By proprietors Reuel Olin and Bob Grinchuk
We’re proud (although certainly older) parents now that our little Hillcrest enterprise, Uptown’s first wine bar, is celebrating its tenth anniversary. In January 1999 when we first opened The Wine Lover, with our newly minted logo of a cupid holding aloft a glass of wine, wine bars were an alien idea in San Diego. But we thought that San Diego was ready for the kind of sophisticated yet merry experience that we’d encountered in our trips to Paris.
We created the bar in an intimate space on Fifth Avenue between University and Washington, with the idea of emphasizing a sense of romance in the decor and chose the team at Design Perspectives. They later won a coveted design award for their fulfillment of this concept, incorporating such details as an uplighted onyx bar with a dome above twinkling with fiber optic “stars” representing the millennial sky. Later we added a sidewalk café and a garden café capped with grape vines.
Throughout its history, The Wine Lover has retained the initial idea of “choice, education and fun” offering a very large selection of “flights,” tastes of wines in common for comparison accompanied by cheese plates and the like, glasses of wine at reasonable prices, bottles to go and tasting events. To inaugurate its tenth anniversary, The Wine Lover is fortunate in our brand new manager, the delightful Brandy Howd, who plans to bring a new vitality to the the familiar boite while retaining its beloved traditions. In the next few weeks, we plan to spruce up the place, give it a new look. Guests during February may celebrate with us by sampling a hand-selected glass of fine wine for $10 and enjoying a second one for just 10¢. “You’re only ten once — not to mention that the time is right for a little cost consciousness,” Ms. Howd tells us. Although many new wine bars have sprouted up since those early days, The Wine Lover looks forward to its next decade of “choice, education and fun” in a charming atmosphere. Do come visit 3968 Fifth Avenue from 4-10:30pm during the week (later on weekends) and say “hello” to Brandy.
