Kelseyville >> Downtown Kelseyville was a flurry of energy and activity Saturday afternoon as locals and out-of-towners alike jumped from tasting room to tasting room for the annual Wine Adventure. The annual event, which sold more than 1,000 tickets, saw upwards of 25 wineries open their doors for a weekend of red, white and rose. Last year, only two of those wineries were located on Main St. Kelseyville — Rosa d’Oro Vineyards and Wildhurst Vineyards.
But this year, things weren’t quite so lonely on the strip. In the past six months, two new tasting rooms popped up along Main St. — Smiling Dogs Ranch opened at the beginning of December and Fore Family Vineyards followed a few months later. Now, the number of wineries right on the main stretch of Kelseyville road is up to four. Plus, there’s Kelsey Creek Brewery and just a short drive down the road — or a longer walk — takes you to Chacewater Winery and Olive Mill.
If the Kelseyville area is any indication, Lake County might just be well and truly on its way to becoming a real Napa Valley competitor. The increase in tasting rooms has had nothing but a positive impact on the downtown scene. “I think it has created more interest in the area itself, brought more focus to the Kelseyville growing region as well as making downtown Kelseyville a destination for tasting,” said Nick Buttitta, owner and founder of Rosa d’Oro Vineyards.
The Rosa d’Oro tasting room has been operating on Main St. Kelseyville for ten years and in recent months Buttitta has seen an uptick in foot traffic coming through the business. He can’t say whether it’s related to the added tasting rooms or if it’s a reflection of increasing interest in the Lake County wine scene in general. But a slight increase in business is noticeable nonetheless.
Things at Wildhurst tell a similar story. The tasting room has seen a definite and noticeable increase in traffic as of late, and Tasting Room Manager Tyler Weiper wasn’t hesitant to attribute it to the new businesses. “The more wineries the better,” he said. “We feel it makes Kelseyville a destination spot, with so many concentrated wineries in one area.”
It was this exact train of thought that prompted Smiling Dogs Ranch Winemaker Scott Simkover to purchase a building in Kelseyville for his tasting room. He makes his wine from scratch and bottles it himself at his vineyard and winery on Kelsey Creek Drive, but he hasn’t had a way to retail his wine. A tasting room maximizes profits. And the location was a no-brainer. “It’s mutually beneficial to have tasting rooms nearby,” Simkover said, adding that Main St. Kelseyville is beginning to feel like a mini-Calistoga.
Fore Family Vineyards was in a similar situation. Though they don’t operate a winery — they have their wines made at a custom crush facility — they do own vineyards ten minutes away from downtown Kelseyville on Bottle Rock Road. Like Smiling Dogs, they didn’t have direct-to-consumer sales. When it came to opening a tasting room, they considered setting up shop at their vineyard, but ultimately chose the Main St. area for much the same reason as Simkover. “We thought being in a little town with four other tasting rooms, we would get a lot more foot traffic than people driving up the hill,” said Diane Fore.
Other tasting rooms often send customers to Fore Family Vineyards, she added. They all also work together to help grow business. The Kelseyville wineries (plus Kelsey Creek Brewing) each participate in the Kelseyville Krawl. Customers receive a card which they can have stamped as they visit the businesses. If they go to at least five of the eight listed, they can enter a monthly drawing for prizes from local businesses.
“It’s a non-competitive atmosphere,” Fore said.
Tasting rooms aren’t the only businesses growing in downtown Kelseyville. Curt Winchester, an olive oil maker and a Kelseyville resident of nearly 40 years, has seen a huge change in the downtown Kelseyville area in just five short years. Half a decade ago, most buildings on the north side of the street were empty. Now, the Saw Shop and Pogo’s Pizza always seem to be busy, and Winchester calls in his lunch order at Studebakers so as to avoid the heavy crowds. In just one year, a bakery and a yoga studio have opened in the area.
“Some of these events that happen here, like the Pear Festival, they really trigger growth,” Winchester said.
He’s not the only one to notice this development along Main St. “I would say each year it’s growing,” said Weiper. “We’re getting more and more tourists.”
And it’s universally agreed that no, there cannot be too many wineries in one area, especially in a place like Lake County. “I think all of us are individually distinctive enough that it’s not like going down Hwy. 29 in Napa and you taste five different Cabernet Sauvignons and they all taste the same,” said Buttitta. “I think it’s one of the characteristics among all the Lake County wineries. We do tend to be more diverse in our styles and more diverse in our approaches to wine making.”
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
