tag.

He said he wants the shop to feel like family. 

“We feel that when people come in, you become part of our family, (and) that we’re sharing a bit of us with them,” he said. “We’ve always been geared toward trying to be part of something bigger than us.” 

Reshetar has been an artist for more than 30 years. She’s sold her work widely, ran galleries and worked for an art collector whose collections included works by Jerry Garcia, John Lennon and other musicians. 

Reshetar was involved in art throughout highschool and college, attending Mansfield University and spending weekends on scholarship at the Moore College of Art and Design. Her undergraduate internship then sent her to Arizona to student-teach art on a Navajo reservation. 

Throughout her life, she said art has been her therapy.

“It’s what makes me feel calm and have less anxiety, and functioning in this world that’s pretty chaotic,” she said. 

Reshetar primarily works in abstracts, working with resins and earth elements and mixing stones with botanical inlays on top of paintings. 

Reshetar creates all the art in the shop but said she’s open to featuring other artists if their work aligns with the store’s mission. 

The pair originally opened an art and wine shop in Easton in 2019, but closed it due to COVID. They were supposed to sign a long-term contract for the storefront, but decided the location no longer made sense for the business. 

A friend who works in real estate introduced them to the landlords of apartment buildings in Bethlehem, which helped them land in the South Side.

When customers walk in to Unwine, music is playing, candles are burning and artwork fills the gallery-style space. 

Reshetar is also an herbalist, selling magnesium sprays, non-toxic candles, loose-leaf teas and infused salves made with essential oils — all organic, biodegradable and sustainable. She makes everything from scratch.

As a mother of three, she said she was inspired to start selling the products because they helped her cope with her life’s demands. 

Maria Goicuria, a Bethlehem resident and friend of Reshetar, said when she first visited the Easton shop, Reshetar greeted her and treated her like family. 

“When you have that instant connection with someone that you feel like you’ve known them your whole life, maybe lifetimes — that’s how I felt with her,” Goicuria said. 

Goicuria said their connection wasn’t about business — it was about community, family and shared interests. She fell in love with the place and keeps returning because it felt like home. 

Reshetar said she hopes customers leave feeling inspired to return and bring their friends. 

“I would hope that people leaving say, ‘I have never experienced a winery art place like that. It was unique, eclectic and special,’ ” she said.