Now-closed Central Wine in Phoenix to continue classes and wine club at the Market by Jennifer's

Fans of Central Wine will still be able to participate in monthly classes run by Rousseau and new members will be accepted into the wine club.

The Republic | azcentral.com

Central Wine in Phoenix, owned by Jenna Rousseau (pictured here) is now closed.

While Jenna Rousseau quietly closed the doors of her central Phoenix wine shop on June 1, the journey is not entirely over.

Central Wine, at Central Avenue and Indian School Road, was a quaint and stylishly decorated spot in the same complex as Clever Koi and Model Citizen salon, serving wines hand-picked by Rousseau. She plans to reopen the bar, but in the meantime will relaunch wine classes and the wine club at the Market by Jennifer's on Aug. 1.

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The owners of Clever Koi offered to take over Rousseau's lease and, after much thought, she moved forward with the deal.

"It's a hard industry," she said. "The main business was the bar part, but I mostly come from a wine retail and education background. That part I love. It took so long to build and it was slow to do that."

Rousseau said planning tastings and other events was a challenge because some would be full and others were sparsely attended.

Jenna Rousseau closed Central Wine in Phoenix on June 1.

She made her announcement two weeks before the closing date and saw a flood of customers come in to hang out one final time, purchase discounted bottles and express their disappointment.

"We sold more retail over two and a half weeks than we sold over an entire year," Rousseau said.

The Central Wine Club will resume on Aug. 1 with nearly 45 members, and new members can sign up on her website or at the Market by Jennifer's. It costs $40 a month for two bottles that will focus on different regions. Wines will be available for pick-up on the first Friday of each month. Anyone who signs up and also eats at the market will receive a free gift.

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Wine club members will receive priority seating at Jenna's Wine Classes, which will run on select Saturdays from 4 to 5 p.m. For $25, guests will get tastings of six wines, which will be available for purchase by the bottle.

Rousseau's selections focus on high-quality, inexpensive wines from France, Mexico and California, with a handful from Italy, Spain and Portugal. She also intends to plan trips to wine country in Arizona, northern California and Baja Mexico for customers, and help them find off-the-beaten-path wineries.

Details: centralwinephx.com. For questions, contact Rousseau at jenna@centralwinephx.com.

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