Ballou's Wine Bar

Guilford location :  wine selection is amateur and mainstream, but what probably appeals to most. Too expensive by the glass for those wines. $7-$13.  The main probably is that since you have ( they say 80 wines by the glass). you don't have the turnover to keep them fresh. We tried to pick some value wines - old world that we thought would be more complex and not so much new world fruit. The crianza Rioja and the generic Bordeaux were our choices ($10ea).  The Rioja was sour and had to be sent back and tried a greg Norman Shiraz/CS. My wife's Bordeaux was on the verge of turning.  These wines can not stay open for more than a few days without giving the wine a bad name. People will walk away and say I don't like Rioja and Bordeaux. What A shame.  Crab cakes were good.  I find the service there always pleasant but a bit amateur.  The patio is nice, but too bad we are in a parking lot-maybe surround with a border of trees?
Offer  a mandatory wine 101 course for the servers and put vintages on the list.

Went here last night with two of my girlfriends. We all had wine and sat outside on the patio. It was pretty hot outside but they have umbrellas so there is a lot of shade. We ordered the pepper jack cheese and artichoke fondue. In previous visits I have ordered the chocolate peanut butter fondue. Both are delicious. The cheese comes with bread to dip and the chocolate comes with banana, strawberry, cake bits and rice Krispy treads....so yeah. Pretty epic.
If you are looking for a place with a relaxing, charming atmosphere to sit and catch up with friends, this is the place! It would also be a great place for a date.

We enjoyed our time here. We tried the Cucumber Melon White Wine Sangria- It should have had more wine less soda in it. But the atmosphere is really good and the food was tasty. We'll head back again this summer. It's a nice relaxing spot.