KELSEYVILLE >> Is there room in downtown Kelseyville for two more wine tasting rooms?
The answer is a resounding yes, according to Ron Chips, vice president of the Kelseyville Business Association.
His answer is great news for two local wineries that are planning on opening separate tasting rooms on Main Street this year, doubling the number of tasting rooms within walking distance of each other.
Smiling Dogs Ranch, Vineyards and Winery is planning on opening its tasting room by the end of November while Fore Family Vineyards plans to open its facility by early November. Neither winery has a formal tasting room at their existing facilities in the Kelseyville and Cobb areas.
“There’s a tremendous wine culture in the county,” Chips said, “and it’s now developing in Kelseyville, more so than anywhere else around the lake.”
The two tasting rooms are “much anticipated” and are part of a “turn-around” for Kelseyville in which vacant storefronts are being re-occupied, he added. Chips owns the Kelsey Creek Brewing at 3945 Main Street in this residential community of about 3,000 people.
“Small towns with vacant storefronts do not look very good and do not bring in new businesses,” Chips said. “With the new tasting rooms, downtown Kelseyville will have only one vacant building. I think the town has turned around and is moving in the right direction.”
Tourists coming in to Kelseyville want to know primarily one thing, according to Chips: What do the locals do for fun? With the new tasting rooms and several other recently-opened businesses, the answer is to drink and dine.
There’s not a lot of chain stores or restaurants in Kelseyville, which fits in well with the community’s small, rural atmosphere, Chips said, adding, “It’s becoming a destination and that’s important for Kelseyville.”
Smiling Dogs owner Scott Simkover said Kelseyville has the “mood” of a small Calistoga.
“I see the downtown Kelseyville location as a great area to generate walk-in traffic for the winery,” Simkover said. “It has a small town, walk-around atmosphere that generates a fair amount of foot traffic.”
Diane Fore of Fore Family Vineyards said the Main Street Kelseyville location seemed like a great place for the winery’s first tasting room. The winery and 16-acre vineyard are in Cobb.
“Our new tasting room is close to our vineyards and it seemed like a really good opportunity, to be in such a cute little town,” Fore said.
Fore said the winery signed a lease on Sunday for the 1,700-square-foot building at 3924 Main St. Its last occupant was a second-hand store.
“We’re really excited to get started,” she said, adding that they are now in the process of getting the necessary government permits and resolving several small issues.
Escrow on the new Smiling Dogs tasting room closed on Thursday, according to Simkover. The 1,600-square-foot building at 3955 Main St. was previously a uniform shop.
The interior of the building needs “major renovation” but when finished, will feature a bistro and wine bar, Simkover said. It’s located next to Kelsey Creek Brewing, which he sees as an advantage.
“I’ve found that with a lot of couples, one prefers wine while the other wants beer,” Simkover said.
The Smiling Dogs tasting room will open with limited hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. “We plan to start slow and if the demand is there, we’ll step it up,” Simkover said.
The tasting room will offer five wine varieties: Sauvignon Blanc, Rose, single-source Merlot, an intense Zinfandel and a Cabernet Sauvignon.
Fore’s tasting room will be open until 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, two hours later than most wineries, Diane Fore said.
It will offer a full range of Fore wines, including Pinot Noir, Merlot, Grenache Blanc, late harvest Syrah and late harvest Sauvignon Blanc. It will be managed by Fore’s son, Eric, with occasional help from his mother and father, Jim Fore.
Both Fore and Simkover said their wine tasting rooms will complement rather than compete with each other and the other two downtown tasting rooms.
“It’s common for tasting room workers to make recommendations for visitors on other nearby wineries they can go to and that we plan on doing,” Fore said.
Smiling Dogs and Fore will join two other wine tasting rooms run by Wildhurst Vineyards at 3855 Main St. and Rosa d’ Oro Vineyards at 3915 Main St.
Another new addition to downtown is Sweet Annie’s Bakery at 3928 Main St. that opened at the end of August.
Next up on Chips’ wish list for Kelseyville is a 30-40-room hotel or motel, which he hinted is in the works but declined to discuss other details. “That would really put us on the map,” he said.
