San Mateo Journal
During the height of COVID-19, Kristin Campbell and David Glancy, who both run the San Francisco Wine School, noticed more customers were not in the wine or hospitality industry — just curious consumers who wanted to learn more about what they were pouring themselves to drink. “During lockdown, people were starving for activities, and that was a dramatic increase from trade to consumer,” said Glancy, a master sommelier who opened the business in 2011.
He, along with Campbell, opened the wine education and events center in 2015,
primarily geared toward people who worked with wine or in the restaurant business. “The vision was to bring all relevant certifications under one roof for people who work in restaurants, wineries or any part of the industry,” Campbell said.
Ten years later, the South City-based business has gained a global following, with customers visiting or attending virtual classes from all over the world.
A New Wine Bar In Town
Recently, it decided to localize its impact, opening a new wine bar, known as the Secret Wine Bar, situated inside the historic building that also houses the wine school — open from Thursday to Saturday evenings.
“People know us all over the country, but not that many people know us in our own community. The ones that do, love us and were asking for more ways to engage with wine beyond a formal class, so the last couple years we did pop-up wine bars,” Campbell said. “People really liked them, so this year, with so much adversity going on in the world, we wanted to do something to focus on our local community.”
While Northern California doesn’t have a brand reputation problem when it comes to wine, the idea is for customers to try a number of wines from regions all over the world. Lately, Campbell said wine has become part of the low- or no-alcohol trend, and consumers are increasingly interested in natural and organic options as well, as well as chilled red wines. During January, they hosted a Dryer January event, teaching consumers about cooler regions, such as parts of Northern Spain and Germany, which produce wines with lower sugar content and therefore less alcohol. Over the last few years, Italians and Spanish wines were of particular interest, though there is a move back toward California wines, especially in light of tariff uncertainty, she added.
More than anything though, the new wine bar is meant to be accessible to local residents and converse with experts.
“Sometimes consumers might be concerned if a class is stuffy, if it’s over their head or too intense, but everything is about making it all accessible,” Glancy said.
The San Francisco Wine School is at 415 Grand Ave, #301, South San Francisco. Go to sanfranciscowineschool.com for more information.
Written By:
Alyse DiNapoli, Daily Journal staff
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