Ampelos Wine Bar
Ampelos Wine Bar | Bishop Arts District, Dallas, Texas
A colorful neighborhood wine bar and bottle shop where turquoise wine crates, purple velvet, and a carefully curated natural wine selection give the intimate space a personality all its own.
Photography by Stacy Markow
Project Snapshot
Location
Bishop Arts District | Dallas, Texas
Business
Ampelos Wine Bar
Project Type
Commercial Retail + Hospitality
Photographed
2023
Space
Natural Wine Bar + Bottle Shop
Photography
Stacy Markow Photography
A Neighborhood Wine Bar in Bishop Arts
Tucked away on West Eighth Street just beyond the main stretch of Dallas' Bishop Arts District, Ampelos Wine Bar is part neighborhood wine bar, part bottle shop.
Founded by wine industry veterans Genevieve Weaver and Jessica Martinez, Ampelos was created as a place to discover thoughtfully selected natural wines from producers throughout the United States and Europe, whether stopping in for a bottle or staying awhile for a glass.
The personality of the business carries directly into the interior.
Turquoise wine crates stretch across the wall, transforming functional bottle storage into one of the space's defining visual elements. Purple velvet barstools introduce another layer of saturated color, while an acrylic by-the-glass list displays the rotating selections behind the bar.
It's intimate, colorful, and refreshingly unpretentious, a space that feels right at home in Bishop Arts.
The charming Bishop Arts exterior of Ampelos Wine Bar.
A curated wine display framed by Ampelos’ signature teal shelving.
The colorful interior pairs exposed brick and wood beams with teal wine storage and jewel-toned seating.
Behind the Lens
This was one of those projects where my life before photography unexpectedly intersected with the work I do now.
Before becoming an interior and architecture photographer, I spent years working in the wine industry and became a certified sommelier. Photographing Ampelos gave me an opportunity to bring those two worlds together.
Because the space is relatively intimate, the photography needed to establish the overall environment without losing the details that give Ampelos its personality.
The turquoise wine crates became a natural visual anchor, but the story wasn't only about the interior.
Ampelos is an active wine bar. Bottles are opened. Guests gather around the counter. Wine representatives stop in to taste new releases. The inventory continually changes.
Including those moments alongside photographs of the space helped create a collection that feels less like documentation of an empty commercial interior and more like a portrait of the business itself.
Design Details Worth Noticing
A Space With a Point of View
The commercial interiors I find most interesting to photograph are the ones that couldn't belong to just any business.
Ampelos is one of them.
The color palette, wine-lined walls, intimate footprint, and activity around the bar all communicate something about the personality of the business before anyone pours a glass.
For me, that's what makes photographing independent hospitality and retail spaces particularly interesting.
The architecture and interior establish the setting, but the smaller details reveal the identity behind it.
And as a former sommelier turned photographer, getting to tell this particular story through photographs made the project especially memorable.
Full Project Gallery
Thinking About Photographing Your Next Project?
Professional photography created for designers, architects, builders, developers, and businesses who value timeless imagery and thoughtful creative production.
Related Posts
Follow Along on Instagram
Recent projects, behind-the-scenes moments, and a closer look at the spaces, details, and designers I have the opportunity to photograph.
