PROSPECT HEIGHTS, Brooklyn — At Vanderbilt Ave Wine Merchants in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, owner Johnathan Kemp is on a mission to prove that wine is for everyone.

“A big motivator of how I do everything in wine is trying to get that person that has this idea that wine is not for them. To me, it’s a folk beverage. It was created, a lot of times, by peasants,” he says.

“I think it’s sad sometimes when people feel like it’s this thing for fancy rich people or something like that.”

Kemp’s own interest in wine was first sparked when he took a viticulture and oenology class in college. After moving to NYC to pursue a career in music, Kemp took a retail job at a wine store and was amazed to find the culture and community that the shop was able to foster.

“It was really interesting how engaged people were with these esoteric, geeky things, just on a weeknight,” he says.

This aspect of community building and connection has remained a priority at Kemp’s own shop, too.

Every other month, members of the shop’s Direct Press Wine Club receive a selection of bottles curated around a specific theme, whether it’s highlighting a particular wine region or celebrating female winemakers.

Accompanying the wines is the Direct Press zine, an in-depth, printed newsletter featuring exclusive interviews with the winemakers and reflections on the theme, put together entirely by the team at Vanderbilt Ave Wine Merchants.

“I was surprised by how many people really, really liked it and how many people were reading the notes with the wine,” Kemp says of the newsletter. “I’m like, oh my gosh, that’s amazing!”

Assistant General Manager Jeremy Hernandez is responsible for the zine’s often eccentric designs.

“I pull from indie literature and art and music,” he explains. “I just want people to have fun with it so that’s been successful in that way.”

“We are so lucky to have the customers coming in that we do,” Kemp says of owning Vanderbilt Ave Wine Merchants.

“I don’t really think we could really do this everywhere. People seem to want to go deep down the rabbit hole with us. We’re so energized by all the interactions we have.”

You can visit Vanderbilt Ave Wine Merchants at 573 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238 and find out more on their website.