Newport Wine Cellar & Gourmet begins this new year by tripling the shops’ size and inventory in a brand new 3,000-square-foot space in the International Tennis Hall of Fame building on Memorial Boulevard. The new locale will increase NWC&G’s capacity to supply the community with inspirational ingredients and wines that make one eat, drink, and think.
UPDATE – February 5th, 2016: Newport Wine Cellar is now open from 10am-7pm daily and on 12pm-5pm on Sunday. They are still working on the gourmet (we will keep you posted), but they have some of the normal cheese shop goodies in the wine store along with pastries.
What’sUpNewp was the first to bring you this story on December 29th – Newport Wine Cellar Looks to Transfer Liquor License From Bellevue Ave to Memorial Blvd.
Both shops will close at the current Bellevue Avenue location January 17 at 5p.m. and will reopen at 11-13 Memorial Boulevard February 5, 2016. Open daily 10 a.m. – 7p.m. and Sundays 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. , the shops will provide an expanded selection of wines, beers, spirits and artisan cheeses, meats, and breads; a much broader selection of gourmet ingredients to cook with and snack on; innovative, fresh soups, salads, and sandwiches to enjoy in the shop or on the go; as well as the addition of local farm fresh vegetables and meats. Weekly events will include cooking classes on Tuesdays, wine classes on Wednesdays, and complimentary tastings on Friday and Saturday afternoons.
Early in 2015, owner, Maria Chiancola, began feeling the limitations of her spaces on Bellevue and recognized a need to expand. After a year-long search, Chiancola walked by two open store fronts adjacent to the ITHF Tennis Club while on her way to play a match with her partner in all things, John Thorsen. She stopped, looked in the windows, and was immediately charmed by the idea of expanding her businesses in one of Newport’s oldest and most revered institutions. Two weeks later, a lease was agreed upon, and a month after that, Newport’s City Council approved the move.
While the location will change, Chiancola’s vision is the same as it was in 2008, when she opened the 450-square-foot Newport Wine Cellar on Bellevue Avenue. NWC&G strives to be a place where knowledge and indulgence come together; where people can find new, interesting foods and wine that inspire conversation; where customers feel at home and share recipes, stories, and ideas about gathering around the table. Chiancola will continue to use her space to advocate for both independent artisans and consumers and to forge relationships between those producers and the people who enjoy their wine.