The new outpost joins the original 10-year-old shop in San Francisco. Biondivino took over the space vacated this summer by high-end bakery Tout Sweet Patisserie, in the back of the El Camino Real shopping center (next to Belcampo Meat Co.).
Biondivino describes itself as a "living wine list" that's almost entirely Italian, with an emphasis on food-friendly, organic and biodynamic wines and small producers. Rows of wines cover two walls of the new shop, as well as a map of Italy:
Owner Ceri Smith, who previously led the wine program for San Francisco Italian restaurants Tosca Cafe and Flour + Water, first opened the shop in 2006.
"Coincidentally (or maybe not?) this is almost 10 years to the day that Ceri opened the store on Green Street," an announcement from Biodivino reads.
Biondivino Ceri Smith in her new Palo Alto shop on Thursday, Dec. 1, the day it opened.
Smith said in an interview this summer that she was drawn to Palo Alto as a hub of activity with "great restaurants" (not to mention the ideal rosé weather for most of the year, save right now).
While the San Francisco shop does wine tastings and food pop-ups, that's not in the cards quite yet for Palo Alto. Smith said she plans to apply for the license necessary to do tastings sometime in the new year.
For the opening, Biondivino is offering 10 percent off all in-store purchases through Sunday, Dec. 4.
The shop is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
