Northern California natives Lynn and Gary McLean are bringing their favorite wines from Napa and Sonoma Counties to North County with their new interactive wine bar project. Napatini Wine Bar will be setting up shop at the base of mixed-use residential site State and Oak, on State Street in Carlsbad Village.
What Now San Diego spoke with Lynn McLean about the concept behind Napatini. “We have many wine bars and restaurants that serve a variety of wines but they may or may not be able to make recommendations and give you the experience the way a winery might. What we’re trying to do is combine the two experiences,” explains McLean.
“A big part of our concept is that our wine ambassadors know the wines we’re pouring and will be able to make pairing recommendations and find the wines you’ll like based on your taste,” she says. Beyond the knowledgeable staff that can chop it up with wine aficionados, they also offer a more hands-off approach for folks that want to sip around independently.
Visit their Wine Wall to peruse 48 bottles of wine, dispensed in individual pours to taste around for the blend that suits you. The Wine Wall is self-serving, digitized by QR codes, and appealing to younger crowds who may want to sample and find what they like without hearing about all the tasting notes. For the wine-educated customers, they’ll find well-known wines on the wall and staff can be handy to recommend others that may interest them.
After moving to San Diego from the Bay Area 2 years ago, the McLean duo opted out of retirement, and with their longstanding business experience decided to resurrect an idea they’d been talking about for years. The time leading up to opening Napatini has allowed them to get creative with some of their upcoming offerings. On Wine Wednesdays, customers will be able to mingle with Wine Makers, receiving the full wine-tasting experience in-house. Napatini will offer up Tasting Flights or the Wine Shoot-out, which features three of the same styles in a blind tasting. Plus they’re planning to align with local chefs to introduce pairing dinners and special events.
Napatini Wine Bar is in the process of building out their new space; they expect to open their doors in early 2022. Visit their Website to stay updated with their progress or join their Loyalty Club to be first on their list for special events.
