By Russ Lawrence
For years, Blodgett Canyon Cellars wines have been produced in Kevin Broughton’s basement. Now, the production equipment is moving from his cellar to the back room of his brand-new Main Street tasting room in downtown Hamilton, where wine-sippers are welcomed, and his wares can be sampled and sold.
The Blodgett Canyon Cellars Tasting Room now occupies the premises that once housed the Ponderosa Bar, at 111 W. Main St. in Hamilton. The building has a long history, which Broughton and building owner Craig Kreider have worked hard to preserve and even showcase.
We’ll get to that. First, though, the wines. Broughton and his business partner, Tim Rybiski, have been making and selling wines for five years now, using Columbia Valley grapes, with much of the early processes – crushing and fermentation – taking place in Washington.
“As a winemaker, it’s in the blending where you change the final product the most,” Broughton explained. He can leave the crushing and fermentation in the hands of trusted processors, and apply his skills to the blending of grapes from different vineyards, or of different varieties, to achieve his purposes. Red wines usually age three years from harvest, he explained, while the whites can be turned around more quickly, typically 1-2 years.
By law, the tasting room can only sell Blodgett Canyon Cellars wines. Fortunately, they produce a wide variety, changing as each new vintage comes of age. Currently on offer in the tasting room are four red wines: 2011 Sangiovese, 2012 Roaring Lion blend, 2012 Cabernet Franc, and a 2010 Merlot; and two white wines, the 2013 Sauvignon Blanc and a 2012 Chardonnay.
Broughton also offers both red and white sangria, from his own “top-secret” recipes. The red sangria is made with his Merlot, and the white with the Sauvignon Blanc.
In the past, he sold his wines through wholesalers and a few local outlets, including restaurants. His original business plan focused on wholesale distribution, but after three years of fighting to get noticed, he started looking for other solutions, and a tasting room was the obvious answer.
Finding the right location proved harder than expected, though.
“We made the decision we wanted to be downtown,” Broughton said, but it wasn’t easy. Montana law requires that the production facility be physically connected to the tasting room, and finding a space that worked for both purposes was a problem.
“We looked for 18 months at every available space downtown,” said a patient Broughton, before Kreider bought the Ponderosa building, without the liquor license. “We had a license without a bar, and he had a bar without a license,” Broughton smiled. “It was fortuitous.”
Kreider echoed that. “For me it was serendipitous. I bought it to save it for the town,” he said of the historic structure. “I’m a hopeless romantic.”
Broughton and Kreider made a deal, but more than that, they partnered in creating a space that works as a wine bar, while preserving the heritage of the building, which features two grand murals created 50 years ago by Hamilton artist Sherman Hayes.
Broughton enjoyed working with Kreider, and appreciated his attitude. “He wanted to do something cool with the building,” he said, and future plans may even include a rooftop serving area, but that’s still in the dreaming stage.
Both men agreed that working with the City of Hamilton on their permits was a pleasant surprise. “Never have I been so fortunate to deal with a great bunch of people,” said Kreider of the City staff.
Part of the duo’s goal was to make a space that was welcoming to women. Kreider raised the foot rail at the bar three inches, to make it a more comfortable height for women, for instance, and he placed purse hooks every two feet down the bar, adding to the feeling of a quiet, safe place.
Broughton called the interior design a team effort, crediting Rybiski, Kreider, and their spouses for their contributions.
The facility includes a kitchen, where they’ll be producing a “small-plate menu,” such as an antipasto board featuring artisanal salami, cheese, olives, and fig jam. They’ll also offer dips, spreads, and desserts.
While attracting tourists is part of their goal, “residents are going to be our life blood,” Broughton observed. He’s hoping to fill a niche that wasn’t well-served in Hamilton until now, offering the wine bar “vibe.”
“We’re selling atmosphere as much as we are wine,” he added.
He has no plans to offer live music, noting that the space isn’t well-suited to it, but it also cuts against his vision of a quiet space for wine and conversation.
Some of that conversation will be among the customers who gather to enjoy a glass or two of wine, but Broughton also looks forward to talking wine with his clientele.
“We do well when we’re interacting with customers directly,” he said. “Talking to them about our wine while they’re drinking it is more rewarding.”
The Blodgett Canyon Cellars Tasting Room is open Wednesday and Thursday, 3-9 p.m., and 3-10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. They don’t plan to hold a Grand Opening event, preferring to continue their “soft opening” as they get all the kinks worked out. Follow them on Facebook to get regular updates.