Dear Friends,
I have bittersweet news for you. After 14 years I am closing River City Cellars. Retail is never easy and this last year has been particularly difficult--I am hardly alone in this. The silver lining is that Secco Wine Bar is thriving and so we'll be expanding into the RCC space over the next few months. We'll start with classes and private events and then look to bigger changes in the Spring. Secco will still sell wine retail (at actual retail prices) and will have more stock available to sell off-premises soon, so swing by whenever you need a bottle. Because we work with the same suppliers we are also able to do special orders for events like we always have. Please email me at info@seccowinebar.com with questions...more details about the transition will come soon.
I cannot begin to express my thanks for the daily joy (and WILDLY entertaining storylines) you brought us: your parties, thank yous, weddings, travel tales, graduations, recipes, new babies, old dogs, art openings, and an endless parade of kindnesses, not to mention the best taste in Richmond. I am ridiculously lucky, especially so for the beautiful people who spent the majority of their waking hours with me: my staff. The inimitable Peter Neff, who was with me from day one (plus our crazy days at ET) and totally defined this place, and shout outs to David Garrett, Nicole Lang Key, Cate Harrison, Sara Adduci, Ryne Hazzard, Brandon Brown, Jessica Gatewood, Jermaine Wallace, Robbie Kinter, Jill Pollard, Karl Runge, Kathy Stolzenbach, Leigh Thompson, Jaime Sprouse, Sarah Skeen, Bruce Rodgers, Mel Sisaithong, Dipti Bhatt, and all the other dear friends who pitched in to help over various holidays. A HUGE thanks to my family and the best boyfriend ever--what a crazy ride. Thank you all, for everything.
Nicole and I will be winding down over the next week with limited hours: Monday 12-6, Tuesday-Thursday 11-6. Not sure what's happening after that. And no, there won't be gaudy signs or deeply discounted sales, just a fair amount of unapologetic Champagne consumption and bawdy reminiscing. BUT I WARN YOU: this is a maudlin-free zone. Bring us your wine-fueled funny stories and suspect adventures, but I SWEAR I will punch anyone in the throat who cries or offers armchair quarterback business assessments. Seriously. Let's focus on the awesome. Because there's so much of it to remember. And let's be honest, I could use some help remembering ;)
xoxo
JB
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