New Wine Bar Opens in Coronado

Thanks to Patrick Zilaro you no longer have to travel to the wine country to enjoy a tasting room experience. He’s brought it to Coronado—Zilaro Cellars.

Zilaro is new to the wine business; he bottled his first vintage a pinot noir, at his Temecula facility in 2009. He has since bottled a cabernet sauvignon, a rose and a pinot grigio. All are featured at his tasting room at 1113 Adella Ave.

While new to the wine business, he is not new to the tradition of wine making. It began with his grandfather in Lauro, Italy, who like many Italians made his own wine at home. 

Growing up in Connecticut, Zilaro listened to his father tell stories about making wine with his father.

This and the family’s tradition of paring good wine with good food motivated the youngest Zilaro to try his own hand at wine making. 

The cost of wine was another consideration. Drinking quality wine can get expensive. Zilaro wasn’t ready to lower his standards.  

“I wasn’t happy with the $8 wine at Trader Joe’s,” he said.  

He also wasn’t happy with what he could produce with a wine kit, so he bought 200 pounds of grapes from local vintners and equipment online. He developed recipes using modern techniques and “inspired by [his] family’s tradition of wine making”

Having a degree in chemical engineering also helped. “To me wine making is a just single batch reaction,” he said.

He knew he had a quality product. His pinot grigio won a silver medal at the San Diego International wine Competition in 2011.

The trick was to let other’s know about it. A tasting room seemed the best way to go, but where?

He produces his wines in Temecula, but it was saturated with tasting rooms. After looking in Downtown San Diego, East Village, La Jolla and Liberty Station in Point Loma, he settled into Coronado.

It turned out to be the perfect place. The Hotel Del, Glorietta Bay Inn and the El Cordova hotel are near by. There’s a lot of foot traffic from tourist and locals.

“We fit in well,” he said.

"The tasting room has been open two weeks ago, but will have its grand opening November 15 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., with free wine and food. It’ll be lots of fun,” Zilaro said.