Creative Touches Abound in the Walla Walla Tasting Room

Creating and executing the vision for Capital Call Vintners’ new Walla Walla tasting room has been a delightful challenge for local designer Melanie Jaques. Having spent many years living and working in Walla Walla and the Tri-cities, she understands that while the wine is the draw, a welcoming and charming environment is vital to why guests choose to stay.

The newly refurbished tasting room, located in a historic downtown building, has an atmosphere of quiet comfort and prosperity—the sophisticated feel of a private club to which you have an open invitation.

Elegant and creative touches abound in the tasting room. Spanning the wall behind the bar is a gold filigree longhorn skull, bringing in a Western ambiance. As you settle in at the bar, be sure to look down to see the bright brass Pegasus footrail—a whimsical nod to our estate Windhorse Vineyard. A brass bell on the wall, meant to evoke the stock market, highlights Capital Call’s financial theme.

Though the ceilings are high, the deep blue room, with its complementary tones of black, camel, and velvet gray, feels intimate. “I like low-lit, moody spaces,” Melanie said, noting that every light fixture in the space is on a dimmer so that the lights can be adjusted according to the time of day and season.

In addition to the bar, there are three sitting areas. Enjoy your wine seated on a velvet Chesterfield sofas or plush club chair or take a seat at the long leather banquette with its row of solid aged brass round tables.

Above the banquette is the “salon wall” featuring an eclectic mix of antique maps, paintings, mirrors, and objects.

“The maps bring in the Bruere’s Iowa heritage as well as showcasing the Northwest region,” she said.

For the artwork in the tasting room, Melanie had a vision and to fulfill this vision, she called local artist Todd Telander, who is known for his fine art paintings.

A longtime Walla Walla resident, Todd was commissioned to paint large paintings of the three Capital Call estate vineyards—Carbondale, Wheatfield Vines, and Windhorse—as well as three smaller pieces to grace the salon wall.

While Todd has produced commissioned artworks for years, this is his first time creating pieces specific for a winery. A former scientific illustrator, he’s painted landscapes, portraits, still lifes, murals, and even car decorations. “What haven’t I done?” he laughed.

Todd studied images of the estate vineyards taken by local photographer Mark VanDonge and then visited the Carbondale and Wheatfield Vines vineyards for further research. The resulting artworks are gorgeously evocative of the vineyards and further elevate the warm elegance of the space.

Recently when Melanie was at the tasting room, talking with a contractor, three women walking by asked if they could get a sneak peek of the space.

“They exclaimed over the old-world club feel but with all the feminine touches. The juxtaposition of the hard and soft, the leather and velvet.”

When you visit, Melanie says to be sure to you check out the fully accessible restroom where the wallpaper has some “very unexpected and fun” elements.

The Capital Call Vintners team is grateful to find such talented partners with whom to work as we debut our new tasting room and introduce our wine to the community.