Politics & Government

Wine in Your Annieglass? Yes.

Despite concerns about establishing another alcohol outlet in the city, the high-end glassmaker will open a wine tasting bar next month.

It didn’t go down smooth, but will begin having wine tasting at its Watsonville studio this summer.

With some concerns, the Watsonville Planning Commission approved an application to allow artist Annie Morhauser to open a wine-tasting bar and outside seating area on Harvest Drive.

Modeling it after Heath Ceramics in Marin County, Morhauser will have local wineries offer tastings while people wait to tour the high-end glass studio. The hope is it will make the studio more of a destination location for tourists from the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Valley.

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“This I think is a great opportunity to get a little bit of that tourism,” said Kurt Overmeyer, the city’s economic development manager.

Morhauser plans to partner with Hunter Hill Vineyard & Winery of Soquel and possibly in Corralitos and in Santa Cruz for the Friday-Sunday wine tastings.

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“I think that overall this would be a very classy thing and very good for the Watsonville community,” fellow Watsonville artist Roy Johnston said. “The more you can make Watsonville a destination point, I think it’s a good thing.”

However, there were worries that wine-tasting runs counter to the city’s strict alcohol licensing ordinance, because patrons could purchase a glass of wine to drink at Annieglass, or a $30 bottle—or even a case—to take home.

Peter Nichols, chairman of Santa Cruz County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, called the proposal a "slippery slope."

“Why wouldn’t a Home Depot be able to do the same thing? Then you could have the women getting sloshed while the men buy the latest chainsaw,” he said.

And Planning Commissioner Betty Bodeba had a heated exchange with Morhauser.

  • Bobeda: “Basically this is just another alcohol outlet with the fringes of being wine tasting.”
  • Morhauser: “No. You can’t get a drink there, you can’t get a beer there.”
  • Bobeda: “For me, personally, I guess the thing that bothers me is that you can buy wine … and take it off the property.”

Police Chief Manny Solano weighed in. He said the had done an extensive review of the application, which also requires approval of the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Morhauser, who has been in business in Watsonville for nearly 30 years, said the wine bar will be a new feature for the summer that will be reassessed after Labor Day weekend.

“I’m not opening a bar, and if it gets to that, forget it. … I just want to make it convenient for the people coming to the studio and feature local wines,” she said.


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