Bringing a Taste of Napa Valley to Dana Point
It’s something Dana Point has needed for a while – a cozy, new and inviting spot dedicated to enjoying a glass of wine or two while mingling with friends and locals. Luckily for us, Simon and Laurel Wilson have delivered with the opening of their wine lounge and tasting room – Old Acre Winery. Located across from the Dana Point Harbor in the Dana Marina Plaza, their newest business venture serves top-notch wines in a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
In the words of Simon and Laurel, “We wanted to create a place that felt like an extension of our living room, somewhere we could entertain our community while offering premium wines paired with light bites and charcuterie; along with our personal knowledge and expertise of the wines we produce and bottle in Napa Valley.”
Their wines, which they market as “handcrafted, boutique and authentic,” are biodynamically farmed and made in Napa with low sulfites and no added sugar. In addition, they are bottled in small batch productions to ensure the best quality. Old Acre offers wine flights, wines by the glass or carafe, and by the bottle – everything from elegant Chardonnays to Pinots, Cabernet Sauv/Franc and more. Laurel’s favorite is the 2018 Cabernet Franc and Simon’s is the Proprietary Red Blend which is the wine he’s most proud of - a combination of Syrah, Malbec, Cabernet and Cabernet Franc. In addition, they offer a Wine Club Membership and a Bottle Club.
The Wine Club Membership is $250 for the year and allows guests to enjoy member pricing on their reserve Red wines in the tasting room, 20% off all bottles to go, and a complimentary glass of wine every month. One of the perks of the Wine Club is access to their “WineEmotion” machine – allowing customers to pick any one of their wines in the machine for a taste or a glass. It’s a great way to try a new wine.
With your membership card all you have to do is grab a glass, put in your card and choose a 2, 4 or 6oz. pour. The Bottle Club is $225 a quarter and you receive a bottle from their Reserve Collection and a Bottle from their L Collection four times a year with pickup in the tasting room. In addition, they offer happy hour from Wednesday - Friday (3-6pm) and all night on Wednesday with special deals on their wines and flatbreads.
Looking back, their journey to owning a wine lounge in Dana Point was a long and fruitful road. Simon, originally from Northeast England, first came to Dana Point in 1986. His stepfather was working at San Onofre during an outage shutdown and it was during this period that Simon got his taste of Dana Point. During his initial time here, already a tennis pro, he started playing tennis at the Dana Hills Tennis Center and eventually caught the eye of two pros working there. They began to meet up every Friday night and mentioned they were looking for someone to teach kids. At the time, “Dana Point was so amazing,” states Simon, noting the mom-and-pop shops that dotted the harbor and the laid-back seaside atmosphere. He created some friendships and headed back to the UK thinking how much he enjoyed his short stay. Fast forward to May of 1987 and Simon was offered a job at the Tennis Center. He came back and has been here ever since – calling California home for 36 years.
From tennis Simon pivoted to golf, and eventually got involved in the industry, opening his first company in Carlsbad where he produced golf clubs for 15 years. Towards the end of his business run in the golf industry, he was asked by one of the companies that supplied him with golf shafts if he might be interested in going on the PGA Golf tour over in Europe. One of the perks of the job was taking the pros out to fancy dinners, and it was during this time that Simon really got into wine…along with his fellow dinner companions. They would buy nice American and French wines, picking up on the different subtleties of taste, aroma, color and more. When his work on the tour was over, Laurel came over and the two traveled extensively throughout Europe, tasting European wines along the way and refining their palettes sip by sip.
Once back in the US, they made frequent trips to visit Laurel’s family in the Marin/Napa area and began to think, “What about opening up our own little wine bar? A taste of Napa in Dana Point?”
From then on, they visited all the local wineries in Napa’s surrounding areas. Back in Dana Point, Simon stumbled upon a Napa winery while searching Google – a business that catered to people who wanted to private label wine or that had vineyards, but didn’t have a place to crush the grapes, harvest, bottle etc. He called up Laurel and said, “We’re going to Napa,” and they took off – meeting with the owners of The Winery and adopting a barrel from a small vineyard in Oakville. They decided on a name and Old Acre Winery was born. Their first vintage release scored 95 points and from there, Simon started self-distributing to local restaurants in the area such as Trevor’s, Craft House and Harbor Grill.
During COVID, Simon and Laurel really began to daydream about creating a space where people could come together to enjoy their wine in a convivial atmosphere. As longtime Dana Point residents, and previous business owners (Laurel was a hairstylist for years before starting “Old Acre Charcuterie” which kept her very busy), they knew this was where they were meant to be. Their friends and community were here, and they wanted to share their love of Old Acre wine with them. Eventually the stars aligned, and they found their space in the Dana Marina Plaza. It was the former Dana Point Bridge Club which had been empty for four years and featured a nice outdoor patio – the perfect spot to enjoy a glass of wine. They ripped everything out, put in new floors and ceiling and revamped the space completely. On July 15th of 2023, with the help of the Chamber and the Mayor’s encouragement, they opened. During their first 10 or 11 weeks in operation they were waiting on their license to serve food.
Now Laurel has taken over in the kitchen, bringing her love of local Marin cheeses, charcuterie board prowess and fondness for entertaining and serving people delicious food into the business. Charcuterie and wine are a match made in heaven, so it’s been a win-win and her boards and other bites are works of art.
Both Simon and Laurel have thoroughly enjoyed this next phase of their journey – working alongside each other while using their individual talents to create a place that makes them proud. They get a kick out of all the conversations they’ve had with locals who are excited to have a place like this in Dana Point, and they welcome any opportunity to share their knowledge and love of Old Acre with their customers. Simon and Laurel want their wine and business to be of the highest quality, while still remaining approachable and friendly and that’s what they strive to do every day at Old Acre….so swing by, sit back, take a sip and stay awhile.
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In addition to the wine and bites, Old Acre hosts events like Cheese & Charcuterie Board Workshops, Sip n’ Shops and more. Check out their website (www.oldacrewinery.com) for a full listing along with their Live Music calendar.
