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Vintner Wine Market |
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Let me give you a brief background for this story. Nearly two years ago I visited the Vintner Wine Market for the first time. I was shopping in the area and needed a good bottle of wine to take as a gift to a friend coming in from Virginia. I found the fledgling store to have little inventory or diversity of stock, but the two managers, Charlie and Justin, were full of hope for the future. I promised to return again another time and went upon my business. A few months later I returned to find an increased inventory and a growing crowd of patrons. I also discovered one of my favorite wines. Since that time I have recommended the shop to my friends, fellow wine lovers and my readers. This past Friday I was attending the weekly free wine tasting at Total Wine and More in Matthews. After the tasting concluded I convinced a fellow wine lover friend of mine, Charles to make a trip to the Arboretum to visit Vintner Wine Market with me to sample a bottle of wine and have some food at their bar. We made the trip over and entered the shop. There were only a very few people there which I found to be odd for a Friday night, but we were undeterred. I selected a bottle of Norton Privada for us to sample. This fabulous Malbec is priced at $25.00 per bottle, but well worth it for its complexity and flavor. We approached the wine bar and informed the bar person of our selection. We were asked if we wanted to take it home or drink it there. We simply replied that we wanted to open it there as we intended to order food. This is where things turned very sour. The bar person informed me that there would be a $5.00 corking fee to have the wine in the bar. I stared at the bar person with my best dumbstruck expression for a full 5 seconds before giving the reply of, "Excuse, me?" I have to say that my apparent dumbfoundedness was only partially feigned. I firmly convinced myself that the bar person had to be joking or confused. I informed him that the bottle had come from his shelf and that we did not bring it with us and that we intended to consume it on the premises with food that we were going to order from his bar. I was again told that it would cost $5.00 to uncork the bottle. My previous dumbfoundness was rapidly becoming indignation. I once again gave him my best "you must be joking" look and replied, " you must me kidding me...right? We want to buy a $25.00 bottle of wine from your shelf, to consume in your bar, with your food which we intend to buy, ...and you want to charge me an additional $5.00 as a corking fee? The simple "yes", was my only reply. In an attempt to bring sanity back to the proceeding I asked if either Charlie or Justing were available, and was informed that neither worked there any longer. I looked at my friend Charles and informed him that I had a real problem with paying additional money for this absurd proceedure. He wholeheartedly agreed and we decided to take our money and our busines to Phil and Tony's next door, where we enjoyed some delicious calamari and a few pints of Stella Artois, Belgian Lager. I did give my card to the bar keep before I left and asked him to give it to the new manager with the message that I was the one he had "pissed off" this evening, and that he could read my thoughts about the matter before the weekend was out. So congratulations to Vintner Wine Market, you have the distinction of being one of the only two bad reviews that to date I have given. I will still give you free advertising as I have for nearly two years now..the only exception being that I now recommend that people not visit your market. Vintner Wine Market8128 Providence Road,
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