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The Boat House Winery brings Kentucky made wine to Adair County after the recent wet vote
By Cody Maggard
Editor
Photo: A Jamestown Red wine sits in a glass for an onlooking customer
The inside of the building had a beautiful wooden bar, the Boat House Winery image was carved into it, and one could have made the mistake of associating it with the warm, sunny grapevines of Napa Valley, but this was not Napa.
It was Columbia. The tiny, college town of Columbia, Kentucky.
The Boat House Winery sits in a building on Jamestown Street, and has been open since early July. “It is something completely different for this area,” said General Manager Trish Zatkoff.
Wine is nothing knew for those in charge at Boat House, with a home vineyard in Bloomfield, Kentucky, and training from Napa Valley and France, it is a way of life that has been brought to Columbia. Bottles are stacked neatly throughout the store, ranging from the simplest of red to the classiest of white.
Photo: General Manager Trish Zatkoff (above).
Photo: The 13 assorted wines in the Boat House Winery sit upright on shelves inside the store.
Columbia became a wet city in March of last year, and with the vote came new levels of both excitement and uncertainty. However, it was the location that brought Boat House to the city, “[Eddie O’Daniel] saw that Columbia went wet last year, and he liked the central location of the lake area,” said Zatkoff.
Everything is locally made, and comes from the Bloomfield home location, including the barrels that were used to construct the bar and desk area. 13 different wines and two “wineshines,” the latter being fortified with brandy, are offered at Boat House, and “have been selling off the shelf,” according to Zatkoff.
O’Daniel, the store’s main owner and proprietor has over thirty years experience making wine, even winning international awards for his Kentucky based concoctions. He was a pioneer of the industry in its early stages in the state.
“They told him he couldn’t grow grapes in Kentucky at that time, but he said he had luck with everything he tried to grow,” said Zatkoff. Eventually, as the industry grew, this was no longer a problem, and the Bloomfield winery became very strong.
The building Boat House resides in housed the political action committee that was formed to campaign for the passage of the wet vote in the city last year, which could be seen as controversial by some. However, Zatkoff says the community feedback of the winery has been “amazing.”
“We’ve had really positive feedback, there’s not a lot to do in Adair County, and this is something so different, people love the idea of going and sitting down with friends to do a wine tasting,” said Zatkoff. That difference, according to Zatkoff, can be seen not only in what Boat House offers, but in the image and the atmosphere it brings to the city.
Typically in small cities and towns in the “Bible Belt” area of the country, where Columbia lies, there is a negative stigma with locations that exist to just serve alcohol. Some could see it as off putting, or even worse in some cases, given that Columbia is still a college town. Therefore, the image of the business is something that brings a challenge in creating for those at the Boat House Winery. One customer even stated he enjoyed his visit, “as long as my pastor doesn’t see me here,” he said with a chuckle.
“I would like for [Boat House] to be a place where people can come sit down with their friends, and try the wines… it’s a neat place and a comfortable atmosphere,” said Zatkoff. Customers can come in and sample six different wines for $4, something that adds to the laid back atmosphere.
Boat House also offers cheese tastings, along with other foods, and is currently attempting to coordinate with Anderson’s Pizzeria to offer wine and pizza tastings. Zatkoff also hopes to appeal to Lindsey Wilson College (LWC) students in some way, those who are of age, of course.
“We did the WARES Fair, we had a good response, and even Mr. [Abe] Cross (Wellness Center Director) won our bed and breakfast giveaway,” said Zatkoff. Although LWC still remains a dry campus after the wet vote, there is still opportunity for Boat House to earn more customers and advertise through LWC students, says Zatkoff.
“We’ve had people bring their parents in to do a tasting, and a lady from Bowling Green won one of our prizes too, because her daughter was at Lindsey, so I think Lindsey will help us get the word out to other communities as well,” said Zatkoff.
Although Boat House has had a welcomed response in its infancy stages, there are still opportunities to grow.
“We’re hoping to get more people in on the weekends, we’re hoping to get live music at some point, and a wine slush machine,” said Zatkoff. However, the image associated with the winery is still the main concern, and there is a fine line between appealing to more customers and keeping the sophisticated, cultured image.
“I know Adair County doesn’t want a wild place, and typically wine drinkers aren’t wild, you come to a place like this to hangout with friends and drink a bit of wine.”
The Boat House Winery is open from 11 am to 6 pm Tuesday through Thursday, and 11 am to 9 pm on Friday and Saturday, while staying closed on Sunday and Monday.
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