Jenner Wine Bar Siren's Cellar: A Guide to Sunset Hours

"We would be out on the coast with our dogs and looking to grab a nice glass of wine, but there wasn't anything like that," Patrick Cappiello told The Press Democrat this summer. Cappiello was once one of New York's leading sommeliers. His fiancée, Rachel Kulinski, owns Café Aquatica. On Friday, July 3, the two opened Siren's Cellar, a wine bar and bottle shop next to the café at 10439 Highway 1. The building has a siren figurehead on its front, and outside there is a deck over the mouth of the Russian River.

The opening matters for the clock more than for the wine. For years this corner of Jenner has run on morning hours. Siren's Cellar gives it an evening for the first time, and that evening ends when the sun goes down. This is the first fall it has been open, so October is the first month anyone gets to see how quickly that window closes.

Three Doors, One Afternoon Handoff

Kulinski bought Café Aquatica and expanded it, and she also founded Jenner Outpost, the general store next door. When Patch first reported the wine bar in January, it was called "Outpost Cellar" and was expected to open in spring. It opened in July under a new name. The three businesses now share one property, and their posted hours line up like a relay:

On the four days the cellar is open, its hours overlap the café and store for a few hours in the afternoon, and then it keeps going after they close. Before July, the property was finished for the day by 4 p.m. Now a coffee and pastry at Café Aquatica, which serves scratch pastries and seasonal coastal food, can lead to a glass on the deck without moving the car.

The cellar's own page describes the visit as a place to "drop in after a walk along the Russian River or the beach, catch the sunset, and settle into an easygoing space made for lingering." Its hours are set by the light, and that is the reason fall is the season to watch.

A Cellar Stocked for Staying Longer

Most of the list is meant to be explored over a long sit rather than a quick stop. Cappiello described his plans before opening:

"Our original intent was to create a Monte Rio Cellars tasting room, but our liquor license allows us to carry wines from all over. The list is going to be really special and pretty big, about 1,000 bottles, with many older vintages and large verticals."

Monte Rio Cellars is Cappiello's own label. It is made at Pax Wines in Sebastopol, mostly from heritage grapes grown in Lodi, including French Colombard, Chenin Blanc, Mission and Mencia. It is the only wine poured by the glass. About half the bottle list is domestic, from California, Oregon, the Finger Lakes and Arizona. The other half comes from European producers. Local labels on the shelves include Lioco, Pax Cellars, Ryme Cellars and Martha Stoumen. Cappiello said Kulinski's ownership of the building keeps overhead down, which is part of why the by-the-glass pours can stay affordable.

The food is simple and suited to a long stay. There are local cheeses, cured meats, tinned fish and pickles, and they can be put together as a cheese board for $25 to $35. You can sit at the indoor bar or on the deck.

October Is When the Window Narrows

The cellar opened in early July, when the evenings were as long as they get. The posted closing time is 8:30 p.m., but the Monday listing says "or sunset," and in October the sun sets well before 8:30. The Press Democrat's July 15 update described closing at sunset on Mondays and Fridays and on weekends, while the cellar's own page lists a flat 8:30 for Friday and the weekend. The safest plan through fall is to assume last call arrives as the light over the river mouth fades, and to check the page before driving out.

On weekdays the timing is tight. On Mondays and Fridays the doors open at 2 p.m., so the shrinking evening comes out of an afternoon that was already short. On weekends the cellar opens at noon, which leaves more room for a slow visit. From Tuesday through Thursday the property still closes at 4 p.m., as it did before July.

Where This Month's Fixed Dates Fall

Several October events on the coast land on days the cellar is open, so each can end with an afternoon at the river mouth.

• Friday, October 9. Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods leads Birding at Bodega Dunes from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. The cellar opens at 2 p.m. the same day.
• Sunday, October 11. Stewards holds Redwoods Reset, a contemplative forest walk, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. On Sundays the cellar opens at noon.
• Saturday, October 17. The Fort Ross Harvest Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Fort Ross State Historic Park, 19005 Coast Hwy. It includes apple picking in the orchard, pumpkin carving, live performances, local food vendors, and guided tours of the historic orchard and the San Andreas Fault. Entry is free, and the usual $10 State Parks vehicle fee applies. A shuttle runs between the main lot and the orchard.

The festival is the date that shows the new schedule most clearly. It ends at 4:30 p.m. on a Saturday, after Café Aquatica and Jenner Outpost have closed for the day and while Siren's Cellar is still open. The festival organizers say coastal weather changes quickly and suggest a hat and layers. That advice is just as useful for an October evening on an open deck.

Two other kitchens nearby fill the parts of the day the corner doesn't. The café at the Jenner Inn serves breakfast and lunch daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. under Chef Julian Vasquz. The menu includes espresso, pastries, clam chowder, and fish and chips. Jilly's Real Food Roadhouse reopened for Valentine's Day this year with new chef Tara Wilson, who was previously a sous chef with the Holly & Tali show at the Bodega Bay casino. Its menu lists smashburgers, fish and chips, chowder, and local craft beer and wine. Jilly's occupies the building that housed Russian House #1, which closed in late December 2021.

Driving South on a Weekday

If you head toward Bodega Bay on a Monday or Friday before an afternoon at the cellar, plan for extra time. Caltrans began a slope and pavement project on Highway 1 on September 8. It uses one-way traffic control and temporary signals between Bay Flat Road and Kent Avenue on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., with Bay Hill Road as the detour. Caltrans estimates the work will finish in December 2026, and the agency notes that the timing can shift with field conditions. The controls stop at 3 p.m., one hour after the cellar opens on its weekday afternoons.

For anyone thinking about a coastal property where the day ends on a deck over the river mouth, Jamie Spratling can share what she knows about the Jenner shoreline and the Sonoma Coast. Request a confidential consultation.