Members of the “Be Focal Buy Local” organization are experiencing Richland County one glass at a time with “Richland By the Glass” – a tour of the county’s wineries.
The tour kicked off on Tuesday evening at Cypress Cellars Winery in downtown Mansfield. Owner Rick Taylor said the winery has been in existence for almost six years now.
“Our grapes come from California, but they turn into wine here in Ohio,” said Taylor.
The idea for a winery tour came from a Be Focal Buy Local meeting, when it was noted the large number of new wineries that had opened in Richland County throughout the past few years.
“We want to encourage people to support local businesses, and we want to give local businesses tools to grow their business,” said organization leader Tracy Graziani. “So we’ve been trying to come up with programming and events that marry those two things.”
The tours will be held the second Tuesday of every other month. Upcoming events include The Vault Wine Bar in Shelby on May 12, Wishmaker House Bed & Breakfast in Bellville on July 14, the Happy Grape Wine Bar in Lexington on Sept. 22, and Winery 1285 (Blueberry Patch) in Mansfield on Nov. 10.
Graziani mentioned each wine business will provide appetizers to guests free of charge, and everyone is responsible for purchasing their own wine. The events are open to the public.
“We hope that by bringing together these small businesses and members of the community we’re going to foster some economic growth,” said Graziani. “When people buy their wine next time, maybe they’ll think to buy their wine locally. It’s just one little way they can start to think about keeping their dollars in the county.”
In addition to the winery tours, Be Focal Buy Local offers free educational events, including a customer service class and a social media class. Graziani explained the classes serve to offer professional development to small businesses, while the social events are meant to engage the community.
“We want people to realize when you spend your money locally it benefits all of us,” she said.
