A Bottle of White, A Bottle of Red (and more) at Cellar 54

BY MARY MICHAELS | PHOTOS BY JULIE PRAIRIE PHOTOGRAPHY

Open Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Dawley Farm Village 720 S. Highline Place (605) 274-7626 cellar54wines@gmail.com Facebook and Instagram @cellar54wines

If you know Billy Joel, you know those words from his song Scenes at an Italian Restaurant. But, there is much, much more than a bottle of red and a bottle of white at Cellar 54 Wines.

If you would have told Jenna Snyder ten years ago that she would be the owner of a wine bar shop, she probably wouldn’t have believed you. You see, at that time, she was working in a bank and, admittedly, didn’t really know anything about wine.

Enter Ray Hoffmann

Hoffmann was the owner of Luciano’s, an Italian restaurant that started in Sioux City and then added a downtown Sioux Falls location. He became a customer of Snyder’s at the bank, and the two struck up a friendship.

“Then he told me he needed a manager at the restaurant and that I should come work for him,” Snyder recalls.

So, she left the bank and joined Hoffmann. From time to time, they would talk about what it would be like to just have a wine shop without the restaurant. But at the time, it was just talk.

After four years, Snyder left Luciano’s for another opportunity. Eventually, Hoffmann did decide to close the restaurant and focus just on the wine business. He found a storefront in a strip mall in the Dawley Farm development and opened Luciano’s Wine Cellar. Snyder returned to work with Hoffmann again, and it wasn’t long before he was talking about retiring...and talking to Snyder about taking over the business.

“It was kind of crazy,” says Snyder. “I didn’t know anything about wine before working with Ray, and I certainly hadn’t imagined myself buying the business.”

However, that’s exactly what she did, and on April 1, she became the owner of Cellar 54 Wines.

“Ray wanted to keep the Luciano’s name, which made sense,” she says, “and by then I was

excited about creating something of my own. I added new paint, flooring and shelving, and changed the name to Cellar 54.”

The name is an homage to her mentor, who was born in Germany during a time when most babies were born at home. For Hoffmann, that was at House 54.

Now, with a month of business under her belt, Snyder is enjoying the challenge.

“Wine changes so much, so there is always something to learn,” she says. “More people are getting interested in wine, so that just motivates me to keep learning. People know there are reds and whites, sweet and dry, but there’s so much more to it. I have one distributor alone that has several thousand different wines.”

When Snyder was working at Luciano’s restaurant, she had the chance to learn firsthand about the varieties and complexities that come from different vineyards. She also had the chance to taste some very “high end” wines. However, she says you can absolutely find a great wine to fit your budget.

“When people come into the shop and are new to wine or aren’t sure what they want to try, I’ll first ask them a few questions about their taste preference, sweet or dry, and I’ll ask them about their price point. After that, I can point them in the direction of some wines they might want to try.”

Snyder does try to encourage people to try something new. For example, she says many women like wines that are on the sweeter side, but they never get past a Moscato. So, she will tell them about other varieties – including reds – that they should try.

She wanted Cellar 54 to be more than just a wine shop, so she added tables for

customers to come in and have a glass of wine or to come with friends and buy a retail bottle to enjoy there at the shop. She is also hosting wine tastings twice a week on Thursdays from 5:30-7:30pm and Fridays from 6-8pm. For just $20, guests learn about and sample six different wines while they enjoy conversation and appetizers.

“In addition to the regular weekly wine tastings, I’m planning to have other events,” Snyder says. “Wine reps visit the shop regularly, and from time to time I hope to have an event where one of them will come in with higher end wines to try.”

Snyder is also putting the finishing touches on a room in the back where groups or parties can hold a small event and enjoy wine in a space they have all to themselves.

Even with the excitement of this new venture, Snyder still finds herself in a little bit of disbelief that she is a business owner.

“This is the first time in my life no one else is paying me,” she laughs, “and that’s a lot of responsibility! But, when all the licenses transferred over to me, I realized that I can now go wine exploring and buy what I want to carry here. Ray is still around for a while to help with the transition, too, and I really appreciate that.”

She says she has learned a lot about herself throughout this process.

“Sometimes you don’t give yourself enough credit, which you need to do, because then you learn what you’re really capable of.”

Snyder is also excited about the opportunities this brings to the east side of town.

“There wasn’t anything like this over here, so hope people will come and visit,” she says. “And, if you aren’t already a wine lover, you can become one!”