Joy Roberts and Dave Short have gone from making wine in their home to owning their own brewery.
The Sheridan Lake couple recently took over the UpTown Brewing Co. from Maureen Pinkney and Bill Harris.
“We’re living the dream. Dave and I have been brewing our own wine at home for the last 10 years and now we’re sharing our knowledge with other people,” Roberts said. “We’re really happy to be here and be a part of this amazing community.”
Short has largely taken over the brewery side of the business and said he’s enjoying the more quiet nature of their new business. Brewing wine is a lot easier than doing it at home in his basement, he said. The only step UpTown Brewing is missing is the crushing of the grapes. Everything else, he and their clients, using wine kits, can do here in the Cariboo.
“I enjoy the process of making wine, the outcome and especially now I’m in this business the happiness people have with the end result,” said Short, a former construction worker and blinds salesman. “That end result is not only the product but also the people who really enjoy what we made and want to come back.”
Roberts and Short said that UpTown Brewing’s regular services, including the wine club and the FedEx delivery service, will remain unchanged. Anyone interested in brewing their own wine or sampling a local vintage is welcome to drop by.
“You get to build a relationship with your client (that way). That’s part of the reason we wanted to enter into business,” Roberts said. “To be part of the community and build relationships.”
Although they’re still settling in, Roberts and Short already have plans to expand and diversify the business. Roberts, a silversmith jeweler, would like to enhance the front-end boutique side of the business with artwork and crafts for local artisans. She maintains there are not too many gift shop-style stores in town and hopes to find a niche in the 100 Mile market.
“I do rings and necklaces with semi and precious stones and hopefully next week I’ll bring in a display case with some of my jewelry. Then I’ll eventually add paintings on the walls and once we settle in a bit I’d like to have other artisans bring in their art and locally made crafts for the gift boutique. It’s very important to me to support local,” Roberts said, adding she’d like to start offering painting and jewelry classes in the evening.
Anyone interested in displaying their art at the brewery is invited to call Roberts at 250-395-2565.
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patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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