"March will be The Grapevine's three-year anniversary, and we've done well enough to make a small expansion to our store," she says.

Located at 1389 Lincoln Ave., the wine shop will soon be offering the artisan cheeses that Finn has been including in the gift baskets sold at The Grapevine.

"When we opened three years ago we were mainly a wine shop. We had a few wine accessories and some gourmet oils and things like that. Then during the wine tasting, I started serving cheeses," Finn says. "Customers started asking me where I had found them and where they could buy them. So I decided that rather than sending customers somewhere else I'd carry more of the things they were asking for."

The Grapevine originally started as a partnership between Finn and two other partners. But over the course of the last couple of years Finn has become the sole proprietor of the business.

"It was nice to have the input of my former partners, but this is nice, too," Finn says.

Finn grew up in San Diego and at the age of 18 she became the owner of her first small business—a bookstore that was about to go under.

"I convinced the owner to hand it over to me. I don't know what made me think I could run a business, but I did it. Eventually one bookstore turned into two. I eventually sold that business and started looking for a new one," Finn says.

Finn says fine wines have always been her passion.

"There's something exciting about finding a new wine or a new winery and bringing it to the Willow Glen community," she notes.

Finn says that 65 percent of the wines she carries are California wines. The remainder of the stock is a wide selection of wines from around the world.

"I've got wines here from New Zealand, Australia, South America and South Africa. There are hundreds of names that we carry," Finn says.

The Grapevine, in the spirit of wine education, holds wine tasting Wednesday through Saturday and even has a "Wines of the Month" club.

"There are three wine clubs that people can sign up for here. There is the Italian wine club, where we focus on the great Italian wines. We have the Ultra wine club, where we offer the sellers and collectors wines. And we have the Tuesday wine club, where we offer more everyday wines," she says.

Customers interested in the wine clubs can sign up at the shop and have the option of picking up their wines or having the wines shipped to them.

"I've been very fortunate to have my shop in Willow Glen. The community has been wonderfully supportive. They enjoy coming in and trying the new wines. It makes coming to work a pleasure," Finn says.

For more information on wine-tasting events and the wine clubs at The Grapevine, visit www.grapevine-wg.com or call 408.293.7574. The Grapevine is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 8 p.m.