Carpe Vino Ranks among Top National Wine Lists (continued)

“Recognition from OpenTable comes as a complete surprise,” said Drew Moffat, who is co-owner of Carpe Vino with his father, Gary. “We’re a modest operation in a small foothill town, so to be honored with major restaurants in metropolitan areas is truly remarkable.”

Of the eleven California restaurants on the list, Carpe Vino ranked fifth, but in terms of overall customer satisfaction, it tied for first (4.8 on a 5-point scale) with Addison at The Grand Del Mar, a five-diamond, five-star resort in San Diego. Others on the list include Enotria in Sacramento, Bin 38 in San Francisco and Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café, which attained instant fame after being selected as a major filming location for the movie, Sideways.

“We’re in our tenth year of business and we’ve worked hard to build not only a stellar wine program, but also a complete package of wonderful cuisine and impeccable service in a unique, classic west environment,” said Gary Moffat. “The sophisticated diners who rely on OpenTable recognize what we’ve accomplished and they’ve been very kind in their assessments of Carpe Vino.”

“Since we started out as a pure wine shop, we have the advantage of using our entire retail stock as our list and we feature affordable, unique wines,” Drew said. “And, our only mark-up over retail in the restaurant is a $5 service charge, which encourages our customers to select even nicer wines to pair with their meals.”

Carpe Vino was launched in 2002 and added a fine dining component in 2006. The business has expanded three times, consuming four storefronts in Old Town Auburn. It operates a very successful online sales program, serving wine lovers all over the country. In addition, its monthly wine club has grown to nearly 500 members, a rabid community of fans who visit frequently.

“During a time of economic turmoil, we’ve gone against the grain because our revenues continue to grow steadily,” Drew said. “Last year was our best ever, and through the first three quarters of 2011 we’re up double digits.”

San Francisco-based OpenTable is a leading provider of free, real-time online restaurant reservations for diners and reservation and guest management solutions for restaurants. OpenTable has more than 20,000 restaurant customers, and, since its inception in 1998, has seated more than 200 million diners around the world.

Carpe Vino is currently the only Auburn restaurant in the OpenTable network. The hybrid wine shop, wine bar, fine-dining restaurant is located at 1568 Lincoln Way in Auburn. The phone number is 530-530-823-0320.

Carpe Vino Named to OpenTable’s Top 100 Restaurant List >