Indiegogo is a crowd-funding platform where people spread the word about their passion. They usually offer their “contributors” some kind of thank-you gift. People that make a donation to the campaign feel good that they are able to contribute towards something that they want to happen. In this situation, they’ll get to have a sense of ownership over a business that provides an essential service to our community. Yup, I said it, “an essential service.”

People that contribute towards opening Jane’s Beer Store will get their name engraved on the “Contributors Wall of Fame” in the store. Jane is offering all kinds of other beer related thank you gifts, depending on the level of the donation. Please check her page on Indiegogo for all the details. Mountain View loves beer and very soon we’ll have our own unique little beer store where we can make requests, meet other beer enthusiasts, and learn about beers from all over the world.

Jane Thipphavong lives and works in Mountain View. She’s actually an astronaut at NASA*. Her store will be downtown on Villa and she hopes to open mid June. She told me that she wants to re-introduce people to the world of beer. She knows that Mountain View has lots of “soon-to-be-beer-lovers” and she’s excited about meeting them and sharing her passion.

Jane’s Beer Store will stock artisan craft beer, local beer, hard cider, root beer and beer from many international breweries. She’s had a dream of opening a beer store for years. I really love the idea that residents have the chance to make a small donation towards something that they feel passionate about and that Jane chose Mountain View as the place where she would turn her hobby into a business. I know that many locals want downtown Mountain View to have more retail and Jane’s Beer Store is a perfect example the kind of unique businesses that we want. Welcome to Mountain View Jane.

* She’s not really an astronaut, but she does work at NASA.

Artisan Wine Depot opened on Villa Street about 6 months ago. This place is amazing and even if you’re not in the market to purchase your holiday beverages just yet, you will be soon enough and you’ll be happy that we pointed you in the right direction.

 The first thing we noticed is how homey the place feels. It was like walking into a friend’s house, well… a friend with thousands of bottles of wine in their living room! And all of the bottles are labeled with an extra label that has the taste profile, the region of the wine, the varietal of the grape and a few ideas about what foods go well with the wine.

 Most of the wines offered at Artisan Wine Depot are from wineries that have a smaller production, or they are newer wine makers, or it might be a small allocation of a specialty wine. Christine Tran, a certified sommelier, is focused on offering good wine at a great value. She has an extensive wine background and loves to offer suggestions about what to pair with your favorite Thanksgiving recipes. But she also said that she wants wine to be “for everyday meals like pizza and Chinese take-out and not just special occasions.” We love that idea! And Christine actually knows many of the winemakers. Can you say that about other wine stores? Probably not.

 Artisan Wine Depot  offers all kinds of educational seminars and tasting events or you can reserve the place for a private event. Wouldn’t it be fun to have a private beer tasting party and have pizza delivered from your favorite place downtown? Yup! That sounds like fun. Go visit them and tell them that you heard about the place from www.ilovemv.org.  Just another reason to love Mountain View; we have outstanding wines right here in our neighborhood!