The Social Pour brings wine, community, and good vibes to the River Centre

Whether making dinner with a glass of Chardonnay nearby, followed by a little splash to wash the meal down, before settling into the couch with a bold red to savor into the evening, Christy Rogers’ preferred evenings are accented by a variety of wines.

“I have always loved wine,” she said.

But as she’s gotten older, that love has grown to appreciate not only the complexity, flavors, and the many varietals, but also the process and the heart put into each pour by the winemakers. It has become a passion for her, and what led her to consider bringing that passion to the area with the new wine bar she and her husband, Deen, are opening, The Social Pour.

Sometimes the best ideas arrive at a Christmas-in-July party. That’s roughly how Christy and Deen ended up signing a lease for the wine bar in Jasper’s River Centre last summer.

A decision that came less than a year after they’d spontaneously put an offer on a house in Jasper the same night they first toured it. Both are from this area. Deen grew up in Pike County, and Christy was born in Daviess County, though she lived most of her life in Indianapolis.

The move to Jasper was precipitated by a bit of an empty nest as Christy’s three children were now adults, along with voluntary career changes that allowed more time to consider other pursuits. With the newfound time, Christy began considering combining her love of wine with her pursuit of more social outlets for a new business.

The creative side of the partnership, Christy brainstormed a couple of ideas, including a mobile wine truck, until she visited a wine bar near her son’s home in Indianapolis.

“She opened right about the time that we moved here, actually,” Christy said about the wine bar. “I was frequenting that when I would go visit my son, and I was like, man, like, this is really cool.

She also thought something similar could do really well in Jasper.

The idea, grounded in Deen’s CPA instincts and a solid set of financials, brought The Social Pour to life. That, and the visit to the space formerly held by St. Benedict’s Brew Works with her children over that Christmas-in-July event that helped seal the deal.

Since then, she and Deen have been creating their vision of a space with a warm, inviting aesthetic, a wide variety of wines (including non-alcoholic) and several beers for those seeking something other than a bar to hang out in.

After taking possession of the space at the beginning of the year, Christy and Deen, with the help of family, spent January through March doing roughly 90 percent of the renovation work. Rolling paint across every inch of the space, reconfiguring and refinishing the old bar from St. Benedict’s (Deen’s brother literally heaved it into its new position), installing paneled walls, and filling the space with soft seating designed to make people linger.

The only thing they outsourced? The wallpaper wall. “That probably would have ended in divorce,” Christy joked.

Christy has also curated a wall of approximately 60 wines, narrowed down from an original list of 92 after extensive tastings with distributors and winery representatives. A hard process since Christie loved so many of the wines she tried.

About 90 percent of what’s on the wall, Deen noted, you won’t find at the local grocery store or liquor shop.

The selection spans dry whites like Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and a white Malbec that Christie calls “so interesting” — a variety she herself had never encountered before — through lighter reds, bold Cabernet Sauvignons, Pinot Noirs from Oregon, Italian varietals, and a row of sweeter options and sparkling wines for those just finding their footing with wine.

And for those still figuring out their palate, The Social Pour has made exploration easy and affordable. Nine wines are available by the glass. Flights also let guests sample four different wines for a low-commitment introduction to varieties they might never have tried.

“You’re not committed to a full glass,” Christy said. “It’s a good way to explore your palate.”

Bottles can also be purchased for on-site drinking or to take home — a detail Christy is eager to clarify, since she expects many customers to assume they must drink here. The Social Pour also features light bites from local businesses, including pretzels from Tell City Pretzels and chocolate from Chocobrst and Chocolate Bliss.

Guests are also welcome to have food delivered from nearby restaurants like Wood Capital or Oink.

“My focus is the wine. That’s my love,” Christy said simply. “But people need something to eat when they are drinking wine.”

And once Jasper’s social district permit is active, the bar will be connected to the broader River Centre ecosystem, allowing guests to carry drinks between neighboring businesses. Someone could grab a bourbon from Owsley’s and meet a friend for wine at The Social Pour, for example.

The Social Pour is as much about the wonderful wine as it is about the potential for friendships to deepen or even develop.

“There was intentionality behind it,” Deen explained about what they had created. “She wanted this to be a social place.”

For Christy, the vision is specific and heartfelt: tables pushed together so strangers can end up sharing phone numbers, a space where someone can wander in at 8 p.m. on a Friday and just… hang out.

“That’s the thing I missed most moving from Indy to a smaller town,” she said. “Things close earlier.”

Now they are open, offering up their own version of that to the Dubois County area.

Future planned events include trivia nights, bingo, a monthly book club in partnership with The Next Chapter bookstore, and “paint your pet” canvas nights. Outdoor seating with heat lamps is in the works — Christy describes her vision of guests wrapped in wool blankets on a fall evening, wine in hand, with the warmth of a European sidewalk café. “I’m going to be standing back there just looking around,” she said, “and my heart’s going to be happy.”

A membership program is also on the horizon, expected to launch within the bar’s first quarter.

For Christy and Deen, The Social Pour is a new chapter that feels entirely right. They’re natural hosts — the kind of couple who cook Thanksgiving dinner together with their three grown kids piled into the kitchen — and that hospitality runs through everything they’re building here.

It’s not a sports bar. It’s not a nightclub. It’s a place to slow down, try something new, and maybe make a friend.

The Social Pour opens tonight at the River Centre in Jasper. Hours Wednesdays through Thursdays from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays from 4:00 to 11:00 p.m; Sundays from noon to 6:00 p.m. You can also sign up for a newsletter, learn more on their website here, and follow them on Facebook here.