New Wine Bar + Possible Place to Make Our Wine

I heard that a woman I knew from a business group was having the grand opening for her new wine bar this weekend, so I decided to attend and show support. Steve was busy with the winery build, so I went by myself.

We found out recently that we are not likely to get our permits and licenses in place in time for harvest, so we’ve been struggling with what to do. It didn’t seem likely we could find a place to make it this late in the game. We were resigned to just making as much as we were allowed to make for personal consumption. It was a bummer to think about not being able to ever sell the wine if it was good, but chances were it wouldn’t be that great anyway, being our first time and all.

The wine bar is called Community Wine Bar, and it is owned by Cristina Gonzales of Gonzales Wine Company, and Vivian Stardust, of RAM Cellars. They opened it as a joint tasting room, and they plan to feature other small wineries’ wines there. The vibe is friendly, welcoming, and centering a queer + BIPOC crowd. The wines are great and the charcuterie plates are generous. I’ll be back again and again.

While I was there, I connected with Cristina and told her about our winemaking woes. She told me about a new winery called AVP that she recently moved to. It caters to small, independent winemakers. It sounds perfect. We might be saved after all.