Urban Winery Trend

Filed in archive Wine Shops on January 4, 2007

Not everyone has time to trudge out to a winery these days. Hey, we are busy people. I know for myself, we have a number of wineries down here, but a trip just to get to one from where I live would be a good two hour trip, and that's one way. So, double that and you've got a round trip of four hours. Then you have the time it takes to actual tour and taste, and well, good luck getting back before dark. Plus, you have to be careful about driving after drinking, so really, that could include even more time to eat right as you sip so you don't get too tipsy or better yet, finding a hotel room to stay the night in.

Maybe I'll luck out and find one of these new urban wineries in my neighborhood soon. Looks like they are the new rage in wines.

From Urban wineries growing:

Unique among Maryland's 25 licensed wineries, Frederick Cellars reflects a trend spreading eastward from the West Coast. No one has gathered statistics on the growth of urban wineries, but "it's really gotten big here in Santa Barbara," said Craig Addis, marketing director of the Santa Barbara Winery, a downtown winery in California that inspired Daneri and his software-consultant wife, Emily Williams.

Santa Barbara Winery is one of the oldest of the modern urban wineries. It opened in 1962, crushing grapes from vineyards 100 miles away. Now, it has its own vineyards in the Santa Rita hills, 40 miles distant, with a second winery there targeting wine-country tourists.

In the past few years, four other urban wineries have opened in downtown Santa Barbara, Addis said. Others have popped up elsewhere in California and Oregon. A related trend, the do-it-yourself storefront winery, has taken hold in California; fountain Hills, Ariz., and Chesapeake, Va.

"There are a lot of wineries that are just in old factory buildings," said Cyril Penn, editor of the California-based trade journal Wine Business Monthly. To make good wine, "you need good grapes and not to screw them up," Penn said.