The Grapevine

I’ve really tried to give this place many chances. I really have. I love wine. The fact is, I can get some of the same wine at the grocery store in the same village. And for less. It would be worth it for the wines I can’t if they had a better selection, prices were comparable for the other wines to what I can get elsewhere, or they had decent customer service to introduce me to new wines based on my tastes. Really, any on of these would lead me to walk in again. I’m a local and I’ve tried MANY times. I have always been ignored. This last time was the last straw. I walked up to employees and couldn’t get them to stop chatting with each other long enough to even look in my direction. I cannot figure out how they stay in business.

So my wife and I visited several weekends ago and the service we received was excellent. We had a tall gentlemen serve us (didn’t catch his name) and notice the IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America) sweatshirt I was wearing and thanked me for my service. The second time we went, they were busy and sat us in the corner but we moved to the bar where we were completely ignored. There was rarely a person behind the bar and when there was, they were on the POS and talking to each other and not us. We had to wave down the barback to get food and a refill. Then when we went to close out, the tall gentlemen who noticed us from before asked the bartender to give us a discount since I was a veteran (which we declined but he insisted). The female bartender told us «it wasn’t customary and don’t mention it again if we come in again». I expected more from the mountain community I have come to call my home. I wasn’t looking for a discount (especially since it was Memorial Day weekend and I know people who didn’t make it) and we thanked the gentlemen for offering it and told him I didn’t want to get him in trouble. He was more than welcome to cover the difference and thank me for my service one again. I don’t care about the discount but I felt offended by the way the bartender and the business handled the situation and hope they treat veterens better in the future.

I would give it a zero if I could. All employees need to follow the same business practices. My husband is an Iraq war veteran, and our server gave us a 10% veteran discount. When we went to check out, the lady told us that the discount wasn’t customary and to not mention it the next time we stop in. Ok, then I guess you’ve lost us as customers. The bartender who gave us the discount, he is awesome and attended to all of our needs today and last weekend. All of the other employees completely ignored us. I would love to speak to a manager about this issue, although I doubt they would take me seriously since they ignored us (and basically told us to sit in a corner) when we were there.

Walked in with 3 friends to have a bottle of wine on a nice day. Friends ordered a bottle of wine and I wandered over to the corner fridge where they keep a cheese selection & cured meats because I didn’t see anything especially interesting on the bar menu.
The older woman who ‘helped’ me basically tried to persuade me not to order anything from the counter, even though the waitress had pointed me there for options. «Oh, you should just order the cheese plate», «that can’t go through the slicer– I’ll have to do it by hand», «that’s too hard to cut», etc.
I thought it was pretty unfriendly customer service and ABSOLUTELY put me off spending any more money in the store even though I’d been eyeing other things in their wine/​gift section.
Buy your wine and picnic snacks at the grocery store and save yourself the trouble of dealing with some unfriendly staff.

Walked into this place a few days ago with a friend (I’m mexican and he is black). As we went in we where told the bar was closed. It was understandable as it was a slow day and closer to the evening, but as we where heading out a couple was walking in (White couple). I waited a few seconds as I walked out and never heard any mention of being closed. We stood outside and watched them get a seat at the bar and the bar tender serve them. Our wives walked in a about 15 minutes later and saw the couple sitting at the bar having a drink. Pretty sad when Jim Crows legacy still lives in some businesses. Don’t let these ignorant people ruin your trip to Lake Arrowhead, there are plenty of other «friendly» businesses around who I would gladly spend my money on. Stine Creek bistro and Antlers Inn to name a few. I will make sure to spread the word that the Grapevine only serves «White wine»!

Cute little place in Lake Arrowhead village with a small curated wine/​beer list and food menu. They have a nice selection of cheese and on our visit, my boyfriend and I shared a hunk of brie. The brie was good, and definitely a nice portion, but the prices were on the expensive side. The place was hard to find, with google maps listing it in a very different location in the village, which made getting to it difficult. I enjoyed the ambiance once there though, and just wished that they had had larger windows for us to enjoy the lake!

This place is often very crowded, but for good reason: it has a great view from the deck, lots of drink options (including craft beer and sodas), and is one of the «classier» places to hang in Lake Arrowhead. The big drawback is that it’s overpriced. $ 12 for chips and dip, are you kidding me? Not even an LA wine bar will try to pull that off. And be ready to be bankrupted if you want to order the cheese plate. So, just snack before you come! Oh, and to all those people complaining that their kids weren’t allowed in the tasting area: the bar doesn’t make the laws, so quit blaming them. Letting your kid pee is not worth the risk of getting cited or even shut down. Just go to McDonald’s!

Great wine shop with nice and friendly staff. Nice place for gifts, wine & cheese! They also have nice selection of beers.

Came up here post-​Thanksgiving. Lovely addition to the village. Had the 15 dollar wine flight like some other reviewers. Excellent. Great wine, great view (check out the back patio) and an excellent ambiance. Great place to relax quitely with a glass of wine. Will def be coming back here and trying the cheese platter/​meats. Picked up a cigar as well. The staff was very nice. Every once in a while you have to «Treat yo self.» Oh, I brought my daughter who is 7 and kids are not allowed in the bar area. However if you lucked out and have a real well behaved one, I pulled a chair up on the end of the bar area. The staff was very accomodating.

Great place in the village at Lake Arrowhead to buy cheeses, wine, beer and assorted gifts to go with serving these items. Staff extremely friendly and helpful. Had drinks and appetizers. Delicious! Can set inside or a few tables outside overlooking the lake. Sign up for their emails. They have special nights for tastings

Always has an excellent selection of wines to sample and I have never tried a bad wine in their sample machine. My only reason for 4 stars out of 5 is the food. The first time we came, they closed their kitchen early (around 2pm) and could only serve us a few things on the menu (we ordered a grilled cheese and were rejected). The second time, we did the wine sampler and ordered a cheese bites plate and again were rejected on the grilled cheese… but they were able to melt it onto some crackers instead.
Overall, this place is awesome for wine… just fill up on food before hand or only get the cheese sampler plate.

Love this little spot in lake arrowhead. Cute gift shop as well as good wine. Great view of the lake and just an overall great place to relax and enjoy wine. The employees are friendly too :)

The service is very friendly, but they are understaffed and need some training on customer service. The flights are VERY overpriced, and on top of that they are very very cheap with their pours. As someone who regularly tastes in Napa, Sonoma and Santa Barbara this is very bad form for avid wine tasters. Unfortunately I think this style of service will hinder people from buying bottles and becoming regulars.

Horrible service. Even if you are busy, at least acknowledge that you have people waiting. Poor service! We walked out after 15 minutes of being ignored.

Great place to fill your time with something to do in a smaller town. Good wine and beer options in the tasting room.
Intimate small patio with fireplace overlooking the lake (great at sunset!)
Wine shop has some nice options of bottles for purchase.
Cheese platter was yummy.
Great place for a date, drink with a friend, or small group.

Wowwww, and the C*** of the year award goes to this owner. Spent 2.5 hours driving from San Diego to visit Lake Arrowhead, because I use Unilocal a lot I had already pre stalked this place and it looks AWESOME. Walked in with my boyfriend, and sweet 6 year old niece, looking around. Seriously thinking about buying a bottle of wine for my mom who is meeting us here and driving from LA Quinta. We’re staying in a nearby hotel and my mom is old so she likes wine lol (jk!) The cheese plate looked sooooo good on Unilocal.
Then I get approached by the wicked witch. «Excuse me, can I help you? «with that tone??? I sort of was taken back by it. I was heading to the restroom as my 6 yr old niece needed to go sporadically…“This isn’t a public restroom» she says. Go f*** yourself I thought. Lost a customer.

Fun place to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon. Great wine by the glass and delicious bites — we had the bruschetta and the cheese and cracker plate. Friendly staff and comfortable, laid back atmosphere.
As for the wine shop itself, I loved recognizing so many local Central Coast and Santa Ynez wines. They also have a great line of food products, particularly the Temecula Olive OIl Company products… don’t even hesitate to buy the bruschetta spread — it’s awesome and the same one they serve at the tasting bar.

Nice little wine place located in the Lake Arrowhead Plaza. Come out with a few friends after locating place on Unilocal and decided to try it out since it was one of the very few open.
The wine selection they carry is well chosen and the prices are great, they dont rip you off compared to other places. Very cozy place and great cheese plater.

The Grapevine is located in the Lake Arrowhead Village and is such a cute little wine shop. Love it!
The front half of the store sells wine, wine glasses, wine corks, and just about wine anything. Prices here are reasonable for a specialty store, and most wines are in the $ 20 – 30 range. If I needed more wine at home at the moment, I would have walked out with a couple bottles (I’m already stalked up enough at home).
The back half of the store is a wine bar, where you can do wine tasting and eat cheese. You can either sit at the bar, or on the patio and overlook the lake. I sat at the bar (it was cold!) and was greeted right away by the bartender. I ordered the Wine Flight ($ 15). You get five generous tasting pours of pre-​selected wine. You could either go with all red wine, all white wine or a mix of both. I went with all red. My favorite was their Pinet Nor. After my tasting, I ordered a glass of the Pinet Nor, which was $ 8 and she filled my glass almost to the top. I really enjoyed the wine here.
They also have beer tasting here as well as bottles of beer you could buy at the bar. But, since this is a wine specialty store, I figured you should go with what they are known for.
Very cute store and I’ll for sure be back the next time I’m at Lake Arrowhead!
Cheers!

This is a cute little wine shop with very friendly staff working here. There is not too much to do in Lake Arrowhead Village so you will definitely have time to stop here. This wine shop offers beer, wine and champagne tasting, plus you can order a meat or cheese plate. Then just sit back and enjoy the view of the lake.
We tried a variety of wines and had a nice chat with the lady who was pouring. I liked the fact that since we aren’t really port wine drinkers, she let us revisit one of the other wines we had previously tasted. I wandered around the shop a bit and they had a nice cheese display in the corner loaded with tons of tasty cheeses that you can enjoy there or take home. The shop also offers a variety of olives, sauces and oils.