Clover wine bar opens today in Webster Groves
A new wine bar called Clover opens today, Thursday, Feb. 9, at 100 W. Lockwood Ave. in Webster Groves, as reported by St. Louis Magazine. It will operate three nights a week out of the cafe The Clover & the Bee.
Mark Hinkle, co-owner of O+O Hospitality, sees Clover as the newest neighborhood hangout. “We’re just trying to make a fun place to drink wine. Everything we have in the neighborhood is full dinner service, so we wanted a place where you can pop in and have a drink,” he said. Hinkle has been dreaming about and planning Clover’s opening for a while alongside bartender Chris Kuse. But Clover isn’t just any old wine bar. The only wines on the menu are low intervention, meaning they are typically unfiltered and made with little to no additives or pesticides. Hinkle explained that he searched for wines that are “organic, sustainable and biodynamic” and grown by people “contributing good things to the planet.”
The menu is divided into four standard wine categories: bubbles, white, red, and rosé and orange. Some of the wine options look and taste as expected while others are what Hinkle calls “funky.” Due to the lack of filtering, they may have a cloudy appearance and taste more sour than expected. Low-intervention wines may not be for everyone, but Hinkle said, “I think one good thing about this movement is that it is something fun and unique that can get the younger generation to get out and explore wine,” he said.
Hinkle compares low-intervention wine’s taste to sour beers, which are also on the menu. In addition, Clover will offer some cocktail selections (including the favorite slushies available during the day at The Clover & the Bee) and a few non-alcoholic options.
While the wine is the star of the show, Clover will also have a few traditional bar snacks like olives and breadsticks. The hot honey-roasted cashews use the same hot honey featured on the OG Pepperoni at O+O Pizza. “That’s it,” Hinkle said. “We’re keeping it pretty simple.”
The space will have the same velvet booths, wood tables, and painted floral walls as its daytime counterpart with one exception: “Lights down, music up,” Hinkle said. In keeping with the casual neighborhood hangout feel, Clover will not take reservations. Guests will order food and drinks at the counter and closing time will be flexible. “We’ll stay here as long as people are having fun,” Hinkle said. The bar will open at 5 p.m. Thursday to Saturday and will likely close around 10 p.m. on Thursday and 11 p.m. or midnight on Friday and Saturday. In Hinkle’s words, come “enjoy wines as they were meant to be.”
