Jeremy Ratliff
Editor
On Thursday, July 9, Sutton’s Wine Bar officially opened its doors at 129 N. Prospect Street, at the former Golden Harvest location.
Owned and operated by Vanessa Lazarz, she cites a strong interest being expressed by customers at Ana Blair’s Boutique-which she also owns and operates- in an establishment which offers a wine variety, as the key factor in opening Sutton’s.
“The subject would come up fairly often at the boutique; whether or not I planned to offer wine and so on, so I decided to look into the idea,” she explains.
“The more people I talked to about the idea, the more interest and support I found. We didn’t really have a similar option here locally so I decided to give it a shot.”
Named after her son, whose namesake happened to be inspired by the legendary moonshiner Popcorn Sutton, involving her children’s names with her establishments has become a theme of sorts for Lazarz.
Sutton’s now offers 16 types of wine, including moscatos, cabernets, chardonnays and Pinot Noir. In addition, Sutton’s features two wines every month as well wine flights served with gourmet truffles. Aside from wine, Sutton’s offers craft soda, spirits and a beer selection consisting of both domestics and craft beers, including Crowlers from the Sawmill Brewing Company.
For those interested in something to munch on with their beverage of choice, Sutton’s offers various appetizer options from bruschetta and various flatbreads to dips and an assortment of cheeses and meats.
Despite being open for only two weeks, Lazarz is pleased with the steady flow of business.
“Whenever you start something new, you’re never really sure how it’s going to go at first. But I have been very pleased so far. Business has been very steady, even with the ongoing construction in the area. I’m pretty excited to see what the future holds.”
In terms of the future, Lazarz plans to add an outdoor patio in front of the store as well as a walk-up window.
“The community has been very supportive of Ana Blair’s from the start, so I am hopefully that same level of generous support will carry over for Suttons. It is my hope Sutton’s will become a preferred option for various events such as meetings and gatherings, will prove to be an establishment our local community will be proud of, and ultimately become a Merrill destination of choice.”