La Cave Du Vin

5/14/2008 10:32:40 AM, wednesday, may 14, 2008
Basement. I walked down the stairs and faced many closed doors. I tried a few and then one opened up to on of the most amazing pub I’ve ever been to. With only 6 taps the draught selection is somewhat limited but they are carefully selected. I had the Bam Noire on tap. But the main reason to visit this bar is the bottle selection. The cool thing is that there is no beer menu. Instead there’s a huge fridge with many doors (similar to a beer-store) where all the bottle are lined up with the price underneath. Big, very big selection, I’m talking hundreads of bottles. 2/3 of the bottles are American craftbeers from well known breweries (large array of Bells, Avery, Stone, Lagunitas) to the more obscure. The other third are imported bottles mainly from Belgium. Some of these Belgium imports I had never heard of before and I like to think I know my Belgium beers. While the tap was a bit pricy ($7 for my glass of Bam Noire) I thought the bottles were very reasonably priced (a little over twice the beer-store price). The ambiance of the place is really quite something. Classy and trendy yet cavernous and with an underground feeling. You sit there surrounded by a huge wine and beer cellar (yes, this place is as much about wine as it is about beer) that you can physically touch (not behind a counter). Crowd is mid-20s to mid 30s and a bit trendy. Just one of those place you have to be there to really get the feeling.

4/27/2008 10:41:54 PM, sunday, april 27, 2008 [ Updated sunday, april 27, 2008 ]
Amazing selection, cozy quiet beer bar. Beer geeks welcome. Some of the most knowledgeable staff around, all of whom are looking to spread thier love for suds with anyone who will listen. La cav has tons stored away in thier cellars from the last ten years and has great customer service. Never too crowded, just a great place to enjoy a wide selection of rares, locals and imports.

1/2/2008 5:29:49 PM, wednesday, january 02, 2008
There can be only one. This is the best bar in Cleveland.

1/2/2008 2:06:29 PM, wednesday, january 02, 2008
This is a great little gem hidden in a strip shopping complex. Once you go through the deceptive double doors you’ll be in a true cave. Bottles of wine and beer cover the walls. Many are of older vintages though there are newer bottles in a cooler along the back wall. Prices can be high unless there is a discount for takeout. The selection however can’t be beat. When I was there the tap offerings included Rodenbach Grand Cru, Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence, JP Bam Noire and Od Rasputin. Browsing around can reveal some treasures like a ten year vertical of Gale’s Old Prize Ale, 2005 Alaskan Smoked Porter and more. Parking can be a pain unless you happen to arrive close to the time they open. If you do come be aware they have bar hours - don’t expect to drop in for a post-lunch drink.

8/8/2007 11:03:04 PM, wednesday, august 08, 2007 [ Updated wednesday, august 08, 2007 ]
This a nice little spot to stop and have a nice Belgian Draft after a good meal at any one of the good restaraunts in this neighborhood. I’m very surprised that I’m the first person who posted anything about this spot on this site. Food is limited but made to match the beer and wine they sell here.

7/3/2007 3:14:55 AM, tuesday, july 03, 2007
This place is not exactly screaming out to be found. There’ s a little neon sign in the window of the entranceway it shares with a restaurant. You head down the stairs to La Cave Du Vin and make a right for the restaurant. At the bottom of the stairs you’re faced with three and a half unmarked institutional doors. I took the one with the most inviting handle (the one to the left of the base of the stairs) and just happened to be right. Inside you’ll find a very dark bar area (the votive candles along the bar seem to be throwing off as much or more light than any of the electrical lighting in the place) with just a few tables in the two rooms. This place is tiny, which is good because with the lack of visibility form the street, they couldn’t fill up much more. However, this place has an awesome selection of bottles and the six beers on tap are excellent (a Cantillon lambic, Flying Dog Gonzo Porter, a Lagunitas, Bell’s Oberon, and couple of other quality selections). The bar tender I had was big in beard and personality and really knew his stuff. I overheard him explaining what made a lambic a lambic to the new bartender late in the night. The place may be named for and have a great wine selection, but there’s no reason for a beer geek to avoid this place except maybe for a slightly higher than average price for beer. I’m in love, though.

1/5/2007 4:42:38 PM, friday, january 05, 2007 [ Updated tuesday, august 07, 2007 ]
Down a flight of stairs in the Coventry area of Cleveland Hts. it looks like your walking into a restroom and went the wrong way but behind that door is a really cool place. Very dark and dimly lit just perfect with music playing, not a big place at all and not a lot of seating. More of an upscale type of place putting a strong focus on wine as well. The beer selection is pretty awesome only 6 taps but it’s not your standard stuff, nice cooler off to the side where you can pick any bottled beer you’d like they even have the prices listed, and the selection is really good Alesmith,Bells and so on... Nice place, awesome beer selection, kinda pricey but it’s worth it. The staff knows what they’re talking about too.

12/21/2006 9:39:35 AM, thursday, december 21, 2006
I work on the eastside of Cleveland and end up going here at least 2-3 times a month. Down a set of stairs, La Cave is dimly lit and is usually playing some cool music to set the mood. Don’t let the name fool you. They do have a good wine list, but their focus on beer is almost as strong. Their tap selection is eclectic and sometimes offers selections you won’t find anywhere in the city (or the state for that matter). They have three big coolers chock full of good craft brews. I’ve seen beers in their coolers that I can’t find anywhere else in town. A good mix of domestics and imports. The staff knows their stuff, both wine and beer. They have a stash of beers that aren’t in the coolers, too. If they aren’t busy, strike up a conversation and you might get to see something rare appear from their cellar. Food is standard wine bar far. Fruit and cheese, breads, nuts. It’s good though and helps soak up some of the alcohol. One of my favorite stops in the city.

10/28/2006 4:23:30 PM, saturday, october 28, 2006 [ Updated thursday, september 27, 2007 ]
Visited 11/04/05. If I had to pick one beer bar in the U.S. to go on a first date with a beer OR wine lover, this gets it hands down. It was very dark when we walked in, but not to dark to see how gorgeous it is on the inside. The service was incredibly attentive, moreso the more crowded it got. I had driven from Orlando with a trunk full of high octane beers not available to them, the owner gladly traded me for alesmith and peche mortel, not available to me ;) Awesome people. The wine list was also very thoughtfully put together, and they had plenty of it. The selection, while small, was very very good and you can buy anything to go. Highly recommended, only ten minutes from downtown by car.

3/27/2006 11:24:39 AM, monday, march 27, 2006
Cave du Vin is located in a quaint little area about 20 min from downtown Cleveland. Plenty of free/metered parking and pay lots are around. The "Cave" is on the lower level of a building it shares with the Grog Shop.

Upon entering a door that looks like it belongs on a restroom in a mall it immediately becomes nearly pitch black. The space is lighted only by candles and some christmas lights (and the beer cooler). The bar is cozy, with seathing scattered about and a decent sized bar. The right side contains said beer cooler and racks full of wine.

The beer selection is pretty impressive. While only 6 taps, they are great brews like Old Rasputin and Bell’s. The bottled selection is great and one can purchase for the road or to have there. Bottled selections included GLBC, Bell’s, Stone, Two Brothers etc.

Can’t complain about the service here. The bartender was helpful in describing the beers and asked where I was from, what show I was seeing etc. Very friendly.

I didn’t have any food, it seemed to be only appetizers of the cheese variety.

In a nutshell I loved this place. The fact that it is right by the Grog Shop and a Winking Lizard doesn’t hurt either. It might be a drive from downtown but I would recommend the scenic drive to this suburb to anyone visiting Cleveland.