J. Bookwalter Winery’s $4 million expansion to include new Richland tasting room

After a six-month delay, J. Bookwalter Winery in Richland soon will start construction on an expansion that includes a new tasting room and will reshape its current facility.

While the winery would have been opening the doors to its new tasting room in August, Bookwalter stopped construction that was supposed to start in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We hit the brakes and took a cautious approach,” said John Bookwalter, president of the winery that his father started nearly 30 years ago.

The 20,000-square-foot building on 1965 Mailibu in Richland, that is being built by Chervenell Construction, is set to be done in spring next year.

The $4 million project will include wine production facilities, offices and move the tasting room from its current location that is one road over at J. Bookwalter’s building on Tulip Lane.

The new tasting room will be about 2,000 square feet and was intentionally designed to be flexible so that it can convert into a banquet space. The banquet room will ho.ld about 150 people with an overflow space into one of the barrel rooms.

It also will include a private tasting room that is something like an atrium — a glass enclosed space for people who want a more high-end, detailed and educational tasting experience.

“Traditionally, you go in and stand up next to a bar and have a little conversation. There may be a tons of people there so you don’t get 100 percent of their attention,” Bookwalter said. “This would be scheduled and reserved. We can actually share more of the experience — we can better educate and become better storytellers.”

Bookwalter seems to have clear a vision of having anyone who walks into the new tasting room to not just taste the wine, but experience and learn about all the aspects that go into creating it.

The future tasting room will feature funky designs to draw in the eye, a tasting wheel and a historical look at the Bookwalter family’s roots in agriculture and how the winery has evolved.

“It will give you a sense of who we are without have to talk to anyone. We want it to be informative,” said Bookwalter, who added that reservation-only tastings is a direction the winery is going in.

The building at 894 Tulip Lane that houses the winery’s tasting room and its restaurant, Fiction, will eventually go through its own evolution.

While the timeline for changes hasn’t been determined, the kitchen will be moved to the opposite side of the building where the tasting room was years ago, and more seating will be added.

The current space will be dedicated to Bookwalter’s restaurant operations — which will continue to serve all its customers. Fiction will essentially be the caterer for the new banquet and tasting room facility.

“It will be very consumer friendly,” Bookwalter said. “They can place an order and it will be much like our ‘to-go’ business we’ve had to develop over the past few months.”