People-focused wine shop opens inside former Leon & Sons spot in GR

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Grand Rapids East Hills wine shop has reopened under a new name.

Ritual Wines opened this past weekend at 972 Cherry St. near Diamond Ave., located inside the same space wine shop Leon & Sons used to hold. Owned by former Leon & Sons general manager Ben VanderWaal and his wife, the shop is focused on offering wines from small producers and growers.

“We’re talking organic farming, biodynamic farming, wines that you can trace back to real people and not to large corporations,” VanderWaal said.

He compared it to people paying attention to where their food comes from and the farming practices around their food.

“The wine industry is at a really critical position,” he said. “People really care about where things are coming from and they’re asking all these questions, they want the story and they want to be able to trace things back to the actual roots, so I’m excited to see where the industry goes.”

He said wine is becoming “less pretentious” and more accessible.

Inside the now-renovated wine shop, VanderWaal said they’re “dialing things up to 11.”

“Things like wine club, things like more community engagement events, more events hosted here, tastings, that sort of thing,” he said. “Something we value is education, and we want to demystify the wine shopping process. It’s complicated enough as it is, and so just finding ways to make wine more accessible to the greater audience.”

Just three weeks after Leon & Sons closed, Ritual Wines opened to a “non-stop” first week, he said, with many customers expressing how happy they are to see it open.

“I do get this overwhelming sense that as far as our mission here, representing small producers, that’s what a lot of people in this neighborhood care about,” he said. “So they were excited to be back here and able to buy those wines that they care so much about.”

The top priority for VanderWaal is serving as a neighborhood wine shop, he said. The name is a nod to the ‘ritual’ of gathering as a community to enjoy a bottle of wine, and he wants Ritual Wines to offer a community space.

VanderWaal has worked in hospitality for years, in everything from bars and restaurants to hotels. He grew up in Berrien Springs but moved to Grand Rapids about eight years ago, following his then-girlfriend, now-wife to a city that offered him several hospitality opportunities.

While wine has always been a passion of his, he said it’s the people that drive his work.

“In my years living in Grand Rapids, I’ve met so many wonderful people,” he said, adding it would be hard to do his job without those relationships. “I’m just energized that people care as much as I do.…I’m met with the same passion, and that’s just what excites me and gets me here every day.”

He invited people to watch their Instagram page for updates on the shop.

“Just stay tuned,” he said. “It’s only going to get bigger and better from here.”

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