This Orin Swift Scissors experience at the St. Helena Tasting Room is impossible to miss and almost as hard to get in.

As you walk down Main Street in Downtown St. Helena, the rhythm of charming shops and galleries abruptly ends at 1321. There is no door to open, the view inside is obscured with old newspapers, and the windows are punctured with 73 vintage scissors. It’s the kind of sight that stops you in your tracks and gets your imagination running. Fans of Dave Phinney’s label artwork are familiar with the feeling.

The installation appears both simple and impossible. Haphazard, but also manically deliberate. Each pair of vintage scissors was individually sourced from around the world, including from Ukraine, India, the US, and France, to name a few. They were then all arranged by Dave. Working with a local artist Norcal Glass, they figured out how to turn a sketch of an idea into an installed piece. The scissors were each cut and adhered to a sheet of plexiglass, giving them the look of floating in pierced glass. Even the vintage newspapers covering the windows were selected and arranged by Dave. Though he might be best known for his breakthrough label art, clearly Dave’s creativity translates beyond the label.

If, over the last decade, you’ve had a chance to come visit the original Orin Swift Tasting Room, you’d recognize the newly scissors-impaled building. This is where we first opened our doors and invited our biggest fans and curious visitors to experience, not just taste, the brand. This year, we moved next door and expanded the types of St. Helena wine tasting experiences we offer. It also gave us a chance to rethink the space where it all began.

Scissors is our pinnacle experience. It offers a private, highly personalized wine tasting for small groups and die-hard fans looking for the best of Orin Swift. It offers a private, highly personalized experience for small groups and die-hard fans looking for the best of Orin Swift. Tastings include exclusive, rotating wines only available as part of the experience and pours from our library of wines. Another important aspect of the experience — much like Equinox Wine Club — is surprise. You’ll have to make your way down to Napa Valley for a day trip to see every little detail that makes Scissors our most ambitious expression of what Orin Swift is all about.