Chronicle Wine Cellar

The Chronicle Wine Cellar Story:
by Jim Riggio, GNP

After having received Wine Spectator awards’ for "Best Wine List" every year since 1980, many people may have wondered where they would go in search of their favorite wines following the transformation of The Chronicle restaurant in Pasadena, Ca. in 1996 to the Pinot Restaurant.

However, owners Michael Osborn, Gus Martin and Lud Renick knew how important their wine operation meant to their dedicated customers, so they decided to keep the wine cellar portion of the restaurant open for business and therefore creating the Chronicle Wine Cellar operation.  Today, they continue to carry the tradition that brought it so much fame within wine circles. Their philosophy is to make available quality wines at the best prices. They offer approximately 650 different types of wine from top producers to obscure wineries from around the world for customers to choose from. They selectively buy wines of high quality and at the best prices which makes their operation very competitive.

The wine cellar also offers a variety of services such as catering wines for weddings, parties and special events. And for those who can’t squeeze another bottle in their private cellar, they offer a temperature controlled wine storage facility available for a nominal fee. Their pleasant staff and in-house sommelier can help make your wine decisions and selections much easier. For those who can’t visit them in person as often as they would like, they have made their presence here on the Internet so that you may check out their current wine value offerings as often as you can. Their web site will be updated on a weekly basis to inform you of new and exciting wine value arrivals, so bookmark this page to check their current arrivals and price list.

Our in-house sommelier profile!
Miss Elizabeth Schweitzer is a Master Sommelier who began her professional life as a chanteuse. After finishing school at Berklee College of Music in Boston, she moved to California for a change of weather as well as career.  She was was Sommelier at The Chronicle Bar & Grill, overseeing an 80,000-bottle collection.  This is where she forged her friendship with Gus, Lud and Michael.  She spent four years at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington in Pasadena and formerly Director of Wine & Spirits at the Beverly Hills Hotel & Bungalows.  Elizabeth has also worked in wine retail stores and has sold wine from the wholesale side as well.  She was voted Best Sommelier in California, has traveled extensively, been a wine judge for the Los Angeles County Fair and the Expo du Vin.  She was first runner-up in the Mondial Sommelier Competition.  She also does cellar consulting, speaks at wine dinners, has recently begun writing and is looking forward to having her own television wine show.  When asked how she learned so much about wine, she simply states, "I open a lot of books and a lot of bottles."  Her approach to wine is a mix of old-fashioned common sense and modern economics; "If you like wine, the it s good wine."  Her future plans will include more traveling and writing.  The message she emphasizes is that wine not be taken too seriously.  Elizabeth brings unpretentious and contagious enthusiasm, passion, humor and a vast array of knowledge to the wine industry.  You may reach her at elizwine@hotmail.com.

To assist Elizabeth with various wine questions and suggestions, Gus Martin and Bob Samaniego will be more than happy to help you with all your wine needs.

Here we have Gus consulting with Elizabeth on a new "value-priced" wine just acquired.

The Chronicle Wine Cellar is located at 913 East California Blvd., Pasadena, CA   91106.  We are hidden just behind the Pie N'Burger shop.

    Our cellar hours are Monday through Friday 11:30am - 6:30pm, Saturday 10:00am - 4:30pm, and
        Sunday 11:30am - 5:00pm.

   Phone (626) 577-2549  Fax (626) 796-9497

  For wine sales and party/catering/events questions, contact sales@cwcellar.com
  
  For questions regarding our website, contact webmaster@cwcellar.com

Chronicle Wine Cellar in local press:
In the LA Weekly (Feb 8, 2002) well known Food Critic Jonathan Gold compared our wine selection to Valentino's!  "Chronicle Wine Cellar, a tiny store that reproduces the quirks and resources of a once-legendary (Chronicle Restaurants) wine list..."

In the Star News (March 8, 2002) Joe Coulombe, the founder of Trader Joe's, wrote an article about buying good cheap wines in which he said "This (Chronicle Wine Cellar) is where I buy most of my wines..."

Thanks Joe and Jonathan, we try hard to have the best wine deals on the planet.

For easy step-by-step directions to our place, just select on one of these links.