plans couldn’ t have come at a better time.
“ Mom called and said, ' I am trying to open a wine bar in Somerset and I could use a hand," said Jake. " At the time I was sitting around in Colorado post-divorce, not really having any plans or big things coming up in the future so I packed up and moved to Somerset."
Before moving, the pair looked at several buildings in downtown Somerset trying to find the right location for the wine bar.
Lee said that it was during a visit with an old friend, Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, that she learned that the space which would become the location for Southern Vines was available.
“ In December of 2020 I was sitting in Mayor Keck’ s office one day and he got a phone call from David Barnett telling him he had a building he was going to sell,” Lee said.“ Alan told him he had someone sitting in his office who might want to come and see it.
" So, my sister and I came down and looked at it that day and loved it," she added. " I told David that day that I wanted to buy it.”
Before she could pull up roots and move, Lee said she had to take care of business in Texas, so Barnett allowed her to rent the building until she bought it in March of 2021 and moved to Somerset.
She quickly put up a Future Home of“ Southern Vines Wine Bar” sign in the window that was there over the next three years.
She and Jake did most of the work themselves, painstakingly and methodically transforming the 2,200-square-foot building.
While most of what they did themselves was difficult, Lee said, it was time consuming to get it to where it embodied the vision she had for the business.
“ I had been in a lot of wineries in Texas which were all very much the Texas look with rough wood and a lot of stone, but that was it,” Lee said.“ I wanted Southern Vines to
We process your household containers and paper!
Owners Lee and Jake Redmond Photo by Bob Flynn
February 2026 SEKY- Southeast Kentucky Life • 17