Southern Napa Leaves Olde Towne Farmhouse for Bigger Wine and Gourmet Shop on U.S. 98 in Daphne
After 12 years on Main Street in Olde Towne Daphne, Southern Napa Fine Wines & Delicacies has moved to the Shore Oaks Shopping Center on U.S. 98 with an expanded selection and wine by the glass.
DAPHNE, Ala. — After 12 years in a restored farmhouse on Main Street, one of Olde Towne Daphne’s best-known wine shops has packed up and moved to a larger space on U.S. 98.
Southern Napa Fine Wines & Delicacies has opened its new store at 1539 Highway 98 in the Shore Oaks Shopping Center. The shop shares the center with Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe and Gather & Grind Coffee.
The move is more than a change of address. The business said it has expanded its offerings with the relocation, and the new store is built around a broader mix of wine, beer and gourmet food.
What’s on the shelves
According to the business, the new store carries:
- Hundreds of carefully selected wines
- Craft beers
- Caviar
- Artisan cheeses
- Other gourmet foods and delicacies
Customers can also order wine by the glass and pair it with selections from the store’s gourmet food offerings, giving the shop a place-to-linger feel in addition to its retail counter.
Southern Napa’s online shop gives a sense of the range the business has offered over the years. Its catalog has been organized by grape, from cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir and zinfandel to chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and rosé, and by region, including Napa Valley and the rest of California, Oregon, Washington, France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Australia, Germany and Portugal. It has also sold Alabama craft beers, champagne and sparkling wines, gift baskets, wine club memberships and non-alcoholic spirits.
A dozen years in an 1880s farmhouse
For most of its history, Southern Napa has been tied to a distinctive building. The shop opened at 2304 Main St. in Olde Towne Daphne in a farmhouse that dates to the 1880s. According to the business, owners Carrie and Jim Cox had the old house stripped back to its bones in 2012 and restored it as a wine shop, combining their love of Napa Valley with Southern charm and tradition.
The restoration kept the home’s original hardwood floors and added reclaimed wood from fish camps that were destroyed during Hurricane Katrina, along with antiques. The farmhouse became something of a landmark for visitors to Main Street, where the shop billed itself as Daphne’s neighborhood wine house and hosted tastings.
The business has also emphasized its relationships with wineries in Napa Valley, saying those connections allow it to source wines that are hard to find elsewhere in the area.
A new home on the Eastern Shore’s main corridor
The new location puts the shop on U.S. 98, the busy commercial spine that runs through Daphne and connects the Eastern Shore communities from Spanish Fort to Fairhope. The Shore Oaks Shopping Center already draws regular traffic from its restaurant and coffee tenants, which could give the wine shop more exposure to drivers and shoppers than its quieter Main Street address.
The business did not say what will become of the Main Street farmhouse.
The move comes as Daphne is paying closer attention to the look and economic health of its U.S. 98 corridor. City leaders recently moved to demolish two vacant former restaurant buildings near the city’s entrance on U.S. 98, with Mayor Robin LeJeune calling blight removal “step one” in a broader effort to improve the area and attract investment.
Shopping local for the holidays
The timing of the opening puts the expanded store in place ahead of the holiday season, when wine, cheese and gourmet gifts are in high demand for parties, family dinners and gift-giving. Southern Napa has sold gift baskets, wooden wine crates and gift cards, and the larger space gives the business more room for those items as well as its by-the-glass service.
Customers should remember that Alabama law requires buyers of beer and wine to be at least 21 years old.
How to visit
Southern Napa Fine Wines & Delicacies is now open at 1539 Highway 98 in the Shore Oaks Shopping Center in Daphne. The business has not announced a grand opening event. Hours, wine tasting schedules and other updates are typically posted on the shop’s website and social media pages, and customers can call the store at (251) 375-2800 for more information.
