Allan Appel Photo
Cave a Vin owner Linda Fitzpatrick.
Of the reds, #124 has been the most popular so far. She herself enjoys a flight of whites consisting of #114, 115, and 117. The first is a Rioja with notes of leather, strawberry, vanilla, and, yes, cigar box. The last three are chardonnays from central California.
At Cave a Vin, the personable little wine bar on Upper State Street that had its official grand opening on Saturday, owner Linda Fitzpatrick wants everything to be so easy and untimidating that you never have to risk embarrassment by ordering in your uncertain high school Spanish or French.
Just say the numbers.
That’s what people are doing, said Fitzpatrick. Open only two weeks, she already has repeat customers for her 56 wines. People also like generous cheese boards served on wine barrel staves, and clever devices that hold three two-ounce glasses, or a “flight” of wines, as in a wine tasting.
On Friday, as she readied for the grand opening, Fitzpatrick gave an oenophile reporter a tour of 973 State St., a vacant former real estate office that Fitzpatrick has transformed into what she calls “a place where somebody could feel they’re not in a bar.”
When you walk in you see an array of black sofas and chairs in the front, a bar made of a huge red oak tree and polished to an old-new shine. In the far corner there’s a piano that offers a hint of Rick’s in Casablanca.
Strolling about is not Humphrey Bogart, but Fitzpatrick, who has invested her life savings in the wine bar that she has always dreamed of.
Click here for a story about her successful appearance before the Board of Zoning Appeals in April, when she described her business plan and how she was applying for a tavern license in order to sell wine, high-end beer, and cold appetizers.
Fitzpatrick, who lives in Guilford, had been looking for the perfect spot throughout the Greater New Haven area for five years.
“When I turned 50 and still didn’t find the spot, [I said], ‘I’m giving up,’” she reported.
Then, before she turned 51, her sister, who is friendly with Brent Evans of the eponymous piano restoration and tuning business nearby, said, “I have the perfect place for you.”
They showed her the 973 State space, which had been vacated by the Press Cuozzo real state company. All that was in the modest space were desks. Fitzgerald used craigslist to find the maker of the bar out of an old red oak; to purchase the cheeseboards; and to buy her ever-changing stock of wine. She assembled the furniture; Brent Evans rolled a fine old piano down the sidewalk and into the wine bar.
Jodene Minnis models the piano.
Presto. The wine bar became also a piano bar. Jodene Minnis is one of four part-time employees, but not a piano player. Evans occasionally comes in to play the piano.
On opening night the pianist will be William Harold, who is the curator of pianos at Yale University’s musical instruments collection. He’s the featured piano player on Saturday night.
In the spirit of keeping Cave a Vin relaxed, in addition to classical music, Fitzpatrick reported that he said he would be throwing in some Beatles and some Beach Boys as well.
As the first customers of the early evening came in, so did Jim Valente, the new owner (since June) of JP Dempsey’s, the bar across State Street.
As Valente and Fitzpatrick toasted — he was having #123, the pinot noir; she, that #117 chardonnay — Valente said that, counter-intuitively he was delighted Fitzpatrick was opening up.
“The more bar-restaurant establishment in the area, the better the draw,” he said.
Linda Fitzpatrick and Jim Valente of Dempsey’s.
Valente said that Dempsey’s, which has been open for 19 years, opened up after Christopher Martins and C.O. Jones and Archie Moore’s on Willow Street were already established.
“Crowds draw crowds,” said Fitzpatrick.
In fact the little section of Upper State Street has not only Dempsey’s but C.O. Jones practically next door and Portofino a few blocks away. Fitzpatrick said she doesn’t think her bar conflicts; customers come to her for light wine and cheese before or after hitting other spots. She said she has had customers coming in to her after leaving C.O. Jones. When her customers get hungry for more than a cheese selection and desserts, “I send them to Dempsey’s.”
“He’s been great,” Fitzpatrick said of Valente.
Plans include offering wine classes on Oct. 17 and 24 and participating with Valente and 15 other businessowners on Oct. 7 in a an event coordinated by the New Haven Fire Department to benefit LIfe Haven.
Fitzpatrick said she’s already also gotten city permission to put tables outside.
Although she confessed to having moments of worry, Fitzpatrick said she was confident people love wine and will come in sufficient numbers to make the place a success. She’s already received compliments for having the courage to open a business in tough economic times and for being a woman in the generally male saloon business.
“I can’t wait to come in [every day]. It makes me feel good,” she said.
Fitzpatrick, a Republican and a fan of Linda McMahon, said she emailed the U.S. senatorial hopeful to come visit the merchants of State Street. Those are exactly the kind of small businesses that McMahon has praised, Fitzpatrick said.
She even invited McMahon, who spent $50 million on a failed campaign to beat Richard Blumenthal in the 2010 U.S. Senate race, to come to Cave a Vin to stage one of her political events. Fitzpatrick hasn’t heard back yet.
Most of the wines at her spot are in the $7 to $8 a glass range, with a 2009 Montepulciano and several others at ten, but few higher. There are also unusual beers like “Dead Guy Ale” from Oregon, desserts, and the generous cheeseboard, three for $15 or five for $20.