San Anselmo is getting a diverse brand-new purchase natural red wine, vintage books and vinyl. Keepsake will open on March 4, from the team behind Fairfax’s Stillwater restaurant and San Francisco’s Junior bar.Co-owner David Ruiz thinks it will be Marin County’s first shop focusing on natural red wine. Today, he stated, “you have actually got to go to San Francisco or the East Bay to get a strong natural white wine selection.” Memento isn’t the only interesting
new drinks service opening in San Anselmo. San Francisco’s Woods Beer & White wine Co. announced recently that it prepares to open a taproom right across from Keepsake’s area. The town already has a number of wine locations, like Jillie’s Wine Bar and Ludwig’s Great White wine. The idea for the shop developed during the early months of the pandemic, when Stillwater, which opened in 2020, was offering lots of red wine to go. The dining establishment’s bar supervisor, Dylan Jones, began a wine club and rapidly drew in lots of interest. It worked well at first, particularly because Jones could use the dining room for red wine storage while the restaurant was closed for indoor dining.< picture class=" image delayed threeTwo" data-width =" 1776" data-height =" 1184 "data-progressive=
” real “data-component=” image” >A nook for books at Souvenir.Courtesy David Ruiz However as constraints reduced and Stillwater welcomed diners indoors, Jones understood he
didn’t have enough area to keep the inventory that the wine club required. They shut the wine club down. That drove Ruiz and Jones to search for a brand-new area nearby. The original plan was to open a white wine bar
, but their concept evolved into a bottle store, partially since the permitting was simpler to get. Keepsake reflects the interests of its three partners– Ruiz, his partner Margaret and Jones.” It’s actually more of a
multifaceted store than just a white wine store, “Ruiz said. They’re stocking the bookshelves with genres that they’re each passionate about, ranging from “cooking to skateboarding to flowers, “stated Ruiz. The vinyl represents an array of genres too, consisting of indie, nation and jazz. Home items like glass wares, as well as a choice of hard-to-find craft beer, will round out the choice. Including personal-feeling, non-wine items into wine stores has actually ended up being a growing trend over the last few years.
Bars like Verjus (which is currently closed) added publications and cooking products; the Castro’s new Bottle Party offers glass wares that its owner has actually found at estate sales. The idea of this hyper-curated shopping experience is baked into Memento’s name. Dylan Jones, who
began a white wine club at Stillwater dining establishment during the pandemic, is a co-owner of Memento in San Anselmo.Courtesy David Ruiz Jazz records and cookbooks aside, at the center of the store
are its 17-foot-tall walls of red wine. Although” minimal intervention” is the guiding principle behind the wine options, Ruiz said that the team isn’t dogmatic about what certifies as natural red wine.( The bottles will not have to be zero-zero, for example. )Instead of authorities red wines’ sulfur levels, he stated, they’re mainly thinking about supporting red wine producers who are small and independent. The eventual objective is to integrate some sort of bar service, whether inside
or in a parklet, though in the meantime their permit does not allow that. Ruiz hopes that the dynamic nature of the shop makes it an enticing location for residents to hang out. “We sourced an actually cool hi-fi sound system from this guy in Sacramento– the sound is on another
level,” he said.” We’ll be playing music in there, and we’re hoping that whether you’re looking for white wine, music, books, flowers, a present, that you can come hang out, sit in the window, feel the ambiance we exist.” Keepsake. Opening March 4. 570 San Anselmo Ave., San Anselmo. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. souvenirbottle.com
Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicle’s senior red wine critic. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob