3 | genuine wine country janet tupper, founder of mercantile 12, first ventured to napa and sonoma on a wine tasting trip in 1993. she fell in love with everything about wine country—the hills, vine- yards, barrel rooms, hoteliers, chefs, and wine makers. at the root of it all was the con- cept of the terroir, which makes each vintage, each vineyard, each experience unique. in 2010, while touring wineries in walla walla, washington, she noticed a massive dis- connect in some of the tasting rooms. there was plenty of kitschy, tacky, blingy tees with tired wine motifs—but where were the tasteful, attractive products that spoke to the sense of place, that she as a wine lover would actually want to take home and use? then a light bulb went off—there should be gifts that meet the taste level of these world-class destinations, providing wine country visitors with gifts and products that are well-made and meaningful. mercantile 12 was born, with the vision of taking a little piece of the terroir home—a token of what made that experience unique. now, visitors to wine country and beyond can capture that wine country feeling with mercantile 12’s popular ceramic mugs and tumblers, flour sack tea towels, canvas totes and aprons, tees, caps, and wine accessories. mercantile 12 reminds wine country visitors of their happy place, because after all... it’s about taking the memory home. co-founder janet tupper we’re all about wine country