A passion project has become a lively reality for Platte City business owner Laura Lowry.
Barley & Vine opened late last year on Platte City’s Main Street and the community celebrated with a ribbon cutting hosted by the Platte City Area Chamber of Commerce on Friday, March 8 – in honor of International Women’s Day. Barley & Vine is a craft brewery and full service wine bar, located at 246 Main Street in Platte City.
Lowry described Barley & Vine as a women-owned craft brewery with a sommelier-led wine program, rare and allocated whiskey selections, a wine retail store and it also offers a private event space.
“Being a female business owner isn’t without its struggles, but I am learning and growing as I go,” Lowry said.
With a background in education – teaching middle school English for 11 years – making the move to brewer came organically through a love for learning.
“I had stepped away from teaching and was trying to figure out my next move,” Lowry said. “In order to help occupy my mind, I started watching documentaries, reading books, and listening to podcasts about wine. I found that I was fascinated by the stories, information and wine industry in general. I had also noticed that it was very hard to find a brewery in the area that offered both craft beers and a cultivated wine program. It was either you get a great beer and a crappy glass of wine, or you get a good glass of wine and a mass produced beer.”
She and her husband often ran into this situation and decided to do something about it, jumping into craft brewing and the whirl of choosing a location, equipment purchasing, hiring, licensing and more.
From the beginning, Lowry knew she wanted to locate the business in Platte City because it is her community.
“I live here,” she said. “My husband has a business here. Our children go to/have gone to school here. When the idea of Barley & Vine came to be, there was no question of it being anywhere else. I wanted to help build the community I call home.”
The choice of downtown was an easy one as well, she said.
“We have so much potential in Downtown Platte City, and I am so happy to be a part of its development,” she said. “I would love to see it grow to something similar to Weston or Parkville.”
While she was happy to bring more options to Platte City’s historic downtown, Lowry called the process of opening up an adventure.
“I fell in love with the space as soon as I walked through it,” she said. “The potential. The history! But holy moly, it was not easy.
“My building was the first building to be built in Platte City which is so cool, but it was not built to meet current building codes or to run large brewing equipment. However, it turned out even better than I could have imagined.”
Now that Barley & Vine is open for business, Lowry has loved the support the brewery has received from the community.
“We feel so lucky and supported by our community,” she said. “It’s amazing to hear the positive feedback, and to see all of the familiar faces.”
The budding brewery has also been embraced by the larger Kansas City craft brewing community.
“We’ve often reached out with questions, and have felt very supported by our neighbors,” she said.
For more information on Barley & Vine, see the website at barleyvinepc.com.