Sneak peek: Burial Beer's Visuals rooftop wine bar opening on South Slope in Asheville
ASHEVILLE - A visually and taste-stimulating rooftop bar debuts in Asheville’s downtown brewing district this weekend.
On June 7, Burial Beer Co. will open Visuals Rooftop Bar at 10 Buxton Ave. to showcase its Visuals wine company brand and other craft beverages.
Burial’s Director of Visuals Wine and co-founder Tim Gormley said the new bar offers a chance for guests to taste a different side of Burial and try new products in a beautiful, outdoor space with mountain views.
“Visuals is something that I’ve put so much of myself into, so much of my focus and fermentation background that I’ve obtained over the last 12-plus years in the industry,” Gormley said. “It’s a unique, different experience from what we typically offer as Burial. It’s much more elegant and elevated.”
Visuals distributes to North Carolina restaurants, taprooms and bottle shops and now has a dedicated home where imbibers may enjoy the brand’s diverse line of natural wines, cider and aperitifs.
Burial, an award-winning brewery at 40 Collier Ave. founded in Asheville in 2013, continues to expand its multifaceted South Slope campus. It has transformed from a craft beer brewery and taproom to include the neighboring Eulogy live music venue (opened last November), a bottle shop and Chef Ashleigh Shanti’s Good Hot Fish restaurant.
Visuals tops off the guest experience on Eulogy’s roof.
Visuals Rooftop Bar menu
The all-day café will open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily with a menu of in-house crafted natural wine, natural cider, aperitif, coffee, cocktails and beer.
A curated dining menu will feature small plates like pickled vegetables, cheese and cured meats, smoked fish and pastries largely sourced from local purveyors and prepared by the Burial South Slope Kitchen, which serves the taproom.
Gormley said Visuals’ culinary beverages feature local and regional farm-sourced ingredients and botanicals, and the bar’s drink menu options are intentionally matched with gastronomic snacks.
In 2017, the Burial team developed Visuals and released the first products in 2020, prompted by customers’ requests for beer alternatives.
Gormley and his business partners Doug and Jess Reiser continue to lean into introducing and enhancing beverage styles beyond beer to appeal to wider drinking demographics.
Gormley said the consumers’ call for diversification has greatly changed the beer industry, and Visuals continue to evolve from single-barrel beer sours and ciders to natural wines and aperitifs, taking advantage of Western North Carolina's agricultural bounty, like Hendersonville apples.
“We have so many different experiences right there on that one block, it’s cool to be able to capture the beer audience, the wine audience, the live music audience,” Gormley said. “We’re making coffee now and have an espresso machine on the Visuals roof deck, as well.”
He said he’s excited to share cocktails incorporating Visuals products like the Ceremonial Bloom spritz made with Visuals’ Steeped in Ceremony aperitif, elderflower, soda and lemon.
Visuals and global winemakers' selections of sparkling, white, orange, pink and red wine varieties will be offered.
Gormley’s Visuals wine favorites include two versions of a Sauvignon Blanc. Each uses the same kind of grape but Slip into Solitude is made using the direct-press and Sink into Seclusion is made using the skin-contact methods.
Wine flights are available, and guests may purchase bottles at the bar or in the downstairs bottle shop.
Glass pours of Visuals wine range from $12-$14, wine flights are $19, beer and cider range from $6-$8 and signature cocktails range from $14-$17. Bar bites range from $9-$22.
Visuals design effect
Burial’s Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder Doug Reiser said in a news release that Visuals aims to “present a fully immersive entertainment experience” and provide “an elevated, conversational experience countered by the more festive, sessionable experience next door at Burial.”
“The parallel venues allow two different comfort zones to take anchor, in advance of attending entertainment performances at Eulogy, down below,” Reiser said.
Gormley said Visuals’ geometric and nature-inspired brand art was reimagined in the three-dimensional space designed with angular shapes, wood elements and plants, and aims to create a Bohemian aura. Wine’s Mediterranean origins and history served as inspiration, too.
A partial roof and canopy offer shade. The bar flows into the high and low-top tables and bench seating lounge area. Intimate nooks provide privacy for small groups.
Burial’s campus sits on the hilly intersection of Buxton and Collier avenues. Visuals overlooks the South Slope neighborhood and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The rooftop bar has three entry points at Eulogy, including an internal and external stairwell and an ADA-accessible elevator inside the music venue.
Visuals Rooftop Bar
Where: 10 Buxton Ave., Eulogy at Burial Beer South Slope, Asheville.
Opening: June 7.
Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. daily.
Info: For more about Visuals, Burial Beer Co. and Eulogy, visit burialbeer.com and follow on Instagram at @drinkvisuals, @burialbeer and @eulogyavl.
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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Burial Beer's Visuals rooftop wine bar opening announced, sneak peek
