PRIMA VINI

Established in 1977.

PRIMA began as Walnut Creek Wine & Cheese in May of 1977. The original shoebox-sized storefront originally consisted of a cheese counter, a Bunsen burner on which to heat up their famous duck chili and a few racks and stacks of retail wine. The founders, Michael and Janet Verlander had great instincts though, and filled their wine racks with many of California's newest, most exciting wineries and created a niche for themselves as the East Bay's top destination for California's coolest wines. Many, Silver Oak, Spottswoode, Jordan, Duckhorn and Au Bon Climat to name but a few, can say that their first East Bay account was WCWC. In 2005 longtime Wine Director John Rittmaster and Executive Chef Peter Chastain purchased the business from the Verlanders and have made it a point to keep their original vision intact. In fact, PRIMA has become one of the West Coast's top sources for Italian wines as well as the rest of the world.