Soft Opening

We had our “soft opening” last night with family and friends who have supported Great Basin Winery in the process of getting our business started. It has been a long process, and it feels surreal that the time to open is finally here! We couldn’t be here without the support of family and friends who helped in this journey.

In the Spring of 2016, GBW decided to go in with 2 other small wineries on a lease for a space on 4th street following a model similar to the well know Woodinville Warehouse Winery District in Washington. A young entrepreneur with big ideas was building a brewery in half of the building (which is now the well-established and loved Lead Dog Brewing Company) and was willing to lease a shared space for the 3 wineries—Great Basin Winery, Nevada Sunset, and Basin and Range.

Having a building lease made it possible to get Federal permit applications going, but a roadblock existed at the State level with the business model of multiple wineries at one location. This was ultimately resolved with a statute change during in the 2017 Nevada Legislature, allowing the wineries to get remaining necessary licensing in 2017.

Great wine starts with great fruit, and our winemaker had long standing relationships with award winning vineyard/winery owners in Sonoma, Amador, and Mendocino Counties from the previous 10 years of home winemaking. In fact our 2016 vintage was actually started at one of them while waiting to get Nevada permitting finalized, Thank God for Good Friends!

Our 2016 wines were bottled late this Spring and Summer, and we had family and friends out to help and be a part of the fun!

Our soft opening was a way to say thank you for all of the support we have received over the past few years. GBW started with not only a deep love for high-quality wine but also with a love for the precious moments shared with family and friends—many of those times with a glass of wine in hand. Adam has put in hours to make his dream of a winery in Reno coming true, and he has had many hands help him make this become a reality.