As I was tracing my wine lineage back to Richard Feynman last night, I was try to recall the name of the
legendary wine shop just West of the CalTech campus which was always his go-to shop to buy wine.
It was, I believe, just around the corner from LakeAve on California. They always hoisted a flag out front when they
were open. Quite a neat, if small, shop w/ lots of rarities. Pretty sure it’s closed now.
Can anyone help me out here w/ the name of that shop??
Tom
Chronicle wine cellars?
That is it
Still open. No rarities any longer. Lots of daily drinkers.
Yup…that was it. Didn’t know it was still in business.
Tom
Not really the same place. As I understand it, it started as a way to liquidate the only Chronicle Reetaurant’s vast cellar when it closed in the late 80s, early 90s. They started acquiring personal cellars as well and they really had some great stuff there for a while.
That sounds like a familiar story, Tom. Mt recollect was that there was a restaurant associated w/ the wine shop.
I was in there only a couple of times in the early-mid '70’s and recall finding some real unicorn wines (for that era)
there on the shelf. Alas, never did see Feynman in there.
Tom
Awesome shop, in a tucked away spot where everyone came and went through the back door. I used to sell them a lot of wine in the late 90s -
Yep! I drop in every now and then, haven’t seen anything good in years. Gotta be at least 6-7 years since I’ve seen anything that’s a “rarity” or older vintage.
Damn. I just moved to Pasadena a week ago and I was hoping for a great find close-by.
Depends what you like. Monopole is a fun store run by Board member Peter Nelson. And Envoyer delivers in Pasadena if you order enough so that’s a bonus too. Hope to see you at an offline some time!
BTW, PM if you need any info about non-wine related stuff in Pasadena, happy to help you acclimate.
Thanks Tom! Will be in touch.
Greg…Pasadena??? We are practically neighbors! Brian B. usually pours at Monopole on Friday nights–a good place to be.
Would have gone last night. I’ll check them out.
If you ever wanna crack btls in Pasadena lemme know! Work and Live in Pasadena
Vinsrare and mission are also decent
If you ever wanna crack btls in Pasadena lemme know! Work and Live in Pasadena
Absolutely! Work and live? Nice gig!
Thanks for all the other recs too. (Sorry for hijacking the thread Tom.)
Wait, you moved and didn’t let us give you a send off?
Ha yes. Not too bad. Used to do the ol commute to dtla. When my daughter started daycare I decided to be close to home so I can get her easily