About Us
Zodiac House of Wine is the new satellite location of R Wine Cellar, the family-owned urban winery in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. What began as a commitment to handcrafted wines made with minimal additives now extends outward—like a gentle cosmic swirl loosening at the edges—to this suburban satellite location in White Oak, Pennsylvania.
R Wine Cellar was founded in 2013 by Steve and Kathy Russell and their four children. We are honored to share these time-tested wines with you. We invite you to connect with us through a curated selection of wines from R Wine Cellar which offer a glimpse into the philosophy that shaped the wine: respect for tradition, patience in process, and the belief that there is a wine for everyone. You just have to sip until you find it.
As our own wine cellar takes shape beneath the satellite tasting room, future wines will balance chemical precision with artistic expression to highlight the unique character of each fruit used. From the location of the vines to the time spent aging, every wine will reflect both place and process and will be released only when the timing is right.
Wine has always been about more than what’s in the glass. It carries over 9,000 years of history, with geographical roots tracing back to Georgia around 7000 BCE. It is shaped by geology and the lay of the land, guided by meteorology, and expressed through viticulture as vines follow the rhythms of the seasons. Biology enters with yeast, setting in motion the chemical processes of fermentation and preservation. Wine is sensory. From the first splash in the glass, to aroma, to the experience of the first sip. It is cyclical and seasonal, moving from vine dormancy to harvest, from fermentation to aging in barrel and bottle, taking different forms as time unfolds. With the pop of a cork, it becomes celebration, creating moments that are etched into memory.
May these wines from R Wine Cellar invite you to slow the spinning, connect deeply with those around you, and engage intentionally with the wine in your glass. We hope you turn moments into memories at Zodiac House of Wine. We look forward to sharing the stories of these wines with you and we are delighted to have you as part of this evolving story.
Cheers to stories written in the stars!
What are we?
Zodiac House of Wine currently operates as a satellite tasting room, meaning the wines you'll taste today are produced by R Wine Cellar while we establish our own in-house production. This is an intentional first orbit — one that lets us launch our educational tasting events, build community connection, and plan our production based on guest's opinions well before our first batch finishes fermenting.
Wendy Matta
Zodiac House of Wine - R Wine Cellar Satellite Location Manager
In many ways, this location was written in the stars. A lifetime of seemingly unrelated jobs, friendships, chance encounters, and lived experiences eventually led me to a winemaking class at Penn State Behrend and that moment quietly launched everything.
A pivotal point along the way was my 2022 interview with Kathy Russell, owner of R Wine Cellar. I came to wine through the back door, armed with a background in chemistry but little formal wine service experience and still had the nerve to tell her that one day, I would own my own winery. Her faith in me helped propel this journey forward. The Zodiac House of Wine satellite location is built on that foundation: education, connection, and a growing passion for wine from every angle.
As a former chemistry teacher, I spent years hoping my students would see me as a lifelong learner. Stepping back into coursework in winemaking (PSU) and wines of the world (WSET), becoming the student again instead of the teacher, was exactly what I needed. In 2024, I spent much of my time at SanaView Farms Winery and Café in the Laurel Highlands, honing my skills alongside head winemaker Nathan McKee.
Surprises and challenges came, too. My first grandchild arrived in 2023, and a serious knee injury tested the vision and for a time made me wonder whether I would ever build a space of my own. But through those detours came new connections and renewed purpose, and the path kept pointing forward.
At the heart of it all is my husband Tony, the longest standing member of this team and the heavy lifter and fixer of all things behind the scenes. Alongside him, longtime friend Cathy Ellis found her place in behind the scenes production, and fellow winemaker and PSU classmate Rusty Hewitt arrived with his wealth of knowledge of local grape sources. With that, I felt I had what I needed to jump in fully. Within weeks, we had our jukebox, and less than a year later, we found our starter "home".
Together with an entire constellation of friends, family, former students, the R Wine Cellar family, my FB marketplace "friends" and many other collaborators, we have created a space for connection, learning, and celebration. Zodiac House of Wine is more than a tasting room. It is a shared dream, a long time in the making. And now, you are part of it, too.