Goodstone Inn Uncorks New Cellar Club
Written by Beth Rasin | Photos by Caroline Gray
After the success of its Shop the Cellar events, Goodstone Inn & Restaurant is debuting The Cellar Club, offering curated wines from vineyards around the world for retail sale in Middleburg.
Goodstone’s sommelier, Peyton Dean, has been working in restaurants for nine years. “I’ve always been interested in wine,” shares Dean, who grew up exploring vineyards around his family home in Waterford. Over the last two years, while working at Goodstone, he’s earned his Court of Master Sommeliers certification.
We caught up with Dean to learn more about The Cellar Club and what new opportunities this initiative offers.
ML: How does The Cellar Club work?
PD: There’s no subscription, but once a month, I send out a link to everyone who’s signed up describing anything new that we’ve gotten, any allocated or limited-availability items, or anything cool. You can also select from our wine list, and you can pick up the wine anytime in person.
It really gives people access to our whole list at very aggressive pricing. The typical markup is usually closer to 50%, but our markup is only 35%. You’ll probably see the same bottle somewhere else for $10 to $20 more expensive than on our list.
ML: What are your general price points?
PD: The bulk of wines will be between $75 and $150, but the price range on our list varies a lot. Some are as low as $50, but there are also items as high as $5,000 at resale cost.
ML: What are the advantages of a curated wine collection?
PD: It’s a lot of nice, fine wines that you can’t really find at grocery stores. I work with smaller distributors importing from Italy, Spain, and France with smaller producers. As a restaurant, we have access to heavily allocated items, which you might not see outside of auctions, where prices soar. We can get them and sell them for fair market cost.
ML: What inspired the creation of The Cellar Club?
PD: It’s another way to sell wine and attract people to Goodstone. We’re all very passionate about making people happy and providing good service to our guests. We strive for excellence, and this adds another layer to our restaurants. The Cellar Club is a great resource for Middleburg, offering access to a lot of things you otherwise couldn’t get.
ML: What kinds of benefits or experiences will members enjoy?
PD: In mid-November, we’re planning a wine dinner with Willowcroft Farm Vineyards in Leesburg, which has the oldest vines in Loudoun County. They were originally planted in the early ’80s. A representative from the vineyard will talk about the wines, give insights into what they’re making, and there will be a nice food menu to pair with the wines. It will be set up like a chef’s table in our beautiful Conservatory.
ML: How do you go about choosing wines for the cellar and for club members?
PD: There could be some seasonal things, like rosé in summer. A lot of things are preordered and coming in October, like Opus One and a few other big producers. Representatives and distributors come and taste things with me a few times a month, too, and if anything is interesting, it will be included.
ML: Will the club highlight particular regions, varietals, or producers?
PD: We will highlight Opus One; we’ll have bottles and half-bottles of a vintage release. We’re looking for really nice quality that is priced very well, and those producers will be featured. Of course, we always have the classic wines, and we’ll promote some of those to make them a little more known and appreciated, because they’re underground. For Virginia wines, we have a page (about 20 to 25 varieties) of reds and one of whites.
ML: Is there a particular bottle or story from the cellar you’re especially proud to share?
PD: There are definitely producers I know and love, and producers I gravitate toward when I go out to dinner. Ca’ del baio in Barbaresco is an Italian producer and family-owned, with three or four generations of winemakers in the family. They’re doing awesome things, and everyone in the family works at the vineyard and plays a role in producing delicious wines.
ML: How do you envision the club evolving over the next few years?
PD: There are a lot of directions it could go. It could turn into something where there are monthly tastings, or a subscription service — there are so many ways it could grow. It could turn into something where there are seller events every month and everyone comes and enjoys a charcuterie board and a nice glass, sits down and chats and looks through our list. It’s hard to pick a direction at this point.
ML: What excites you most about The Cellar Club?
PD: Getting to talk to people about it, about why something is on our list, is always fun. ML
To join The Cellar Club, go to goodstone.com/cellar-club.
Published in the October 2025 issue of Middleburg Life.