Bubble Bar to offer a bit of Paris romance in Healdsburg

Behind a door in Healdsburg, the City of Light awaits.

With its fleur-de-lis tiles, its vintage coupe glasses and its dangling chandelier, the Bubble Bar depicts a Parisian café.

“Someone came in and said ‘I feel like I just walked into Paris, said Sarah Quider, “And that’s what I want people to walk away with – having a glass of champagne and it feels like you’re in Paris.”

The owner is putting the finishing touches on her house of bubbly with the grand opening set for Valentine’s Day. There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 p.m. with Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce officials that’s open to the public, replete with champagne, cake and small bites.

After devoting countless hours on this passion project over the past year, Quider said she achieved her mission: To make the Bubble Bar wholly unique.

Her Parisian design sets it apart from other bars that showcase bubbly, such as Sonoma’s Sigh or Napa Valley’s Be Bubbly.

“I’m so excited,” Quider said. “I feel like I’m close to the finish line with one more yard to go.”

The stars aligned for a Valentine’s Day opening for Quider who doubles as a Francophile and a romantic.

“For me this is a passion project,” she said. “I put all my heart and soul and love into this project. So it’s a perfect day to celebrate it and I’ll have a bunch of brut rosés.”

Eats & drinks

Quider’s wine list covers the gamut with a cava for $25 while the priciest bottle, a 2013 Dom Pérignon, is $600.

“My goal with the wine list is to have something for everyone,” she said.

Roughly half the list is French champagne, with others from California. Beyond France and California, there are also offerings from Spain, Italy, Argentina, New Zealand, and South Africa. The goal, Quider said, is for people’s palates to travel.

The list also includes a sampling of beers with a broad geographic reach, as well.

To pair with the beer and bubbly are a range of options, including caviar, potato chips, and a decadent champagne cake with champagne butter cream frosting.

“I want this to be something people come to for something different,” Quider said.

The blind tasting

To create a little suspense, Quider plans to offer a blind tasting of three bubblies each month. People can vote on their favorite and she’ll tally the results, posting them at the end of the month on her website (healdsburgbubblebar.com) and on social media.

In February, for example, Quider will offer a trio of brut rosés. In March, with a nod to women’s month, she plans to highlight three women who craft blanc de blancs. And for April’s Earth Day, she’ll offer three organic or biodynamic sparklers.

“My idea is,” Quider said, “is for people to come here for something new, especially with the blind flight.”

Parisian chic

With mirrors covering most of its walls, the cozy 400-square-foot space with seating for 20 manages to feel expansive.

“If you go to cafes in France, there are a lot of mirrors,” Quider said. “So we added mirrors in three quarters of the room.”

An intriguing focal point in the room are three shelves of vintage coupe glasses, dating back to the 1930s, with some from the 1950s and 1960s. They’re from places far afield, including France and Holland.

Gina Gattuso, daughter of the late Myra Hoefer, led the design effort, inspired by a recent trip to Paris.

Piping in French music from Pandora, Quider said, “what I hope people find here is a special feeling — enjoyable, cozy and warm.

The leap

“After 28 years of being a winemaker, this is not just a new chapter in my life, this is a new book,” Quider said.

The veteran winemaker left her recent position to give her full attention to the Bubble Bar.

Formerly the senior vice president of winemaking for Foley Family Wines, Quider oversaw about 13 winemakers spanning the geographic reach of Washington state to the Central Coast.

Working 12 hours a day during harvest, Quider said she reserved an additional hour to work on this side business.

Just steps off the Healdsburg Plaza at 134 North Street, the Bubble Bar has a unique business model. The tasting room, housed in a renovated 1906 Queen Anne Victorian, has an adjacent Airbnb. The two-bedroom rental is called the Cuvee House.

“I’m the type of person who runs on intuition,” Quider said. “I had all the projections and I looked at all the numbers. I looked at Healdsburg and I saw all these developments and I thought it’s only growing.”

With an optimistic outlook, she decided “this can work.”

“Most people are afraid to make this kind of a commitment – like I’m leaping, right? I knew it was going to be work, but I did it,” she said. “And I hope I inspire somebody to look at an opportunity and say why not?”

You can reach wine writer Peg Melnik at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @pegmelnik.