Cine Cuvee

Right next door to one of the most charming and eye-​catching movie houses in our area, a cinema-​themed wine bar opens up. If there is a Heaven right here on Earth, I’m pretty sure Orinda just became it!
Nestled in the already fabulous Orinda Theater Square, Cine Cuvee is directly next door to the Orinda theater whose flickering neon you always notice as you fly by on the freeway or BART. Their space is very intimate, with about 6 seats at the counter bar, and table space for an additional 10 or so. I visited on a rainy Friday night to enjoy a warm up before heading to dinner nearby, and there were patrons but it wasn’t packed, so luckily the location and size prevents it from being a crammed hot spot.
The décor inside is sleek with a bit of old fashioned flair, including floating red banquettes at the tables (which are made of old film reels!), and a bright white wall with films projected silently overhead. On the night of my visit, Frankenstein was playing, and it was the perfect accompaniment to a rainy night.
Another perfect accompaniment? Red wine! Their wine list is lovely and heavily movie themed, so though a bit cerebrally — sure they have Skywalker wine, but they also have Lasseter and Silvestri. My only gripe, and I may have misread the menu, but it seemed like by the glass options were pretty limited. For such a small intimate venue, it would be nice if the single or adventurous patron was catered to more, as it’s likely people are stopping in for a glass and a bite before or after a movie as opposed to a long leisurely evening. I had been hoping to enjoy Cava or Prosecco but bubbly options by the glass weren’t offered. Nevertheless I was very happy with my generous glass of Silvestri Syrah — rich and fruit forward, and whimsically presented on a coaster topped with a movie poster.
I know this is a new establishment and likely to evolve with time, so I hope to return to find more by the glass options, and even a couple wine flights. It also smelled fabulous in there, so the eats were very tempting!

First, let’s sit back and celebrate the fact that Orinda has a wine bar. Woot!
Second, I really liked almost everything about Cine Cuvee. Cute décor, proprietor who is very knowledgeable about the wines on the list, generous cheese platter, and actually very good, reasonably priced wines on a well conceived list. in particular, bottle pricing is good (will get a bottle of the gruner veltliner next time).
2 things to get to 5 stars: 1) please lower the lighting. Place is a bit too brightly lit which detracts from the ambience; and 2) would be amazing if you played movie music in the background. There is a Pandora station especially for that.
Overall though, I’m excited to have a great new watering hole in my ‘hood!

Great place for some good wine in Orinda. Big selection of wines to choose from. We had a party of 7 take over one corner. We each had a different wine (1^st round) with no disappointments. We didn’t try the food but the desserts looked good and really big for $ 4.95. We’ll definitely be back. Maybe after a movie right next door.

Wow. This place is such a great add for the downtown. This is the kind of place that you find in a bigger downtown. Wine and beer selection is informed and evolving. Small plates looked delicious tho we only had drinks. The manager, Lindsay, has done a great job with decorating and has that hospitality vibe about her. Orinda just became a little cooler with a wine bar connected to a theater. Worth a visit fo sho.

I was shown Cine Cuvee several times during construction, and throughout the transformation… I think they did a heck of a job with the small footprint of the space! I was asked to come by and present wines from my portfolio and later to train their staff. I have not yet visited as a customer because I am on a DRYUARY detox, but as soon as I am ready to re-​tox in mid-​February — I will certainly be coming by for a glass of wine (or two!) and a cheese/​charcuterie plate! I can’t wait to get in there and play around with the hi-​tech tablet wine lists.
The concept is so needed here in Orinda, I hope they succeed and keep the wine list fresh, interesting and non-​corporate. The owners and staff are really nice people to work with… plus they have my Doren Cabernet Sauvignon on the list too (hopefully by the glass soon!), so of course I think they rock!
Congrats Derek, Leonard and Lindsay… Happy to be working with you guys!
–Ben

First, let me say how pleasantly surprised I was with the interior. For its namesake, it definitely gave me a feeling as though this is a natural extension to the movies as can be seen in the tables made of movie reels, to the water feature art piece of Janet Leigh’s iconic Psycho to an old black and white movie projected to the back wall. The selection of wines available were excellent and again were tied in with the love of movies with wines from Lasseter of John Lassetter (Pixar) to Vincent Price wines to the Sauvignon Blonde wine which I got by the way with Marilyn Monroe on the wine label (so cool!). The food we ordered were plenty and I mean real plenty. We had the charcuterie plate and the cheese plate. It was lovely. The cheese selection was so good! The wines are reasonably priced and shall I dare say even cheap for Bay Area prices! I also loved the tablets that show you the wines they have that tell you in more detail about the selection they have. It’s very modern! Didn’t get the chance to taste their beer since I’m not a beer kinda guy but I’m sure they’re fine. The only complaint I have would be that the tables are quite small. We ordered a couple of plates and with the group of four that we have, it was quite a challenge having room for all of that. Other than that, I highly recommend this place. Overall, the ambiance over here is great for enjoying a glass or two or three which I had that night! It’s situated next to the Orinda Theatre so having a couple of glasses of wine before or after the movie would be something I would look forward to when I’m in the area.