May 11, 2021 – Santa Cruz, California – Big Basin Vineyards is excited to announce its forthcoming Santa Cruz Wine Bar & Tasting Room in downtown Santa Cruz. Located at 525 Pacific Avenue at the junction with Front Street, the Tasting Room is walking distance to the wharf, boardwalk, and downtown Santa Cruz. The location is part of a new development by Swenson Santa Cruz, Five55 Pacific, which includes high end apartments and several street level retail and restaurant spaces. The venture is part of the City of Santa Cruz’s revitalization efforts near the Warriors Arena which will connect the Pacific Avenue business area with the wharf, beaches and Boardwalk areas. Big Basin Vineyards is working with Swenson Santa Cruz to complete the build-out of this new space in time for a late Summer opening.
After closing the Big Basin Vineyards Saratoga Tasting Room location in 2020 due to space limitations for their growing business, founder Bradley Brown began the search for a new location that would attract wine lovers and new business. “This location in downtown Santa Cruz fits perfectly into our goal of being closer to our Santa Cruz Mountains community and tapping into Santa Cruz’s flourishing tourism business. Now we can attract wine lovers from all over California and beyond who want to experience both the beautiful beaches and the exceptional wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains.”
The Tasting Room will feature a craftsman style curly redwood bar, indoor and patio seating, and a more private area for small group tastings. Big Basin will offer a variety of specially curated food pairings to complement the wines. The food offerings will include artisan cheeses and charcuterie, specially curated chocolates, red wine beef stews, and Coq au Vin along with other organically sourced nibbles and small plates. “Our wines are made with an old world ethos which means growing CCOF Certified Organic grapes and producing wines with minimal intervention. This ethos views wine as an important part of the culinary experience and vice versa,” says Bradley. “We are excited to have a venue where we can serve our wines paired with a culinary experience to show the wines as they were meant to be enjoyed.”
A grand opening date will be announced this summer.
Big Basin Vineyards is a small production, artisanal winery which produces a selection of wines from their Santa Cruz Mountain Estate near Big Basin State Park and from other exceptional Santa Cruz and Gabilan Mountains vineyard sites. Big Basin Vineyards was selected by Wine & Spirits Magazine as one of the Top 100 Wineries in World in 2018, and by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the 52 Must Visit wineries in N. California in 2018.
