Wakefield Wine Cellar

I've only been here once, but I would go back. I enjoy wine, but I am by no means an expert on it, so their self-service wine bar seems like a great idea to me. You can buy sample portions of any of the wines they have available until you find one you like...or if you're like me and you're indecisive, you can just sample them all for the sake of comparison. This is a quick way to expand your wine experience, so you can then stand around with your friends and make insightful comments about "blackberry notes" and "undertones of oak" and other such things that make you sound smart and classy.

An added plus is that you also don't have to worry about conversing with an overly knowledgable, intimidating sommelier, who will sniff out your true level of wine ignorance within fifteen seconds of talking to you and expose you like the pathetic sham you are.

Ahem. I mean...they have tapas too! Mmmmm, tapas...

Unfortunately I can't say what the wine, food, or anything else is like at this place. We were planning to try it the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend while we were in town with my in-laws. I checked the Facebook page, website and called to confirm the hours because we would be driving at least 30 minutes out of our way to get there. The website said that it was Mimosa day and the recording that answered the phone listed normal business hours. When we arrived, there was a piece of paper taped to the door stating that they were closed in observance of Memorial Day - which was the next day. There were several people inside who looked at us through the glass doors as we stood there in confusion. Each of them made eye contact with us and then just walked away.  I assume they were employees or owners but they clearly did not care at all. Random closings during normal business hours could be easily posted on Facebook, the website, and the phone message. Ugh. So frustrating.

I was really excited to try this place. I was meeting a date there. I arrived first and was immediately greeted; however, that was the only time I was approached for service. We did the tasting, which was okay. We had to wait a long time in between tastes. My date introduced himself to the owner who said she'd offer us tapas once we got seats and settled in. We grabbed seats. No one approached us to offer tapas or wine. We say there for a good 30 minutes and then left to go elsewhere because the service was so bad. It was also super loud so we had to yell at each other. There was also a drunk woman who kept interrupting my date and the tasting by asking us to answer her fake phone. Rude. Concept is great, but not impressed with the atmosphere or service.