The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Spirits a spooky stop
Winery offers spirits in a unique way
A new winery in downtown Willoughby appears to be gaining popularity as a new haunting ground for those looking to enjoy a drink.
Spirits in Willoughby, 3872 Erie St. opened approximately six weeks ago and owner Jay Byram says the establishment which offers ghostly and alcoholic spirits is staying constantly busy.
Byram, who is also the owner of Willoughby Coal decided to open the winery approximately four years ago, but at that time had no idea of what to name it.
“One day I’m going the back building (Willoughby Coal) is haunted, and spirits means ghostly things and it also means alcohol so, that is how I came up with the name Spirits in Willoughby,” Byram said.
He has spent the last three years converting the building, originally a garden center with large garage styled doors, into an open air winery.
According to Byram, open air is a trend catching on around the country and is one of the features that makes his establishment unique to downtown Willoughby.
The winery doors are kept opened during business hours in the summer. During the winter months, the doors are closed and the buildings are heated, but the windows keep it from feeling closed in, Byram said.
Some of the other interesting features include a patio with a fire pit, corn hole games, a bocci ball court, four televisions for sports and the fact that they are the only winery in the downtown area.
Byram and his good friend Paul Winegar did 95 percent of the renovations themselves working days, nights and weekends to complete the transformation from garden center to winery.
The wines are all made on the premises in the train car adjacent to the building by wine maker Dominic Delbaso. Currently they serve five types of red wines and one white wine. They have 18 taps from which they serve a variety of domestic beers and IPAs. Additionally, they have a full liquor license.
The establishment does not have a kitchen, so food is currently limited to appetizers such as humus, pretzels, antipasto, salad, cheese plate and spinach dip, according to partner Niki Evans.
Evans notes that they are working on other ways to provide more of a menu to customers such as a grill outside the winery and getting food trucks on site.
They are currently averaging food trucks two days a week.
Byram explains that they came into the scene late in the calendar year when it comes to booking the food trucks so they get them there when they can.
Byram describes the winery as a place people can come hang up and enjoy themselves without feeling rushed.
“Nobody has to say, hurry up, let’s go. You can hang out all night long and it doesn’t matter,” he said.
Spirits in Willoughby currently employs 7 people in addition to Byram and opens at 2:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and at noon Friday through Saturday.
They don’t have a set closing time on those days.
“We stay open until the people walk away,” Byram said.
Sunday hours are from noon through 6 p.m.
The winery is available to host special occasions, plans to hold wine tasting sessions by invitation only in the train car and have a Halloween party.