by Whitney Merrill

Claudia Marshall, owner of The Wine Bar, stands in front of paintings by Rebecca Holland. Musicians are The Lighthouse String Band with Raymund Sung. Photos: Whitney Merrill.

On a rainy Sunday afternoon, I am sitting in the Shoppes at Harbor Village — also known as the “new mall” — in Princeton Harbor, sipping a Santa Cruz Mountain chardonnay. I’m at The Wine Bar, a new addition to the mall, talking with owner Claudia Marshall as she serves customers lunch amidst this month’s featured local artist’s paintings. Marshall tells me that her goal is to blend local wine, local artists and local musicians into a unique venue, saying “There is positive energy with people that love all three.” As she tells me the story of how she came to be here, I learn that Marshall has done this kind of “artistic blending” before, sharing her own positive energy with others along the way.

One of Marshall’s earlier creations was as a mother, artist and software executive; she developed an early-childhood software program to improve musical literacy for children. First beta-tested at the Woodside Elementary School, the program is still in use by schools across the country. Foretelling her future move to Miramar in Half Moon Bay, one of her favorite modules featured “Disney-quality” images of clams, with varying pitch and tone that could be synchronized to beat with the waves via the space bar.

As her children grew older, Marshall turned next to portrait painting. Why portraits? Marshall said, “I found that I was good at it; it was easy for me. Also, I loved the look on parents’ faces when I would unveil a portrait. The ‘whoa!’ was the best part!”

Marshall’s next passion was wine; she was inspired by her former husband, a wine collector who educated her palate with California and European wines. Again reaching out into her community, Marshall became familiar with a number of the wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains that she now features in her establishment.

Claudia Marshall, owner.

The impetus for The Wine Bar came when she moved to Half Moon Bay from Woodside about two years ago. Facing a bit of “empty house syndrome,” Marshall looked for a way to combine a few of her passions in a unique new creation. “I was thinking about this for about a year,” she said, acknowledging that it took some vision with the mall not being fully occupied.

Leveraging her business background, Marshall formed a partnership with the Oceano Hotel, providing catering service and an additional venue for events, including wedding parties and rehearsal dinners. As I spoke to her she was in the process of preparing for a post-wedding brunch for her own daughter, a recent University of California, Davis graduate, with an upcoming wedding at the Oceano Hotel. She speaks warmly about the support that she has received from the mall and notes that business has been strong; she’s optimistic about the future, projecting that “within six months this mall will be totally full.”

Marshall continues her exploration of the synthesis of wine, food, art and music at The Wine Bar. Events scheduled for March include an artists’ reception; a movie night, called Catch the Waves at the Wine Bar; a Zinfandel tasting with wines from the Santa Cruz Mountains and Lodi; and Irish folk music on the evening of Saint Patrick’s Day. The Wine Bar also features local musicians every Saturday night; a new addition is Coast Comedy Nights on Fridays, with the best of local comedians.

Paintings by Daniel Goldberg.

Creative people are unique in that they somehow find a way to continually integrate their passions with the current focus of their lives in order to renew and rejuvenate themselves. Claudia Marshall has found a way to do this again at The Wine Bar, providing us with a unique blend, served up with a warm smile and open heart. And I know that she’ll be looking for the “whoa!” from you as you enjoy one of her unique creations in the near future; she got it from me.