River City Winery coming to downtown New Albany.

Regular readers know that we're in the process of building a new production brewery and taproom in downtown New Albany. There'll be more on that project later in the week, primarily because much has been accomplished during the past two days to facilitate our goals, but until I have the time to write about NABC Bank Street Brewhouse, your attention is directed to Pearl Street.

Roughly one hundred yards away from the future brewery lies the forthcoming River City Winery. Gary's task has been larger than NABC's, because in addition to the winemaking and food service start-up costs, he and his wife have taken on the responsibility of restoring an historic building for the winery's use in addition to accommodating tenants upstairs.

Lately I've been drinking more wine. Not less beer, mind you, but opting for glasses of wine here and there rather than a brew. As an illustration of how depth of knowledge in one area does not necessarily imply a corresponding understanding in another, the local/regional winery bug hadn't bitten me until the past year following visits to Huber (Starlight IN) and Thomas Family Winery (Madison IN), the former being a place I'd dismissed years ago after drinking a sweet wine, and the latter known to me primarily for Steve's brilliant hard cider.

I've been mistaken, and I'm looking forward to River City Winery in helping me to learn more about local winemaking. Proximity should benefit us both ... and help improve the prospects for downtown revitalization.