Warner Vineyards to open wine tasting room in Holland's downtown shopping district

Deborah Johnson Wood

Warner Vineyards plans to celebrate in downtown Holland with a bit of the bubbly and its 24 other wines and champagnes by the time Tulip Time Festival is in bloom.

The vintner's new tasting room, Warner Vineyards of Holland, begins the build-out this month on its newest location at College and 8th streets.

"We're waiting for the liquor control commission to grant the liquor license," says Bill Warner, one of the partners in the four-generation family-owned business. "But we've already overcome the first two hurdles, which are the hardest, so we hope to be open by April first and if not then it'll be May first."

Founded in 1938, Warner Vineyards is Michigan's second oldest and highest award winning winery, Warner says. All of its wines and champagnes are made at its facility in Fennville using traditional methods to make small batches.

"We are 100 percent Lake Michigan Shore Appalachian – Appalachian means an area where the grapes are grown," Warner says. "At the tasting bar people can try the wine and then buy what they like by the bottle. We put the wines in the same order as they are in the tasting guide we have at the store, which includes a sweetness guide."

Besides traditional favorites like chardonnay, pinot grigio and merlot, the winery offers a number of fruit wines such as Blueberry Splash, Very Very Cherry and Peach and Honey, a peach, honey, cinnamon and apricot blend.

"We have looked at opening a tasting room in the harbor towns for years, and now that the Sunday drinking laws have changed the little harbor towns are neat places to do wine tastings," Warner says. "Sundays are big tasting days for us."

The company has three other tasting rooms in Marshall, South Haven and Paw Paw.

Source: Bill Warner, Warner Vineyards; Mimi Fritz, Downtown Holland Principal Shopping District

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Have a development news tip for Rapid Growth? Contact us at [email protected].