Sandra S.
Yelp
I feel like a hater, and perhaps a fogey. I don't write many reviews, but I guess the emotion I'm feeling is offended, or affronted? I also would like this place to make it, and maybe they will, even without making any changes... I may just not fit the target market, along with two of my friends who had already been there and independently advised me they wouldn't be returning.
My main complaint is the price of the wine, and also the differential between buying it to take home, and buying it to take outside and drink. The prices seem to average around $30 to take home, and around $50 (so $20 corkage fee) if you drink it there. There is no table service, but they do provide glasses, and a cutting board, cutlery and little plates if you plan on buying some of their gourmet groceries and eat them on-site. For the groceries, you don't pay a different price regardless of where you eat, so if you haven't paid enough attention to the fine print, the sticker shock on the wine is even bigger.
I am a devotee of BC wine, I pay a premium for that loyalty to local wineries, but the $30 price tag is steep, even compared to other BC natural wines. It needs to be pretty special for that price. Who is the winemaker? Who grew the grapes, and where? (Sometimes they say, sometimes they don't). Has anyone reviewed this wine? (I looked) Most wineries do tastings? How is this price justified?
We took our wine, cheese, crackers and chicken liver mousse outside to a long skinny table, bolted into a concrete area out front, which is not level, making our stay on the tall metal stools quite uncomfortable - I was tilted, it felt like the wine glasses were too, who might hit the ground first?
Compliments - they were quite well-organized, and the aesthetic is strong, funky and pleasing. Cleanliness was good. If someone credentialed convinces me the wine is worth it, and I can sit in another area, I will try again. I'm local, it's a novel, interesting idea, I'd love for it to not be annoying.