Gianni Buonomo Winery Opens Its Doors
The very first winery in Ocean Beach had its “soft” opening on November 10th during OB’s Restaurant Walk. The Gianni Buonomo winery – at 4836 Newport Avenue – opened its doors to the few passing by and invited them in for a taste.
I visited vintner Keith Rolle a few days before the opening at his new location and was given a tour of the place.
Keith told me he has a “zoning affidavit” that allows wine manufacture on site – which he’ll do for only about 10 days a year max, he said.
He’ll get his grapes from 3 growers up in Washington state – connections he made while attending Enology College up there.
Customers will be able to come in and watch the manufacture, Keith added, plus, of course, take part in the tasting.
Until the first on-site manufacture, he’ll be able to use wines from his winery in PB. He bought used casks from folks up in Napa – because new ones cost a $1,000 each, he said.
And he has lots of filled casks.
He has an antique counter behind which he and his small staff will pour the tasting glasses.
Keith only has one restriction in terms of wine – he can only sell his own (no beer of course!). He has hired one local young woman, plus he’s bringing in a wine connoisseur from France to be his tasting manager.
Keith lives in OB. Support your local merchant!
Looking forward to their arrival! We’ve got plenty of beer joints in OB but could really use a wine bar.
Caskets, you say?
… uh, thanks Dave for catching that. Our proof reader musta been asleep.
At least they didn’t get mistaken for dead and end up buried..
Personally know Keith and his passion for years has been wine. Glad he has had the opportunity to bring his craft to the local market! Also, if you could be so kind to revise the misspelling of his name under his photo, thanks.
This operation has been a long time coming. Some fabulous wines are in store for the wine lovers in San Diego. The space is welcoming, smart, and engaging – a really cool and completely different scene in O.B.
Congratulations Keith! Looking forward to some tasting.
“Keith Bollie has opened his winery’s doors.” Under the photo at the top. It’s not Bollie, it’s Keith Rolle.
“Until then, until the next manufacture… And he lots of filled casks” in the 6th paragraph. Makes zero sense.
Sorry to correct you, but this is a big deal for Keith and Ob and that’s a couple too many grammatical errors!
Thanks NK – made the spelling correction. Disagree with you on the other, but changed it anyway to make it more clear. This was a “newsy” informational report of OB’s first winery – not a business-initiated puff piece that is so common these days in other media.
AMAZING WINE!!!!!!!!
Keith has major skills. Not just one wine at Gianni Buonomo. A range of exquisite wines, red and white. Keith explained to me that “Gianni Buonomo” is an Italian phrase for a well dressed, classy man. The name for his winery celebrates his Italian heritage. For those who know a little Italian, you can see the “buon” in “Buonomo,” similar to buon giorno which means good day (or hello in the day time) and buon appetito (Italian for bon appetite). And the “omo” comes from the Italian word for man, “uomo” (which comes from Latin for man, “Homo”). So Buonomo basically means good man, and you will definitely feel like a good man (or woman) when you are tasting Gianni Buonomo wines!!