I don’t know about y’all, but I was in a bit of a mood yesterday. I don’t know if it was because it was a Monday after a holiday weekend or if it was because the East Bay was shrouded in depressing fog in the morning, but I’m just glad its all over. Given the subj line you can infer that it was my intent to send this out yesterday and that I was going to make some sort of pun about cases of wine. That being said - sometimes one way to chase the Mondays away is with some novelty in your life. And one way to get more variety is through trying new varietals (see where I’m going here?) and joining a wine club!
Here are three well-curated East Bay wine shops to visit — and if you’re more the bring-it-to-my-door type; their respective clubs to join. And if you don’t drink - delete this email and wait for my next newsletter, which hopefully won’t also be a diary entry about my feelings.
Kermit Lynch: 1605 San Pablo Ave Northern Berkeley
Kermit is a legend. I first learned of him 8 years ago from my wino friend Marc who has so much wine that he ran out of space in his own cellar and has to pay a third party to store it for him. Kermit is arguably one of the most famous wine importers in the U.S., and he’s obviously a bold man as we live a short drive away from the best wine region in America, yet Kermit doesn’t sell any California wines! He largely focuses on French and Italian and finds obscure and little known producers and persuades them to let him import them to the U.S.. The wine club has three tiers:
Clu Chevalier is the fancy one - every package has a theme, often including rare wines - its $249/shipment, starts shipping in July so sign up now
Club Rogue - only reds, $69 for a 2 bottle shipment
And the more affordable selection called the Adventurers Club (named for Kermit’s first book) is only $39 per 2-bottle shipment.
All shipments come with tasting notes and recipes. You can have shipped or pick up in store.
Vino! (multiple locations, but try College Ave in Oakland)
Vino! features a wide variety of lesser-known boutique labels from around the globe (places like Corsica, Portugal etc), but the real deal here is they offer a weekly “Wine for the Week” selection, which includes 7 bottles, a reasonable mix of red, white and sometimes a sparkling for only $69. I absolutely can’t help myself and pick one up every time I am nearby, a great way to explore new regions and taste new wines for bargain prices. They sadly do not ship, but the people are awesome, so stop in and say hi or visit https://vinoeastbay.com
This is an adorable wine shop on College ave in Elmwood - they offer daily free tastings from 4-7 p.m. and have the best tasting notes and descriptors for each bottle - full of detail, and so lyrical its hard not to be wooed and want to buy every bottle. They feature local and global wines - some familiar labels and wines from places like Morocco and Lebanon. They have a 6 bottle club for $80; 12 bottle club for $160; and a private selection for $85 for 2-3 bottles, which is fully customized to your taste (ie: “I only drink pinot blanc, find me the best"). They regularly feature winemakers and events like regional taste-offs.
Lots of good wine to try, tell me your favorite spots to buy!