Anthony Kingsland is the new owner of The Cellar Wine Co. in Sparks. What once was mainly a wine shop is now a wine bar and lounge. It’s located at 4820 Vista Blvd. Find out more at http://thecellarwineco.com.
What makes The Cellar different from other area wine bars?
We’re kind of doing a wine bar and lounge. We have a full bar. In the next couple of months, I’ll be getting cheeses and desserts, and we have live music every Friday and Saturday night. I try to vary it from jazz to bluegrass to blues to rock. At nighttime, we dim the lights, put up candles and make it more of a lounge style. We also offer specialty beers.
Do you have a wine specialty?
I try to be diverse. I’m going to up the import selection soon, but now it’s basically California and Oregon wines. We always have up to 20 wines by the glass.
What are your price ranges like?
I try to keep a lot of our wines down to $20 and below, and it goes anywhere from $10 to $200 a bottle.
When did you open?
The Cellar’s been open for three years. I just purchased it. I partnered with my father and bought it in February. It used to be more of a wine store that closed at 8 p.m., but I changed it to a full bar with hours open to late night on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Do you serve food?
We have appetizers available from Pinocchio’s restaurant [next door]. And we’ll have desserts and cheeses and fruits available a couple months from now.
How did you come to be interested in wine?
I started studying wine in restaurants. I was with Rapscallions for years. They sent me to study wine to get a sommelier certificate, and that was when I was 25 years old, 11 years ago.
What sort of crowd does The Cellar tend to draw?
The location is pretty diverse. There’s nights when there’s people from age 25 to 65.
You said it was lounge-like. Can you tell me more about the atmosphere? Laid-back? High-end?
I try to be right in the middle. I don’t want to be too high end. I want it to be a place you can go to anytime and still feel comfortable. But it has the dark wood, it has a cellar-like feel. I would say a semi-casual place to hang out.
Have you gotten to do some research in wine country?
Absolutely. I was just in Napa. I’ve been to Italy. I used to sell wine before this; I was with a distributor, and now I’m getting back into the hospitality service business. We also have a wine club. It’s two bottles a selection a month up to $90 value for $45 a month, and you get a free glass of wine every month. And club members get $5 off the corkage fee.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Being in that location, it’s easy access to get to. After traffic hours—5 to 6:30 p.m., it’s pretty easy to get to from town. From Reno, it’s about 15 to 20 minutes. It’s not too far of a ride. Through the winter, we’ll be offering shuttle rides home. I have a little van to bring people home.