TUE 8 MAR 2005
Cellar handles wine with care
By Abby AndersonArgonaut Staff
Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of articles on local wineries and winemaking. Look for the final article after Spring Break.
Rather than shipping out packages, Pullman’s Old Post Office sends customers home with wine.
Built during the height of the Depression, the building served as the Pullman post office between 1930 and 1977.
After the post office moved out, the building became a movie theater for about 20 years. Now that the Old Post Office Wine Cellar and Gallery inhabits the building, there is a wine bar instead of a big screen.
Jared Desjarlais / ARGONAUT - Winemaker Patrick Merry draws a glass of wine as part of a testing process. Barrels at the Old Post Office Wine Cellar must be checked periodically in case adjustments need to be made before each is stored for aging.
“We sell mostly stuff you don’t find in the grocery stores. Our wine focus is on Northwestern wines, but we have wines from other places.”
Upstairs, the wine bar is a quiet, elegant space for adults to come and enjoy conversation and wine without going home smelling like they’ve been in a bar, Handy says.
“It’s very cozy and warm and inviting,” he says. “We’ve got wines that represent almost all winemaking regions of the world. Fifty beers as well. And zero ashtrays.”
Adorned with brown leather couches, wooden tables, a patio and a glowing fireplace, the wine bar sells wine by the glass or the bottle. In addition, it also has live music at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Jamie Bellona, who works at the wine bar, likes the ability to work in a bar minus the smoky environment.
“It’s a nice, comfortable environment,” Bellona says. “It’s a place to come and visit with friends and family.”
Julie Gardner, manager and wine buyer, agrees.
“It’s a personable specialty shop. We try to make it a friendly, fun place to be.”
Wine prices at the cellar range from $6.50 for a Merlot to around $140 for a bottle of champagne.
For individuals on a fixed budget, the specialty store carries many reds and whites under $12 or less.
“Our wine’s aimed at getting the best wine for your buck, at a decent price you can drink every day,” Gardner says.
The amount of wine supplied at the wine cellar is daunting at first, Gardner says.
“When some customers first come in, it’s like a deer in headlights…I help steer them to the right wine.”
When faced with the wine-challenged, Bellona will put customers towards a sweeter white or fruitier red.
Aspiring wine connoisseurs can become familiar with new wines through the cellar’s wine club. Members set a price limit for themselves, and do not exceed that price when purchasing wine for the club.
“Our promise to them is to buy unique wines,” Gardner says. “They can choose if they want red or white wine, the kinds of wine they want and the number of bottles.”
Participation in the weekly wine and occasional beer tastings helps customers know more about the ancient drinks. From 4-7 p.m. every Friday, the tastings offer a chance to try different wines, Gardner says.
For $5, customers can taste four different wines and receive 10 percent off the wines used during the tasting.
“It’s a really social hour,” Gardner says. “That’s where you really see the mix of people.”
For Handy, opening a wine-oriented business with no previous experience in the field was a learning process.
“I just thought if I was going to do anything in Pullman, I needed to do something that hadn’t been done yet,” Handy says. “Wine became a concern in Washington, so I thought I’d hop on and see where’d it take me.”
Monthly drives to the Seattle area, where 10-12 of the cellar’s distributors are located, brings specialty foods and wines to eastern Washington.
“It’s fun to bring that to people that live here, in a small town,” Gardner says.
Gardner believes that labels play a large role in which wine a customer chooses to purchase.
“Labels are huge,” she says. “That is, subconsciously, it’s the way a lot of wine catches their eye.”
What’s inside the bottle is more important to winemaker Patrick Merry.
Merry, who used to make wine in his garage, first came to the Old Post Office Wine Cellar and Gallery looking for a new place to produce wine.
“I’ve always been interested in wine from the consumer side of it,” he says. “It was a aa‘question’ of ‘when’ and not if I would open a winery. … It’s something I’d given a lot of thought to. At the end of the day, it was mostly a leap of faith.”
Producing wine is about building good wine, Merry says.
“It takes a love and understanding of the grape to make wine, and it’s important to know about the market.”
Bottles of Chardonnay and Viognier, both medium-bodied whites, as well as red and white table wine, will uncork the business’s first commercial release, with the wines labeled under the Merry Cellars’ name.
“Patrick is making a whole bunch of varietals,” Handy says. “The whites will be released this summer, but reds are a few years off yet.”
Handy is excited about the production of the wines.
“It adds another dimension to the building and to the wine industry in Pullman,” he says.
Located on 245 S.E. Paradise in Pullman, the Old Post Office Wine Cellar and Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Arts&Culture Editor: Jon Ross
UI Argonaut, 301 Student Union, Moscow, ID 83844
Argonaut: 208.885.7845
Advertising: 208.885.5780