RICHMOND, Va. – The home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels turned into a booze lover's paradise Saturday for the Virginia Spirits Sampler.
The event joined PopUp RVA, the local market held every Saturday at the Diamond.
The single-day event brought together 12 Virginia distilleries that offered more than 80 different brews for guests to sample.
Many of the drinks at the sampler were unique to the distilleries.
Guests could also vote for their favorite spirits. Gold, silver and bronze medals were given to the top three.
In addition to the distilleries, more than 50 vendors and live music performances kept guests entertained for hours.
Alberto Maynez uses "old, beat up" bourbon barrels and upclyes them into patriotic barware, bottle openers, cutting boards and even candles.
The Army solider and founder of Buena Vida Designs said he first discovered his passion, which he described as an outlet and therapy, when he moved back to Texas and decided to build his own coffee table.
"Let me just make it myself. And it went from there," Maynez said. "Slowly it started evolving, getting a little better at developing new skills on how I do what I do. It's just a weekend thing, sometimes a lot of late nights, sacrifice sleep. But I enjoy it."
Maynez said the PopUp RVA event offered a great opportunity for networking and collaboration, in addition to allowing vendors to reach new customers.
“I think that this is a good opportunity to show everybody what everybody has to offer, about what’s available in the local area,” Maynez said. “And not necessarily have to go big brand, big box.”
