A wine bar is finally coming to downtown Fresno. You might recognize the people behind it
Downtown Fresno is getting a wine bar.
Natural wine bar St. Joaquin has signed a lease to open in the Peerless Building, the big 1935 brick building at the corner of Broadway and Amador streets.
It’s a ways off, hopefully opening in July.
The wine bar will be owned by Josh and Hayley Islas-Wolf, the same couple who own Quail State, the rooftop cocktail bar and restaurant that’s also in downtown Fresno on Fulton Street (which is for now operating on the sidewalk of the ground floor).
Quail State will remain open once St. Joaquin opens.
Wine sales at Quail State, both glasses and bottles, did so well that the couple decided to expand it.
“We saw wine was a huge draw for our customers,” Josh Islas-Wolf said. “A wine bar has always been a goal for us and the building just happened to be available and we happened to find that the terms are super agreeable.”
The 600-square-foot St. Joaquin will be located next to South of Shaw Beer Co., a local brewery taking over the big space on the corner. The building is also home to clothing and gift store The Shop at KLSD and several other local businesses.
The wine bar will specialize in natural wines, including wine that is organic, biodynamic, and sustainably produced. They will also emphasize wine businesses run by women.
They will focus on “wines that are produced with as minimal human intervention as possible,” Josh Islas-Wolf said.
Customers will be able to sip a glass or a flight of wine, or buy bottles of wine to take home.
St. Joaquin will have snacks available, but not a full-fledged restaurant.
The name of the wine bar, St. Joaquin, is a nod to several things, including the San Joaquin Valley.
It’s also a reference to Joaquin Murrieta, an outlaw who reportedly lived and buried thousands of dollars in the hills west of Fresno. And it’s a subtle nod to the saint Joachim, the father of the Virgin Mary.
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 12:34 PM.
