It’s no secret that Walla Walla has many wineries, tasting rooms and opportunities to go out and try some wine with friends. But sometimes it’s hard to choose from such variety. What if you don’t just want to sit and sip wine? What if you also want to enjoy some live music? What if you want some good eats to go along with your wine?
Sapolil Cellars is one Walla Walla winery that has done more for its costumers than just providing an environment in which to sample their wine. They have many activities available for any 21-or-over individual to indulge in at their downtown tasting room right next door to Olive. While daily wine tasting opens at 1 p.m., the winery offers such events as “Cinema at the Cellars,” live music every weekend, and open jam and open mic nights.
President and winemaker Abigail Schwerin explained that Sapolil’s wide variety of events grew out of the empty space of their tasting room.
“We started doing music events, as my father, Bill, and I have always gravitated to small venues like ours for the best live music. To begin with, we were putting on Friday nights only. Then it started to build. We looked at the space we had, and realized it was way too large for just a tasting room, so we started building other events,” said Schwerin in an email.
She went on to elucidate that running a winery in Walla Walla wasn’t so much about offering good wine as it was about making a connection with the town and its community.
She went on to explain why running a winery in Walla Walla isn’t all about the wine; it’s also about helping to build a community.
“Part of the joy in running a winery and running a venue in downtown Walla Walla is that we are helping to build our town,” she said. “And we believe in the town. A major benefit of building the business in Walla Walla is that we can actually make a difference. For example, when we wanted to put outside seating at our downtown location, it wasn’t allowed … But we were able to work with the city to change the ordinance. This changed the landscape of downtown!”
For a full list of Sapolil’s events and offerings, check out their website at http://www.sapolilcellars.com/.
