JV Wine & Spirits

Large Wine & Spirits Retailer with Wine Bar

Napa's largest and oldest wine and spirits retailer, JV offers nearly 4,500 different wines (as well as beer and spirits). The store also maintains a popular on-site tasting room where weekly special events and frequent tastings of boutique wines are held.

The store’s history dates back to 1947, when the first Vallerga’s Market grocery store opened in downtown Napa. Over the years demand for high-quality wines increased, and the market spun off a specialized wine & spirits store. Today, housed in a former Vallerga’s Market built in a 1954 modernistic style, the store is known as JV Wine & Spirits.

Regularly-scheduled events include the Friday Night Winemaker Tastings of outstanding wines—often handcrafted, artisan wines—from Napa and elsewhere: Knights Valley single vineyard wines, or wines from Greece for instance.

The weekly special events cover wide-ranging territory. For example, it might be a celebration of that year’s Beaujolais Nouveau release, where you’d taste not only the new Beaujolais but also Gamay Beaujolais or even Red Burgundies.

Or perhaps it will be a “Bubbles and Chocolate” event, with the opportunity to taste from among 30 different sparkling wines from five different countries…paired with chocolates, cheeses, and charcouterie.

Fascinating Fact:

The “JV” stands for Joe Vallerga, founder of Napa’s Vallerga Market.

Amenities: Wine Club, large wine shop
Founded: 1947
Wine Tasting: By appointment only, or during regular/special events
Hours: Hours vary

JV Wine & Spirits
301 First Street
Napa, CA 94559
707-253-2624

website: www.jvwine.com

Previous Winery | Next Winery | Map

Suzie Rodriguez writes about travel, food, and wine from her home in the wine-country town of Sonoma, California. You can follow her travels and musings at The Culinary Gadabout.

Find iNeTours.com on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for updates, Photo-of-the-Day, more.

return to top

Website and all photos copyright © 2001–2012 Lee W. Nelson