V Wine Cellar

V Wine Cellar is located in the charming and historical V Marketplace, an upscale shopping center in the heart of Yountville – formerly known as Groezinger Winery. The winery complex was founded in 1870 (among the older wineries in the Napa Valley) and ran until 1955. The location was converted into shops and reopened in 1968 taking the name, Vintage 1870.

A visit to V Wine Cellars should be a must stop for any serious wine enthusiast coming to the Napa Valley. This boutique wine shop contains a full tasting bar and several thousand bottles of wine in their selection. The store is located on the Washington Street side of V Marketplace – enter to the left as you walk in the main V Marketplace entrance.

V Wine Cellar used to be located in the back/west side of V Marketplace; of note their old location is now home to the well-known TV Celebrity chef, Michael Chiarello’s premium culinary shop, Ottimo.

W Wine Cellar was founded in 2006 by current owner Scott Lewis. Scott was born in Limerick Ireland and followed his chef and hotelier father’s footsteps; he has worked at some of the finest hotels in London in Food and Beverage Management including at the Dorchester and Grosvenor. In 1990 he was one of a select few chosen in the United States annual Green Card lottery for residency. Moving to the USA he worked at several top properties in both Texas and Arizona before a lunch reservation at the French Laundry in Yountville brought him to the Napa Valley. He stayed, ultimately becoming the Director of Food and Beverage at the Villagio Inn and Spa.

V Wine Cellar excels in carrying difficult to find wines, especially from small local area wineries. However, they also carry a number of the Napa “classics” – wines that are easily recognizable such as Rombauer Vineyard and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. These more well-known wines are located near the entrance to the store – keep browsing further, you will soon discover the limited production wines from mostly boutique producers based in Napa. And some of these are worth asking about as unlike the larger more established wineries with good national distribution channels, wines from these smaller producers often can only be found in the Napa area.

V Wine Cellar estimates they taste over 4,000 different wines each year. Many of these wines are from wineries that are completely private so you will never be able to visit the physical locations. One of their rooms is devoted entirely to “cult” wines – some of the wines represented here are older vintages from Napa notables such as Harlan, Bond, Far Niente etc. Large format bottles are also available on site. If you are stumped by their large selection, ask Scott or his employees for recommendations especially if you are looking for a specific type of wine.

They also carry select older French wines – often dating back to the 1920’s and at times they have even stocked wines dating back to the late 1800’s.

The side tasting bar is located near the entrance and showcases both wine making styles and regional differences. Their “off the beaten path” flight features premium wines with very limited distribution – many from Napa but also from throughout parts of California. These tastings always vary; you never know what types of wine will be served. And if you are interested in certain wines, the staff is happy to make recommendations for what to taste based on what they have open at the time (sometimes employees are involved in their own wine labels and these wines will be available for tastings).

During prior visits, we have spotted several Charbono wines; very few Napa area wineries make this wine and V Wine Cellar is a great one-stop source for this varietal. Weather permitting there are some tables nearby in their nearby patio for outdoor tasting; this overlooks a lawn area and is great place for relaxing and people watching.

Disappointed that most Napa wineries close at 4 or 5pm? Stop by V Wine Cellar before dinner – they are open until 7pm for tastings. A seductive sofa/lounge seating area is available next to the fireplace. The interior is nicely furnished, from the antique wood and beveled glass doors to the original red brick and mortar and the hardwood flooring. Look for their “wall of wine antiquities”; this is next to the fireplace and features empty bottles all from premium producers – most dating back at least 50+ years.

Come here for the tasting and to shop for wines but also spend additional time browsing the quaint stores located in this shopping complex including antiques and art galleries. Plenty of parking surrounds both sides of the V Marketplace but on busy summer weekends sometimes even this is often not enough. Yountville is small and chances are a brisk stroll will get you here from one of your nearby hotels or top restaurants. Throughout the year special events are often held at V Marketplace including the Taste of Yountville Appellation event in which main street is closed to traffic (vendors setup on the street during the actual event).

Scott is actively involved in Sense Yountville, an annual event promoting both area restaurants and wineries. This is a unique event not only because of the caliber of the participating wineries and chefs, but also because it is a rare opportunity to taste pre-releases from the wineries bringing “futures” of their wines to the event.

V Wine Cellars also sells Cowgirl Creamery products including their artisan cheeses – available in their lounge or if weather permitting outside on their patio terrace. And Scott’s wine from Scott’s own label, Pneu Cellars is sold in the shop.

Looking to host a private event in the Napa Valley? Look no further than V Wine Cellar. In conjunction with Hotel Villagio and the Vintage House, V Wine Cellar offers a unique location for private events, wedding receptions, winemaker dinners or a special wine-tasting event hosted by sommeliers. Getting married? V Wine Cellar offers a bridal registry in which you sit down with one of their sommeliers and try different wines based on taste and sensory evaluations.

Interested in the art of blending? V Wine Cellar offers a small private blending seminar (by appointment only) and will work with you depending on your level of experience and palate. Other cool offerings include learning the art of how to saber a champagne bottle. As you can see, this is not just a wine shop! For more information, or to join one of their customized wine clubs, visit: www.vwinecellar.com

Exterior

Interior

ARCHIVED NOTES
Pneu Wines
In 2007 Scott began Pneu Wines. This brand has been discontinued; we keep our notes here for historical reference. During his time at the Arizona Biltmore he met Gary Van Brunt (now former CEO of Discount Tire). Gary told Scott that if he ever wanted to make wine he would be willing to partner with him. That became a reality in 2007 when Scott located a premium vineyard source in Anderson Valley (to the north of Napa in Mendocino County).

As fortune would have it, Scott’s neighbor at the time was well respected winemaker Tom Farella. Tom made every vintage of Pneu Wines.

As a wine store owner Scott is exposed to a diversity of wines from not only the Napa Valley but also from around the world (the store has a good International selection). However, one of Scott’s favorite varieties is Pinot Noir having been hooked by a 1971 Larouche Pinot Noir that his father served him. He enjoys the fact that most Pinot’s are so versatile; they can be consumed by themselves and or pair with a wide range of food. Incidentally he keeps an inventory of some of the world’s best Pinot Noir’s in his own store.

The name Pneu is pronounced “Pen new” and has several meanings in French: as a noun it means tire and as an adjective it means to breathe. The name ties in nicely with Gary’s background at Discount Tire. While it can be challenging to incorporate something as mundane as a tire into an elegant wine label -they have done a good job with this on the label for their Pinot Noir, matching both the symmetry of a tire with that of an oak barrel.

Interestingly enough, they found a home for their 2008 vintage in Asia. This year was known for smoke taint from forest fires affecting vineyards in and around Anderson Valley. Not wanting to filter for this – they chose to mitigate some of the taint by aging this vintage longer and using neutral oak. With an ingenious decision, they turned to select parts of Asia to market this wine. They found an appeal for it there – especially among Scotch drinkers who enjoyed the smokiness. They continue to sell a significant amount of their production to the Asian markets each year.

The last vintage of the Pinot Noir from the Anderson Valley vineyard was 2012. For subsequent vintages, Tom approached Scott about sourcing Pinot Noir from the Haynes Vineyard. This historic vineyard was under the same family ownership from 1885 until it sold to Gaylon Lawrence in 2019. It was first planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in 1966 with viticultural advice from two Napa pioneers, André Tchelistcheff and Louis M. Martini. Tom was already familiar with this vineyard – as it is also in Coombsville not far from his own property.

In Napa, Carneros gets all the accolades for Pinot Noir (based on growing in one of the cooler parts of the county), but we encourage more Pinot Noir grown in the cooler micro-climates of Coombsville.

The 2013 Pneu Pinot Noir shows bright aromatics featuring attractive primary fruit including raspberry complemented by various spices, violets, dried rose petal along with a cedar note that is noticed more in the background. They have always used 50% new French Oak for aging each vintage. On the palate this wine is like satin – sitting delicately with appealing flavors of strawberry, red cherry, ripe raspberry and a lingering spice note and mocha. The finish offers decent length for a wine of this variety. This is a delicate and elegant wine focusing on the pretty fruit characteristics shown from this variety, and it is well balanced.

Pneu made a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Farella Vineyard for a number of years. This is a highly sought after vineyard in Coombsville with a number of prominent Napa Valley producers sourcing grapes from here. Pneu Cellars sourced from the same part of the vineyard each year – a very rocky area which they informally refer to as ‘the rockpile’.

Both Scott and Tom prefer to age their Cabernet Sauvignon before releasing it to the consumer. Depending on the vintage they keep it up to 36 months in oak and then another two years in bottle before it’s release. As a result, this wine is always a few years behind most winery’s current releases.

The 2009 Pneu Cabernet Sauvignon was current release at the time of our tasting – nearly 7 years post harvest. This wine is deep ruby in color with lively and brooding aromatics tinged with baking spices including sweet vanilla, a toffee note and hints of toasted cedar. There are flavors of dark blackberry, blueberry and plum notes. The mid palate has a pleasing density of fruit with integrated, yet noticeable somewhat earthy tannins anchoring a long salivating finish. For the price, this wine over delivers.

Production is small for both wines – usually in the range of 125 cases per wine. Much of these wines are distributed in select parts of Asia including Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan.