11 04 09

The Vineyard Wine Bar Opens to Capacity Crowds

Filed under: Joe's Blog — Tags: , , , , — vineyardwinebar @ 11:10 pm

Well….. we’ve been open for one week now and what a week it’s been.

We opened our doors last Monday to a big lunch crowd, and an even larger dinner crowd. As a matter of fact we were so full that we had to turn away 10 walk-in’s, (which I hated to do), but when you make reservations at The Vineyard Wine Bar, the table, (or couch), is yours for the entire evening. Our reservation policy is based on the European reservation policy where we only have 1 seating for the evening, and the table is yours for as long as you want to stay…. No one is going to rush you. (The world slows down at The Vineyard Wine Bar.)

Tuesday was a repeat of Monday, and Wednesday and Thursday were the same…. packed full.

We had our ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, and we were full to capacity the entire day and evening once again.

Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening were once again full, and we got a brief break on Sunday with an “almost full” crowd that kept us hopping until closing.

One of the rewards about the week was experiencing our guest’s faces when they saw the food presentations arrive at the table. Some guests even took pictures of their food before eating.

Another reward was seeing many of the same faces throughout the week. We’ve had guests come back 2, 3, even 4 times during the 6 days that we were open. They brought different friends each time they came in, and their friends brought different friends each time they came in, and their friends-friends brought different friends each time they came in. It’s very rewarding, and you know you’re doing something right, when people come back 3 or 4 times in 6 days. Everyone has been telling us that they love the food, the wine, the service, the décor, and the music….. and it shows when they come back multiple times.

Retail shopOur Retail Store:
Our retail store is now open in our lounge and wine is ready to be purchased and taken home. In fact, our retail sales have been pretty strong over the past few days. I’ve heard customers comment that they have to purchase a full case at other stores to get the price that we offer by the individual bottle. We know our prices are at least $2 to $3 to $4 dollars a bottle cheaper, and our selection is, in a word…. “AWESOME”. Stop in and see our A to Z selection of wines.

Speaking about our wine selection…. The reason we’re able to offer such a great selection is because of being in the wine business for almost 30 years. During those almost 30 years that I’ve spent as an importer, supplier, wholesale distributor, wine judge, consultant, and educator, I’ve made many “wine friends”. These wine friends, (wine makers, winery owners, etc.); enable us to have access to many of the worlds great wines that other wine shops and restaurants rarely see.

As a result of our wine friends we are able to bring you the best of what is available in the vast world of wine. As you browse through our wine selections many will be unfamiliar to you because we search out the best that is available from small family owned, and operated, “winery-farms”. These “winery farms” are operated by families who have been making wine for generations, passing down their wine making practices from father to son… or daughter.

They are artisans, skillfully working their land, and tending to their grapes like children, to bring you the best, un-commercialized wines the world has to offer.

We are proud to offer you the best, and please feel free to ask questions about our great wine selection.

Upcoming events:
In the next few weeks we will start scheduling some fun and exciting wine-events that will help us get through the winter months. We’re planning to have a few “fireside chats” with winemakers as we meet them and taste some of their wines in our lounge. We’re also going to line up some “Skype” tastings with wine makers in Europe, and we’ll have a few private tasting events too. We’re also going to announce the beginning of our wine education classes, which will start after the first of the year. These education classes will be geared toward helping you understand wine, and enjoy it more. We’ll cover topics like “How to read labels and understand them”, (some of the German and French labels can be confusing), and “How to insure you’re getting what you’re paying for”, (you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get really good wine), along with “Organic wines and how sulfites affect in wines”, (this will be good for those of you that are affected by sulfites in wine). We’ll have many, many other fun topics to discuss, and of course there will always be a question and answer period so I can help take the intimidation factor out of wine. Stay tuned to email as we announce our events in the next few weeks.

Until the next email… stay well, and we hope to see you soon for lunch or dinner at The Vineyard Wine Bar…   The Destination for Wine Lovers.

JL

08 18 09

Update #3: The Vineyard Wine Bar – Full Steam Ahead

Filed under: Construction — Tags: — vineyardwinebar @ 7:36 am

july 6th 2009 012Well it’s been very hectic at The Vineyard Wine Bar since I wrote last, and I appoligize for taking so long in getting you an update.

As you recall from my last update, we had just finished putting in all new plumbing throughout, and the electricians were about to start their portion of the build out. Well…… just as we thought…. the entire electric system had to be replaced… not a single inch of old electric could be used. It took more time than we expected with electricians on the job for the past, almost, three weeks.
july 6th 2009 007

The electric was much more involved than the plumbing. The plumbing, as you can imagine, was mostly in the floor, where as the electricity replacement was in the floors, the walls, and the ceilings. There were, (in some cases still are), holes everywhere where new wire had to be fished through walls, and beams and joists, but Tony and Mike, (the 2 very capable dry wall experts), are doing a great job of patching everything up and making it new again, and in a couple days everything will look great!

We passed electric inspection on Thursday of last week…. Yea!!! (Sorry I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to drop you all an update until now)….. and so now we move on to electrical “finish work”.

july 6th 2009 001

What we accomplished this past week was:

  • The bathroom walls and ceilings are now in.
  • Sub floors have been put in.
  • Tile has been laid, (we chose a really nice “slate” look with swirls of gray, olive and burgundy combined with a light gray grout. The bathrooms are going to compliment the colors throughout the lounge and bar area very nicely, and are going to be comfortable.
  • The toilets and sinks are now in and we have running water for the first time.
  • The prep room has been outfitted with new walls, sub-floor and ceiling, and the kitchen is being worked on.
  • The walls were run for our office and the rest room divider was put up.
  • The Fireplace is now in place with the venting being run.
  • The new furnace and central air is now fully in place, and operative.

The painter starts on the tin ceiling this Wednesday and then the walls in the lounge and wine bar will follow next week.


We started building the new bar frame on Thursday, and picked out the furniture grade wood that will become the face of the bar. We also picked out the cabinets for the back bar and they will be in place by the end of this week…. then our furniture maker will start the custom shelving build out.


The final measurement for the custom Granite bar top was done on Friday morning and the 20 foot slab will be made, polished and finished in 2 weeks.

We’ve had numerous meetings with our food purveyors and started finalizing the menu choices, and we’ve also met with wine distributors and started the long and difficult task, of finding the BEST wines available, from the best wine growing regions of the world, at the best prices.

july 6th 2009 003


As we move further into this week, and for the next couple weeks…. along with finishing the front bar build out, placements of the cabinets, building of the back bar shelving, painting of the ceilings and walls…. We will also install the bar floor, install the floor tile in the kitchen and prep rooms, install a new hardwood floor in the bar area, and carpet in the lounge area, finish the rest rooms, and office, hang lighting fixtures, and continue to build out the kitchen, along with starting to empty out our garages and basements by bringing furniture and equipment that we’ve been storing there.


In our spare time we’re also working on finalizing the glassware, plates, silverware, napkins….. Wow, the list just goes on and on.

The next few weeks will consist of long, hard days, but the place is starting to look like a wine bar and we’re starting to see rewarding results from all our hard work.

As you probably know by now, we are off schedule and won’t be making our target of a Labor Day weekend opening….. but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and feel we’re not too far off from opening.


Thanks for being a part of the progress, for all the well wishes, and for all the support we’ve been getting from all of you.

Joe Lertch and Jarrod Cronin

Joe Lertch and Jarrod Cronin


07 29 09

Update #2: The Vineyard Wine Bar Starts Taking Shape

Filed under: Construction — Tags: , — vineyardwinebar @ 2:19 pm

June 2009 006

Setting up a wine bar in a building built in 1838 means that there is going to be a few things that need updating! (Ya think!) For the past week and a half we have had 4 to 6 plumbers at the wine bar every day. It appears that the plumbing hasn’t been updated, or repaired, since, like, the 1920’s…… so you can’t even begin to imagine what they discovered when they started ripping out floors to update! They couldn’t use a single inch of the old plumbing in the entire building, so for the past, almost-two-weeks they have been laying all new hot and cold lines, sewer lines, vent lines, drains, sink drains, you name it, throughout the bar area, the kitchen area, the prep room area, and both rest rooms. There must be miles of piping running through the floors in the place….. (seriously, there must be a couple football fields of piping.)

Anyway, today the plumbing inspector was there and looked, (in detail), at all the work that’s been done over the past two weeks by these guys and gave us the thumbs up…… WE PASSED INSPECTION! Yea!!!
June 2009 020
So the plumbing is roughed in, the new HVAC ducts are in and drywalled, and the electrician was given the green light to start his portion of the job. (We’re expecting the electric is going to be in the same condition as the plumbing so we’re looking at a week and a half to two weeks for him to complete his job.)
We purchased, and picked up, our gas fireplace, (for those nights when you want to sit in our couches, or love seats, in front of the fireplace), and the gas lines have been run. Cable, computer lines, (WIFI), and phone lines have been run, and we’ve picked out the flooring. It’s moving a little slower than we’d like….. but it’s moving steady and we’re still shooting for an early September opening.
June 2009 007

PS….. did you know that our historic town missed being the capital of the United States by one (1) vote? Yep.. Washington DC beat out Havre de Grace as the capital of the USA but just one vote!
Here are some more pictures of our progress!
June 2009 010
June 2009 032June 2009 024

07 15 09

Update #1: Introducing The Vineyard Wine Bar…Coming Soon!

Filed under: Construction — Tags: — vineyardwinebar @ 2:29 pm
vineyard-wine-bar-logo
What a difference a week makes. If you had stopped in to see us at The Vineyard Wine Bar last Monday…. than stopped again this past Monday, you wouldn’t believe you were in the same place. The changes are dramatic!
We started full demo of the building last Monday. Old fluorescent light fixtures were torn out…. walls came down… floors came up…. ceilings came down…. freezers and refrigerators and shelving and sinks and cabinets came out… old electric fixtures came out… radiators and old plumbing was torn out… at the conclusion we removed 2-tractor-trailer sized dumpsters full of *%$@, and we now have the 3rd tractor-trailer sized dumpster in place.
As I write this today new sheet rock is up….. new walls are up….. ceilings are in….. the plumber is on the property starting to install all new plumbing throughout….. the HVAC guy’s are on the property installing a new furnace, running new ducts throughout and new air conditioning…. and there are a total of 7 contractors doing work to help get us operational.
Lot’s of exciting stuff for us.
The days are long but the energy is starting to build.
PS….. did you know that our building was build in 1838? It’s a historic place in town. (More to come on the colorful history of our building.)