Why we pivoted to wine and spirits

We made it official this January. The Clown is now, first and foremost, a wine and spirits shop. The art and the gifts and the Tuscan pottery did not disappear. They got pushed up against the walls and given a smaller, more curated footprint, and the floor opened up for bottles.

It was a long time coming. The truth is we have been spending most of our time on wine for years. The trips to Italy, the New York tastings, the long Saturday conversations at the counter, all of it has been about wine and increasingly about spirits..

What stayed

The Tuscan pottery shelf is still here. A small but quietly remarkable selection of European antiques is still here. The gourmet food cabinet is still here, and the holiday gift baskets we have built for years are still on the calendar.

Django the shop dog is non-negotiable. He is still at the door.

What changed is the proportion. Wine and spirits got most of the floor. The supporting categories got a smaller and more curated shelf, and we think you will like the edits.

What is new

A spirits program, for the first time, with real intention behind it. A Lalo blanco tequila we love. A Westland single malt. A Del Maguey mezcal that we have been on a quiet list for. Suntory Toki for the summer porch. And a few hard-to-find bottles we will be quietly bringing in by the case.

A tasting calendar, every month, with a real lineup and a guest pour where it makes sense. The first one was in February with Via Wine on the floor. We are now booked through August.

A website that, finally, sounds like the shop you have been visiting all these years. The one you are reading.

What to expect

If you have not been in for a while, come in. We will pour you something. We will ask one or two questions. We will probably hand you a bottle you would not have picked yourself, which has been the whole point from the start.

If you have been in lately, thank you. The conversations have made this version of the shop possible. We owe a lot of bottles to people whose names we know.

Always feel like I'm visiting my friends.

That is a line one of our customers wrote in a review years ago. It still pinned to the wall behind the counter, and it still describes the room we want you to walk into.

See you on the floor.

The Clown