Beer and wine shop set to open in Uniontown

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Jul 26, 20120

From stacked bars of silver to bottles of Black Butte Porter, the old Uniontown bank building is about to enter a new era.

“The Vineyard Vault,” a beer and wine specialty store, is taking shape under the direction of owner/operator Marty Weider.

He started to lay out plans in February and leased the building June 1.

“People have been asking me for three months when we’re gonna open. I’ve been saying two weeks, and now it really is two weeks,” Weider said.

Marvin Entel installed sinks in the bar area near the old bank vault which now has building owner John Booth’s array of 1930s golf clubs stored inside.

A wooden countertop bar has also been added. Nearby, old adding machines sit on the scuffed wood floor along with framed bank statements from long ago remaining on the wall. Downstairs in the cellar, the bank’s wooden teller windows lean against brick and concrete.

Weider expects to put them to use, as a booth for the cash register.

The store will carry Washington wines, northwest microbrews and a few requested macrobrews.

For food, there will be cheeses on the menu from Washington and Weider’s native Wisconsin. Breads and pastries will come from Sage Baking Co. of Uniontown. Salads will also be offered in the evening.

Weider said he expects to be open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and again in the evening from 4 to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays he’ll open from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.

“I’m trying to do everything so I’m not competing with anyone else in town,” said Weider.

Originally from the town of Baraboo, Wisc., near the resort area of Wisconsin Dells, Weider made his way to Uniontown early last year after the terms of his job as a northwest representative for an advertising company changed.

He had been in the area before and can count on income from an arts and entertainment newspaper he co-founded and is still being published in Wisconsin Dells.

Weider started working a few part-time jobs, such as at Uniontown Deli, The Green Parrot and as a janitor for J&M Janitorial.

“I ran into some really nice people and they welcomed me,” said Weider. “It’s been a really great experience. I call this home now.”

Weider has spent most of his career working for himself and for advertising companies based in the midwest.

In the mid-’70s after spending two years at the University of Wisconsin, he went to Park City, Utah, and worked as a chef at the convention center and an Italian place.

He will take things he’s learned in his travels and put them to use at the Vineyard Vault.

There will be 24 seats originally, set around wine barrels as tables.

Initially, Weider said there will be only beer and wine sold in bottles, until the place is granted a tavern license, which permits drinks served in glasses.

The Vineyard Vault will open with a state classification of “tasting establishment” which means it is permitted to offer four two-ounce samples to a customer per day.

Along with the regular evening salad offerings, Weider said he will also install a Wisconsin tradition of the Friday night fish fry.

Other plans are to open up the cellar for more seating and possibly offer a Sunday brunch.

Before the Vineyard Vault, the former First State Bank of Uniontown building housed American West Bank and then the Uniontown Deli, which moved across the street last summer.

“I’d like to just add to the community,” Weider said. “It’s something that kind of fell into place. The building became available and I thought ‘what could I do which wouldn’t compete with existing businesses.’ Everyone I talked to wanted wine. So I thought, okay, I’ve never done that before.”

Also, he said, he was having a hard time keeping track of his part-time jobs.