New tasting room for Glen Ellen

Robert and Laura Schermeister will open Schermeister Winery tasting room in Jack London Village in Glen Ellen later this summer.

The couple’s small winery produces only 600 cases a year, mostly in pinot noir.

“We chose Glen Ellen as the location for our tasting room because it’s a town that celebrates small business with a down-to-earth vibe,” said Robert. “We also want to bridge the gap between Napa and Sonoma wines. Glen Ellen, central to both counties, is the perfect place to showcase the wines we make from Atlas Peak in Napa to the Sonoma Coast.”

In October of last year, Robert and Laura lost their home on Mount Veeder in Napa, just months after marrying there in July.

“Burn maps at the time showed that their wine storage facility had probably burned, as well as the tasting room space undergoing construction in Glen Ellen,” she said.

Laura described it as ‘the devil’s trifecta’ – losing their home, all six vintages of their wines, and their tasting room that hadn’t even opened yet.

But the wines and tasting room turned out to be OK, burning to 500 feet behind the storage facility in Coffey Park and a quarter of a mile away from Jack London Village.

“We feel lucky to have only lost the house so we could at least progress with the business,” said Laura.. “We continue to force ourselves to focus on the bright side, especially since we had just gotten married!”

Jack London Village currently has several empty units and the couple hopes that a revitalization there will bring fresh energy to Glen Ellen in the form of arts and music as well.

Schermeister Winery’s tasting room space has a long history in the town. Old window boxes stamped with “Chauvet Sonoma” have been restored, and original redwood from the renovation has been repurposed throughout. The couple will be displaying photos of the former recording studio housed in the unit #28 space.

The couple hopes to open their doors in late August and will operate Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 14301 Arnold Drive in Glen Ellen.