In sharing more information about Maaza 29 and other seasonal subjects on the blog, I would be remiss not to mention our love and passion for all things wine. Our owner travels to Napa Valley twice a year to handpick the wines that we serve here. We aren’t messing around when it comes to wine.
The God of Wines
When it comes to wine, the name you need to know is Dave Phinney. After starting out at Robert Mondavi in 1997, he was able to work his way up and left the following year to start Orin Swift Cellars in Napa Valley. Shortly after, he created his best-selling wine The Prisoner. He eventually sold Orin Swift Cellars to E. J. Gallo in 2016 and now works for the company he founded and is in charge of production and winemaking!
A force to be reckoned with in the wine industry is a label he wears proudly but has since moved onto other ventures. He recently founded Savage & Cooke, a distillery. While Dave moves onto other ventures, we proudly serve his wines in our own establishment and hope he gets back to producing some more great wines that we can enjoy soon! Meanwhile, we’ll keep enjoying his wines from Orin Swift Cellars.
Scout’s Honor
One of the feature wines that you can find here at Maaza 29 is Scout’s Honor from Venge Vineyards. The family's viticultural roots flourished in 1976 with the purchase of a 17-acre vineyard in the Oakville District that was planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. This fortunate development cast the family among the winemaking pioneers of Napa Valley.
Nils' and Dianna Venge's son, Kirk Venge, gravitated to winemaking at an early age. He proved to be as talented a winemaker as his father, making wines in his own style, with a vision to build on the family legacy. In 2008, Kirk achieved his lifelong dream and acquired full ownership of Venge Vineyards. Today, Kirk continues the Napa Valley heritage, focusing on select vineyard sites that produce fruit worthy of bearing the Venge family name.
Maaza 29 is the only restaurant in Northern Virginia that sells Scout’s Honor! If you’re looking for a wine you literally can’t get anywhere else in Northern Virginia, it looks like you have (yet another) reason to stop by and see us.
Our Wine Club
If you’re as much as a wino as we all are, we’d love for you to join The Cellars, our wine club. For more information about membership, ask your server! We look forward to having you join us. Cheers!