Oakville Wine Merchant opens store adjacent to Oakville Grocery

Oakville Wine Merchant store opens next to Oakville Grocery

Oakville Wine Merchant has opened adjacent to Oakville Grocery in a nearly 150-year-old historic Victorian building that also houses the 1881 Napa Wine History Museum.

The business is operated by Jean-Charles Boisset, who owns Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma, Santa Rosa’s DeLoach Vineyards and St. Helena’s Raymond Vineyards.

The Wine Merchant has 12 dispensary machines installed on the ground floor filled with wines grouped by the Napa Valley sub-appellations. Guests can purchase a card loaded with a specific dollar amount and have a half glass or full glass poured from the machines.

Sonoma County Winegrowers ?to host global vineyards event

The World’s Best Vineyards Academy will reveal its list of the top 50 vineyards in the world during a July ceremony in Santa Rosa.

The academy, operated by the British media business firm William Reed, will work with the Sonoma County Winegrowers trade group in hosting the event.

The academy recruits 36 wine professionals to nominate up to seven vineyards, three of which may be located in their home region. They are graded on a scale based on items such as quality of tours, ambiance, cuisine, staff, views, accessibility, value and reputation.

Local winners from 2019 included Robert Mondavi Winery and Opus One in Napa Valley.

Online wine retailer Vinfolio promotes executive to president

San Francisco online wine retailer Vinfolio has promoted Adam Lapierre to president.

Lapierre, who holds a master of wine certification, most recently worked as the company’s chief wine officer. He has a background in various wine industry jobs, including as a supplier and a buyer. Lapierre also serves on the education committee of the Institute of Masters of Wine and judges wine competitions around the world.

Compiled by Staff Writer Bill Swindell. Submit items to bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com.