{"id":265714,"date":"2026-06-13T18:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T18:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/265714\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T18:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T18:27:08","slug":"a-new-york-couple-is-opening-a-wine-bar-and-taproom-in-santa-rosa-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/265714\/","title":{"rendered":"A New York couple is opening a wine bar and taproom in Santa Rosa this summer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A new wine bar and taproom is expected to open in late summer 2026 in the former Walter Hansel Wine &amp; Bistro space on Guerneville Road in west Santa Rosa.<\/p>\n<p>The business, called Owl &amp; The Vine, is the latest venture from Lawrence and Stephanie Bondulich, a husband-and-wife team from New York who say they hope to revive the historic roadside property.<\/p>\n<p>Walter Hansel Wine &amp; Bistro <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pressdemocrat.com\/2025\/08\/11\/santa-rosas-walter-hansel-wine-bistro-to-close-after-12-years\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">closed<\/a> in August 2025 after 12 years at the location. Its owner, Stephen Hansel, cited rising food costs and declining foot traffic as reasons for the closure.<\/p>\n<p>The Bondulichs currently operate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bin71nyc.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bin 71<\/a>, an Italian enoteca-inspired restaurant and wine bar on Manhattan\u2019s Upper West Side.\u00a0Now in its 21st year, the restaurant offers more than 100 wines by the bottle and about 30 by the glass.<\/p>\n<p>They also own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.owlstail.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Owl\u2019s Tail,<\/a> a specialty cocktail bar serving small plates, also on the Upper West Side.<\/p>\n<p>A storied location<\/p>\n<p>The building that will house Owl &amp; The Vine dates to 1944 and has played a varied role in Santa Rosa\u2019s dining and nightlife scene.<\/p>\n<p>Originally a chicken coop, the structure was later converted into a restaurant and bar. Among its earliest occupants was Big Oak Chicken Shack, known for fried chicken and hot biscuits in the late 1940s.<\/p>\n<p>Over the decades, the property has also been home to the Spaghetti Factory, the Country Western Bull Rider Saloon, Willowside Caf\u00e9 and Zazu Kitchen + Farm.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s next<\/p>\n<p>Details about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.owlandthevine.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Owl &amp; The Vine<\/a>\u2019s menu have not yet been released.<\/p>\n<p>The opening will mark the Bondulichs\u2019 first venture in Sonoma County and the latest chapter for one of west Santa Rosa\u2019s most recognizable restaurant properties.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah Doyle is the wine and beverage reporter at The Press Democrat. Send her story tips at sarah.doyle@pressdemocrat.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new wine bar and taproom is expected to open in late summer 2026 in the former Walter&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8978,9,11,10,102902,102903,8497],"class_list":["post-265714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-beer","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-owl-the-vine","tag-sonoma-county","tag-wine-bar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}