PORT ANGELES — The new owners of Olympic Cellars, the home of Working Girls wines, plan to build on a good thing.
Lisa and Tom Martin of Sequim hope that by December they will offer locally brewed beer and sandwiches in the big 1890 dairy barn at 255410 U.S. Highway 101 between Port Angeles and Sequim.
Kathy Charlton, who took a financially troubled winery 15 years ago and made it profitable, publicly announced the final sale to the Martins and their small group of investors at the Olympic Medical Center Foundation’s Harvest of Hope on Oct. 18.
Under Charlton and her all-women team, the winery became known as a place for summer concerts, chocolate and cheese tastings and even a September grape stomp.
Many traditions will stay in place, said Lisa, 46, who has been with the winery since she began part-time in 2008.
“Customers can rest assured that Tom and I will continue the Working Girl brand in perpetuity in honor of Kathy, the winery’s original Working Girl,” she said.
“We’ll also continue producing Dungeness, Olympic Cellars’ heritage label, which is trademarked by the winery.
“The summer concert series is here to stay, as is the winery’s strong commitment to community involvement.”
One change: the winery’s tagline “Women Owned and Operated” has become “Family Owned — Women Operated.”
And the Martins have a few plans of their own.
They are working on getting county and state permits for a restaurant in the winery to serve snacks, appetizers and sandwiches.
“It’s not going to be a big, fancy winery restaurant — more of a lunch place,” Lisa said.
The plan is that the restaurant will be open during all winery hours, which in the winter are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
And they will offer beer.
The couple also owns Fathom & League Hop Yard Brewery of Carlsborg, a small specialty operation that produces 10 seasonal beers for area restaurants.
They had hoped to relocate the brewery at the winery but state regulation won’t permit that.
So instead they will have Fathom & League, and perhaps other beers, on tap and available in half-gallon growlers and quart squealers.
Also, winemaker Greg Vogtritter, who has worked at the winery since August 2013, is making new Spanish varietal wines, Lisa said.
The new ownership’s coming out party on Friday already is sold out. Only 50 tickets were available for the Inaugural Fall Wine Event.
On Saturday and Sunday, the winery will participate in the Olympic Peninsula Wineries’ annual Fall Harvest Tour of eight artisan wineries on the North Olympic Peninsula.
The transfer of ownership was in process for some two years, during which time Charlton trained Lisa as the winery’s operations manager.
Molly Rivard, a longtime Working Girl, remains tasting room manager.
And of what the original Working Girl?
Charlton, 64, will serve as a consultant to the Martins through January.
But her primary job is as operations manager with Target Focus Training, a self-defense education business.
Charlton’s husband, Ralph, is equal partners with Tim Larkin of Las Vegas in the business, which can be found at Targetfocustraining.com.
Target Focus Training offers classes, DVDs and books that teach basic self-protection that Charlton said does not make its users dependent on a firearm nor on martial arts skills.
Larkin developed the system and works with the instructors at training facilities in Las Vegas, Dallas, New York and San Diego, Charlton said.
Charlton spent much of last year launching Larkin’s book, Survive the Unthinkable: A Total Guide to Women’s Self-Protection, which made the New York Times best seller list.
Larkin also co-authored How to Survive the Most Critical 5 Seconds of Your Life.
Survive the Unthinkable has the potential of bringing more women to self-defense training, something Charlton, who she says is “still a Working Girl,” applauds.
“When we get women into training, it’s usually after the fact,” she said.
“It’s our goal to get more people interested before an assault. Knowing what to do is important.”
Training sessions have yet to be scheduled on the Peninsula, but “some day before this is all over, I’ll have one of my instructors up here,” Charlton said.
Charlton took over Olympic Cellars after retiring from Texas Instruments.
At first, her involvement was primarily a financial decision.
Neuharth Winery, which had been in a barn in Sequim — the 15th winery in the state — had been moved to Olympic Cellar’s location for the 4.6-mile Highway 101 bypass around Sequim that opened Aug. 18, 1999.
Her mother-in-law was involved in the project and renovation was proving to be very expensive, according to Charlton.
One day, when she was out of the country, her husband called to ask “How would you like to buy a winery?” Charlton recalled.
The couple purchased it. After a couple of years, they moved to area and Charlton focused on it full-time.
The winery became a passion for her after its Dungeness Red won a gold medal in 2001.
“It’s like placing a $2 bet,” Charlton said.
“I stepped over the line and said, I want to run a winery.
“Having a small business in a new community and getting involved was the best thing,” she said.
“The last 15 years have been great.”
How does she feel about letting go of her baby?
“It has really been hard,” she said.
“The hardest time was this summer. We were actively getting everything ready. We were having the concert season. I couldn’t even stay to the end of the concert.
“It’s been hard, but it was time,” Charlton said.
“It’s time for a new generation.
“I couldn’t leave the winery in better hands.”
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Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or at leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
