California: Plans for wine museum take shape in Santa Rosa

(NBBJ) - Organizers for a planned 15,000-square-foot wine museum are busily reaching out to potential wine industry supporters as demolition work gets started to convert its future home downtown into a five-story office building.

In the next three months, boosters intend to present the vision for what’s currently called the California Wine Museum (californiawinemuseum.org), according to Lindsay Austin, a wine microcrush club operator and chairman of the nonprofit behind the venture.

“Wine consumers are thirsting for knowledge and want to learn about wine, so our goal is to quench that by creating a venue like a blending of the Academy of Sciences and The Exploratorium,” Mr. Austin said.

The goal is to leave visitors with a higher appreciation for the history, artistry, science, technology and advances in sustainability of growing grapes and making wine.

“We want to get to the level where it’s almost like a cooking class,” Mr. Austin said. “In winemaking, cooking takes nine months and not 90 minutes, so showing the process is not easy to do.”

The envisioned museum is set to occupy the basement of the 100,000-square-foot former AT&T telephone switching building fronting on Third Street across from Courthouse Square and on the city’s Transit Mall. The venue would have 5,000 square feet for exhibits and a 2,000-square-foot tasting room for sampling from a rotating list of 40–60 wines on tap from the state’s American Viticultural Areas and of 10–20 by the bottle. Adding to the interactive sensory experience will be demonstrations, such as of how different types of oak and levels of toasting affect the flavor of wines.

There also is planned to be a 60-seat theater, meeting rooms, a wine library and bookstore, and a commercial kitchen to prepare food for pairings of food and wine.