10 Questions With: Jenna Snyder, owner of Cellar 54

10 Questions With is a new series featuring people of interest in the 605. Have someone you’d like to see featured? Email [email protected]. 

This edition features Jenna Snyder, owner of local wine shop Cellar 54. Find it at Dawley Farm Village, where she just celebrated her one-year anniversary as a business owner.

Tell us about your Sioux Falls journey. Are you from here, or how did you get here?

I am from Edgerton, Minnesota. I moved to Sioux Falls to go to college.

Most people don’t set out thinking they’re going to own a wine shop – not that it isn’t a worthy goal! But how did you end up in your role?

I worked for Ray Hoffmann who owned Luciano’s for about three years. We had always talked about opening a little wine store and doing small events as we both were not very interested in the restaurant side of business. I left and worked at Intek for a period of time. During COVID, Ray was working on closing the restaurant downtown and finding a place for a wine shop. He ended up opening in the fall of 2020, and by December his health had failed and he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s. In January of 2021, I started making the store my own. On April 1, 2021, the name was changed to Cellar 54, and I was officially the owner.

What has been the biggest surprise about owning a business?

The biggest surprise is the community wanting to support local businesses. All my customers really feel like a second family to me.

What has been your proudest moment as a new business owner?

There have been several things that I look back on. One would be making it through my first year. I can’t believe it! Another thing that comes to mind is when people ask me if I am the owner. When I say yes, it’s usually followed up with “Wow!” or “You are young!” I don’t know that I will ever feel old enough to be deserving of my own business. When I get the chance to stop and think about it, it puts a smile on my face.

It almost doesn’t seem fair to ask you your go-to wine. How about your top three?

Soul of the Lion by Daou, Quintessa and anything by Beaulieu winery.

Best advice for someone who wants to get into drinking wine but might be a little intimidated?

Wine tastings are the best way to find out what you like. Saturday wine flights are also a great option as you can get either four white or four red wines for $15.

What are you most looking forward to for the rest of 2022?

I have met so many great people through the first year of business. I can’t imagine how many more will hear about the shop that I will get to make friends with.

Do you ever just feel like a beer?

This is a great question because most people think I go home and drink wine every night. I don’t, and I have yet to open a bottle of wine at home. I have tasted most everything in the store at one time or another. Notice “tasted” – I don’t drink a whole bottle of each wine. When you have all the wine, a beer sounds better at the end of the week.

What can we find you doing when you’re not at the wine shop?

If I am not at the shop, I am at home, catching up with friends or taking in some kind of sports activity. Being the only employee and the owner doesn’t offer any time to get away or take up new hobbies.

And finally, you get a shameless plug for anything in Sioux Falls. What is it?

Catching up with friends equals meeting friends at the Gateway. It feels like home and is the best sports bar in town.