Our Team
Kristin & Tim Halvorson have owned and operated Halvorson’s Upstreet Café on Church Street since the mid-1980’s. Kristin a Vermonter, and Tim is a California native and for the last 15 years their return visits to friends and family usually included a trip to wine country. Tim gave his California roots some growth at his Church Street cafe by developing a wine list exclusive to California wines. His interest in wines matured while renovating his 1800’s era home when he pronounced a old cistern – under the house – his future wine cellar. This labor of love led him to collect wines that he knew from vineyards he and Kristin had visited in California. Cavernous space from the old cistern begged to house more wines and Tim incorporated wines from vineyards in Spain, France, Australia and more. Selling wine at retail is a natural progression of Kristin & Tim’s interests in restaurant business and wine collecting.
When Kristin is not chasing down three teenagers, she sometimes works at the café or holds up boards for Tim’s construction projects at their “new” old house, but seriously she has worked in the restaurant business on and off for 15 years and Tim is lucky to still be married to her today, after 18 years.
She and Marinell are the owner-operators of CSWC.
Marinell Newton has been involved in the wine business in various forms over the last fifteen years; tasting, traveling and learning to appreciate a variety of styles. To balance the Halvorson’s penchant for the fruit-forward New World styles from California, Australia and Argentina, Marinell’s preference leans toward the classicism of the Old World. The wines of France, Spain, and in particular Italy, have beckoned her with their unique opportunity for food and wine matching and purity of palate.
“I started exploring Spanish and Italian wines about six years ago in depth, and started discovering the magnificent uniqueness the wines offer.” As a twentieth-century Italian poet once said, “there is no greater misunderstanding than the Atlantic Ocean.”
Marinell lives in Shelburne where she raised two children who are now grown. She also has two step-kids and lives with her husband and tends to her two demanding four-legged kids, Hunter the black lab and Cricket the pug. Cricket is also the newest addition to the Church Street Wine Cellars team, but don’t worry, you won’t find her mug on a wine bottle with all the other fuzzy animal labels out there!
Look for our wine offerings, sale and allocated wine notices, and invitations to our on- and off-site wine tastings via e-mail!
Check out Church Street Wine Cellars blog!
Hours are Thursday through Saturday, 12 noon to 5:30 pm, and always by appointment!
Questions or comments? Drop us an e-mail at info@churchstreetwinecellars.com , we look forward to hearing from you!
Marinell Newton & Kristin Halvorson