Abigael Wallrich and Chelsea Gilling have a wine lover’s dream job. The sisters, owners of FullySTOCKED Wine and Liquor Lounge in downtown Shawano, just returned from a business trip to Napa, where they traveled with two of their wine reps and met winemakers.
“It was the perfect mixture of business and pleasure,” Wallrich says. “We gained a lot more knowledge in the growing and harvesting process. And tasted a lot of wines — we know, it’s a hard job.”
“We can’t wait to get some of these new wines on our system for others to enjoy as much as we did,” Gilling adds.
FullySTOCKED offers 20 rotating wines and eight changing spirits on tap through Napa Valley Technology’s self-service WineStation, which keeps wine and spirit bottles chilled to the proper temperature. It also blankets the wine inside partially consumed bottles with inert argon gas to keep it from spoiling.
“Our machines are operated by a card that you tap on the machine and select whether you would like to purchase a taste, half pour or full pour,” Gilling explains. “The cards work like a tab, so select a wine, press a button, hold your glass under the nozzle and let the machine do the rest.”
Once you have your drink, she says, relax and enjoy an artfully crafted charcuterie slate or crostini. The lounge, which hosts events like twice-monthly trivia nights and wine pairing dinners, is also available for private parties.
The sisters agree that their goal is for everyone to see Shawano the way they do — as the best place to live, work and play.
“Abigael and I have dreamed of owning our own store since we were little girls,” Gilling says. “Downtown Shawano has always been a place we wanted to be, and now we’re here.”
