Uncorked: The Cherry Stop

March 14, 2010

Uncorked:The Cherry Stop offers a wine bar with a local flavor in downtown TC
By Erin Crowell
Pull up a chair to the Cherry Stop wine bar and sample a taste of Northern Michigan. Uncorked, opened May 2008, boasts a rotating selection of 20-30 regional wines. The sampling makes it easier for patrons to choose from the 260-bottle selection. Located in the back portion of the Cherry Stop, on Front Street in the heart of downtown Traverse City, the wine bar is a tourist hot spot that is slowly gaining momentum.
“We’re still building our presence, getting our name out there,” says owner Jamie Roster. “We have a lot of locals that come in and say, ‘Oh my gosh, I didn’t know you had a wine bar.’”

THE NEXT STEP
Established in 1995, The Cherry Stop—known for its dried tart cherries, jams, sauces and other “Cherry Capital” merchandise—moved to its current, larger location in 2003. The product lines, along with the customer base, expanded – so adding a wine bar seemed to be a natural next step.
“We’ve carried wine for many years,” says Roster. “We got a lot of requests for sampling from customers, especially the tourists.”
The samplings are priced at a reasonable 50 cents each, or five for $2.25.
“A lot of people just don’t want to buy a bottle of wine without sampling it first. So we wanted the sampling to be reasonably priced so they can be comfortable about their purchase, especially if they don’t have time to hit the wineries” Roster adds.

RED, WHITE & CHERRY
Uncorked only carries local wines, including 22 regional pours.
“It’s a little more extensive than what the restaurants do, in that we only carry local wines and our samplings are very reasonable,” says Roster. “We always have red, whites and five Rieslings and cherry wines open for sampling.”
Wines are available for purchase and consumption during regular store hours. You may purchase by-the-glass or a bottle. There are also several local microbrews available for purchase.
Every second Tuesday of the month through May, Uncorked hosts a wine tasting dinner, featuring one of the several local wineries. The next event is set for April 13.
Other events include “Unplugged,” with live music and drink specials every Saturday, from 5-7 p.m.; and happy hour runs every Friday, from 5-7 p.m.

Uncorked Wine Bar is located in the Cherry Stop, at 211 E. Front Street, Traverse City. Wine bar hours coincide with store hours: Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Call 929-3990 or visit them online at TheCherryStop.com.