Wine Trip to Minnesota–sort of (PB)

I spent about a week out in Minneapolis visiting three of my six grandchildren, my wonderful daughter-in-law and my son–“billy” of this blog. Wine of course figured heavily into the visit since I see my son so rarely. We had a great time playing golf and drinking some nice wine as well as participating in a wine tasting at the new Wine Styles shop in Chanhassen, Mn.

“Wine Styles” is a relatively new franchise idea to market wine for the average consumer. The store’s wines are under $25 and arranged according to “style!” Big signs mark sections of wines sorted by their style--“Bold” “Sweet” “Crisp” “Fruity” etc.

It’s a great idea taking a lot of the guess work out of wine shopping. After all, not everyone has the time, the inclination or the desire to study wine as we at the Wine Cask Blog do. Tara, the store’s owner, Chanda and Kelly are hospitable hostesses and unpretentious to boot. The tasting was a bunch of fun and we met some great people. (There was a reason Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding at Cana...)

If you’re ever in the area, stop in and say hello to these fine women. Customer service is at a premium these days as illustrated by my visit to another wine shop right around the corner from Wine Styles. This shop is a Wine Spectator affiliated store and has a great selection but...

I walk in and ask the attendant behind the register if they sold newspapers in the store since I was looking for a Wall Street Journal. Understand there was NO ONE else in the store and he wasn’t doing anything but standing looking bored. His reply seemed like he was annoyed that I would trouble him with such a question. What he didn’t know was that I was there to shop for wine as well and since I was leaving for home, I was ready to spend some decent cash on three bottles to take with me; bottles that I can’t get in my part of the country; bottles that usually are fairly pricey.

As I was glancing at their selection of white Burgundies ($45 and up) I realized I was annoyed at his response to my question about the newspaper and decided I didn’t need to spend my money at his store.

I hope shop keepers who read this blog take this to heart; CUSTOMER SERVICE MATTERS TODAY!