Two regional wineries have announced that they are opening new tasting rooms, both in Walla Walla, and they say location is key.

Mercer Wine Estates’ downtown Walla Walla tasting room opened in late July, while Bledsoe Family Wines’ tasting room is just entering its planning stage.

Mercer renovations

While Mercer Wine Estates’ second tasting room may be new to Walla Walla, the Mercer family is not.

Brenda Mercer, marketing manager for Mercer Wine Estates, grew up there. “It’s kind of my hometown,” she said, “so we’ve all spent a lot of time there.”

Mercer Wine Estates renovated the historic building at 18 E. Main St., originally built as a bank.

| Courtesy Mercer Wine Estates

The idea of a new tasting room had been in the works for a couple of years. Mercer Wine Estates once boasted a tasting room in Georgetown in Seattle, but it was closed during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has a tasting room in Prosser.

“This one was a little closer to home and closer to the vineyards,” Mercer said.

The winery debuted a new natural wine brand, Sonova Sage, in tandem with the opening. Two Syrahs, both made with organic grapes, were the winery’s first venture into natural wines. One of the wines has minimal added sulfite, while the other has none.

“It’s kind of an experiment to see what people like and which style they gravitate towards,” Mercer said. “And we will have a Cabernet next year which we’ll try also. We’re just kind of moving in that organic growth direction.”

The Walla Walla tasting room at 18 E. Main St. is loaded with history. The building was once home to the People’s Bank of Washington and was later occupied by Martin’s Jewelers. 

The task of renovating the building was also a work of restoring and preserving its history.

The building was originally constructed for the bank in 1918, according to Skie Architecture Studio’s website. The architecture firm, along with Civil Built LLC and DeVos Builders, was tapped to remodel and restore the building.

The bank originally had high ceilings that the jewelry store had dropped down, and its vaults and safes were still in the building. 

“The walls were this art deco plaster that had been covered up and sheet-rocked over,” Mercer said. They also discovered terrazzo floors, which Mercer described as like marble or a mosaic.

“All that stuff just was kind of exciting and beautiful and just seemed like how we wanted to represent the wine,” she said. “… We tried to preserve what we can, and in a way that I hope, that I think that people that walk in will appreciate.”

The new tasting room includes both indoor and outdoor seating, a tasting bar, table seating and lounge seating, and the space will be available to rent. Mercer Wine Estates’ wines will be available in a tasting flight or by the glass, along with light food.

Bledsoe expansion

Bledsoe Family Winery’s new tasting room, rather than undergoing a remodel, will be built from the ground up starting in the spring of 2025.

Bledsoe Family Winery is one of Bledsoe Wine Estates’ three brands. It was launched 10 years after the Doubleback brand, which had become a private, allocated winery, said Josh McDaniels, CEO and director of winemaking.

In response, Bledsoe Family Winery was created. It was “really a way to bring great wine out to a different group of people,” McDaniels said.

Sports fans may recognize the Bledsoe name. Bledsoe Wine Estates was founded by NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe and his wife, Maura. The veteran quarterback, who graduated from Walla Walla High, returned to his hometown to open the winery.

In its seven years, the winery has grown a lot, McDaniels said. The current downtown space wasn’t big enough for the wine club events that the winery wanted to have. 

Like Mercer Wine Estates, Bledsoe Family Winery looked at a space near Seattle, in Woodinville, but settled on staying in Walla Walla. 

“Really what it came down to is … our affinity for Walla Walla, our hometown, is pretty big, and we want people to come here,” McDaniels said. “We want, whether we have customers in Seattle or Portland or wherever in the world, we want them to come to Walla Walla.”

It’s important to Bledsoe Family Winery that people come and see where the wines are made.

The tasting room doesn’t have an official address yet, but it will be located off Pepper’s Bridge Road in the Walla Walla Valley. Once completed, it will replace the winery’s current Walla Walla tasting room at 229 E. Main St.

Signum Architecture will handle the new building’s design and Pacific Flyway will be the contractor. 

McDaniels isn’t worried about being farther from downtown. In fact, that’s part of the point.

“In Walla Walla, everything’s five minutes away,” he said. “And we want to push traffic out onto that estate vineyard experience. You know, if you’re going to be in wine country, let’s try to take advantage of wine country as much as possible.”

The winery will stay focused on making great wine and giving great experiences, McDaniels said.