Jean-Charles Boisset announced his new downtown St. Helena tasting room with food pairings, called JCB St. Helena, in an Instagram video on Thursday.
“St. Helena, we have landed, we’re here,” Boisset said in the social media post as he uncorked a bottle of bubbly. “We are preparing to welcome you for Champagne, and other wines, caviar, foie gras and a life of excess and great imagination.”
Boisset’s latest business venture will be his first in downtown St. Helena, although he owns The Ink House and Raymond Vineyards just south of downtown, as well as businesses in Napa, Yountville and Calistoga.
Patrick Egan, Boisset Collection spokesperson, said that the JCB tasting room will include food pairings and small bites from a pop-up restaurant that will be opened by chef and restaurateur Bruce Marder in the northern half of the building. Marder, who operates several Los Angeles-area restaurants, including Capo in Santa Monica, has plans to open its sister restaurant called Capo 29 in the space formerly occupied by Golden Harvest Chinese restaurant in St. Helena.
Egan said on Thursday that the JCB St. Helena wine lounge does not yet have an official opening date.
The building had previously been occupied by the St. Helena Welcome Center and Chamber of Commerce until Boisset purchased the property in 2022.
Amy Carabba-Salazar, president of the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce said that when Boisset purchased the property and asked them to move, offering to help the Chamber relocate, it was a “no-brainer.”
“Anything Jean-Charles does is always creative, he puts a lot of thought into it, and it's exciting,” Carabba-Salazar said. “We’re excited to see what new energy he brings to town.”
