Wine tasting should be a personal experience, allowing you to find out what you do or don’t like while tapping into your senses; taste, smell and sight all play an important part. For Orin Swift founder and winemaker Dave Phinney, personal touches are at the helm of his brand.
Orin Swift was founded in 1998 with the name inspired by Phinney’s parents — his father’s middle name, Orin, and his mother’s maiden name, Swift. In 2014, Orin Swift opened its first
“We wanted to create space that truly reflects our design sensibilities and would also feel warm and inviting,” Phinney told Forbes. “We took time to find unique items to complement the existing feel of the stunning space that we were working within,”
The tasting room was originally the and, when redesigning the space, Phinney and his team wanted to keep as many of the historic Art Deco elements, including the columns on the exterior and the high ceilings and vault door on the interior.
“We also retained the building’s original fire door within the interior wall, which is a nod to the private space that exists on the other side, Scissors,”
With four unique tasting areas, Phinney used raw materials and specially curated pieces that bring each experience to life. The main room features the Rock standing bar with a luxurious marble countertop and a wine wall on a backdrop of deep Mahogany wood; the Paper seated area with Mid-Century Modern-esque furniture and minimalistic artwork; and the Vault private group tasting room, located in the bank vault and features hidden Easter Eggs nodding to the past structure. This includes an original bank note embedded in the ceiling.
Phinney sourced all of the furniture and artwork that is round in the tasting room himself, with much of the art being from Phinney’s personal collection.
Much of the artwork has been curated from Phinney’s personal collection
Orin Swift
“It was very important to me that some, if not all, of the artwork and furniture had some personal connection, either to me or to the brand. Some of the artwork connects back directly to our wine, like the recreation of the Burnt Sacrifice label,” he explained. For this piece, we incorporated four other carbonized leaves that we had collected during the wildfires in 2020. Many of the other photographs, as well as small sculptures, are actually from my own collection. Truth be told, I’m a bit of an art hoarder!”
A neutral color palette can seen throughout the space, with plenty of earth tones adding depth to the room. Sleek blacks and warm browns add a luxurious element to the space, as do the plush leather fabric chairs and stone tiled floors. However, Phinney’s favorite piece in the space is a bright pink neon sign commissioned by his friend and colleague, Samantha Smith.
“[The sign was] recreated from her book, Advice from John, which features photos she captured over a five-year period of writings in bar bathrooms. The neon sign hanging in the tasting room simply states, ‘You had me at hell no!’ ”
Orin Swift Tasting Room is open daily from 10am to 5pm.