Winery tasting rooms can affect community neighborhoods in positive ways. Visitors to area tasting rooms may need lodging whether traditional hotels or bed and breakfasts. Stores selling touristy items will also benefit. However, we have discovered a unique idea that we wish more winery tasting rooms would take advantage of – local artists. While many tasting rooms offer local paintings and some offer locally created pottery, we discovered a small winery in southwestern Virginia where the tasting room is actually a whole lot more. At Rural Retreat Winery and Vineyards , the tasting room is a combination of a deli with seating, consignment shop featuring locally made items and a tasting counter. In fact, beautiful woven scarves were available and the owner of the Rural Retreat told us that the creator of these scarves spun, dyed the wool and created the scarves. These are great sellers.

Other items available in the consignment part of the tasting room included: pottery, specially woven baskets, baby wreaths, and jewelry. Every time an item is sold, it benefits the creator and the winery. We hope more wine tasting rooms will consider setting aside an area for their community to share their creative arts.