Seats remain for the first wine dinner at Kevin Willmann's acclaimed Farmhaus (3257 Ivanhoe Avenue; 314-647-3800) next Wednesday, May 8. The dinner will pair four courses with wines from Shane Wine Cellars. Shane owner and winemaker Shane Finley will attend the event.

In an e-mail to Gut Check, Farmhaus general manager Eric Scholle explained the connection between Shane Finley and Farmhaus:

See Also:
- Andrew Jennrich of Farmhaus Sees St. Louis on the Precipice of National Recognition
- Restaurant Industry Tweet of the Week: Farmhaus and Dishwasher Part Ways

Gut Check is always hungry for more restaurant news. Feed us your tips.

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Calçots roasting over an open fire | image via

Spring is in the air, which means the smell of charred leeks is soon to be in the air as well. Chef duo Wil Fernandez-Cruz and his wife Lisa are hosting a Calçotada Festival on May 19 as a sort of welcome back party for the warmer weather.

Traditionally a Spanish celebration of Spring and the bounty of produce it ushers in, the Calçotada Festival invites guests to come and feast on calçots, a member of the onion family that closely resembles a leek. At St. Louis' first Calçotada, Wil and Lisa will be wood roasting spring onions, sausage, and lamb and inviting guests to dip these treats into romesco sauce made with hazelnuts and roasted peppers. They'll also be passing around porrons of rosé wine, which is to be poured straight into drinkers' mouths.

At Calçotada, revelry trumps manners.

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The old Centennial Malt House will soon be serving up alcohol of a different sort. This Friday, Moulin (2017 Chouteau Avenue; 314-241-4949) is hosting the first ever Centennial Wine Expo in the historic building.

This is the first year for the Centennial Wine Expo, which will feature more than 140 different types of wine from around the world. Fifteen local distributors are bringing in wines that are currently only available to restaurants or specialty wine shops for the tasting, which Scott Gaghan, Expo founder, hopes to make an annual event.

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Katie Moulton

Saint Louis Cellars is closing.

Update: Gut Check spoke with Saint Louis Cellars (2640 South Big Bend Boulevard, Maplewood; 314-880-9000) co-owner Matt Williams this afternoon, who says the store's closure is purely to make room for TKO DJs (7434 Manchester Road; 314-647-3000).

"It's always been our passion, but we need to make room for the bigger business," he says.

Williams spoke positively of the wine shop's closure, noting that it's a needed move for his group of businesses, and expressing gratitude for the loyal customers and community that's supported Saint Louis Cellars in its five-year run.

"We want to make sure we take care of everybody...We're running a sale that's 20 percent off to wine club members now -- they're our most loyal customers and we wanted to give them first access -- and open to the public Friday and Saturday. All inventory is 20 percent off. We've always had a huge following from our customers and the community. People have been good to us, we want to be good to them."

Visit Saint Louis Cellars to peruse the breadth of its discounted inventory Friday, April 5, and Saturday, April 6.

Update: (04/04/13, 1:47 p.m.) Matt Williams gave us a ring this afternoon to clarify that the newsletter message printed after the jump in this post was addressed and sent to former wine club members who are not currently active, and separate messages were addressed and sent to current wine club members and Saint Louis Cellars' general mailing list. These tailored greetings to different audiences aren't related to the shop's closure.
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Saint Louis Cellars in Maplewood is closing its doors.

The wine shop, which opened in 2008, announced plans to close today in a newsletter to its wine-club members. Owners Matt and Jennifer Williams also own neighboring business Saint Louis Closet Co. (2626 South Big Bend Boulevard; Maplewood, 314-781-9000) and nearby TKO DJs. In their message today the Williams say Saint Louis Cellars is closing to make room for TKO DJs, which will relocate to that space immediately following the wine shop's closure. No official final day of business has been announced.

We have a call in to Saint Louis Cellars for comment. Read the full newsletter announcing the closing after the jump.

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Easter egg hunts were fun when we were kids, but we're grown-ups now. Time for a more mature way to celebrate the Easter holiday. Like wine. And bocce.

On Saturday, March 30, Italia-America Bocce Club (2210 Marconi Avenue; 314-773-5574) and Randall's Wine and Spirits (14201 Manchester Road, Ballwin; 636-527-1002) are holding a party called "Bacchus & Bocce Bunny Edition." Randall's will have tastings of more than 25 different wines to pair with bocce. You know, to make the game a little more challenging.

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Andrey Ivanov of Elaia and Olio

Russia isn't generally known for breeding wine connoisseurs, but Russian-born Andrey Ivanov is making sure St. Louis is.

The 27-year-old general manager and beverage director of Elaia and Olio (1634 Tower Grove Avenue; 314-932-1088) is the Midwest Regional Winner in the national "2013 Best Young Sommelier" competition sponsored by The Société Mondiale du Vin USA, the wine division of the international food and wine organization, Confrérié de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs.

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Evan C. Jones

The dining room of Five Bistro

Whether you're Jewish or Christian or a devil-worshipper who just appreciates good food and wine, Five Bistro (5100 Daggett Avenue; 314-773-5553) has you covered.

Chef Anthony Devoti is hosting a gourmet Passover seder on Tuesday, March 26, and a Piemonte wine dinner on Thrusday, March 28. (Bonus: The second dinner is Easter-y 'cause the main course is rabbit). Representatives from Vinoteca and A. Bommarito Wines will be there to talk about their products and answer questions.

See Also:
- Anthony Devoti on Five Bistro's New Tasting, Late Night Menus
- Five Bistro's Lock, Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels: Gut Check's Hump Day Cocktail Suggestion

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Dave Nelson

Jeff Stettner, owner of 33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar

I shouldn't be the one to report this. I've spent way too much of my own money at 33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar (1913 Park Avenue; 314-231-9463). I've had more great conversations about food, drink and restaurants there than I can possibly remember. I consider owner Jeff Stettner a good friend.

All of which are the reasons why I'm casting aside the usual strictures of journalistic objectivity. If you haven't personally experienced an evening, even just a drink, at 33, then you can't appreciate what an essential part of the St. Louis dining community it is -- and has been ever since Jake Hafner (now the proprietor of Civil Life Brewing Company) founded it.

Enough preliminaries. Here's the news: Stettner, who purchased 33 from Hafner a bit over four years ago, has just announced that he has sold the bar.

See Also:
- March 2013 Issue of Wine Enthusiast Magazine Features Four St. Louis Wine Bars
- Great Values in St. Louis Wines: 33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar

Gut Check is always hungry for more restaurant news. Feed us your tips.

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RFT Photo

Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar

Gut Check loves us some wine. Yesterday was National Wine Day, and let's just say we did the holiday proud. Aside from guzzling glasses of grape, we, on occasion, like to read about wine, too. Imagine our delight, then, upon learning that four St. Louis wine bars are featured in the March 2013 issue of Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

Even more delightful, three of the four wine bars featured made Gut Check's 2012 list of the nine best wine bars in St. Louis.

Not too shabby.

See also:
-The Nine Best Wine Bars in St. Louis
-The Veggielante Relishes Robust's New Downtown Wine Bar in the MX Building

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A case of Château du Moulin Rose from the 2000 vintage, lookin' mighty tasty.

Gut Check loves good Bordeaux and cheap wine, which meant we were plenty juiced when we opened our e-newsletter from the Wine Merchant, Ltd. (20 S. Hanley Road, Clayton; 314-863-6282) and learned the store was expecting a shipment of 2000 Château du Moulin Rose Côtes de Castillon this week.

It's not every day you encounter a decade-old Bordeaux at a wine store. And when said wine is priced at $12.99, Gut Check doffs our smoking jacket, untwists our ascot, puts on our parka and hies -- veritably hies -- to the source, partitioned fabric six-bottle bag in our neatly manicured, Isotoner-begloved hand.

This time, though, we called ahead. And we were glad we did.

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