Wineology

Went there tonight with a few of my girlfriends for one of their birthdays. I’ve driven past this place a few times, and thought it would be a great place for us to have dinner and a few drinks. I’ve been to wine bars such as VinoTeca in Royal Oak, and was excited to try a local wine bar here in Windsor.
I made a reservation for 8pm. I really wanted 7pm, but was told that my only options were 8pm or 10pm. I was told that they have a two hour time limit on their tables, and that the 6pm people would be asked to leave at 8pm, so we would definitely have a table at 8pm. Well, that wasn’t true. Some of my friends showed up at 7:45pm, and we did not get seated until after 9pm. Ordinarily, I would have left after waiting for 10 minutes because (and I know this will sound snooty but) my time is valuable. We we’re told every 10 or 15 minutes that the people at our table we’re paying their bill and we would be seated shortly. 8:10pm, we waited. 8:20pm still waiting. 8:30pm, waiting. There was another group that also had an 8pm reservation, and they left. 8:40 pm, I’m not impressed. By this time I felt guilty because I’m the one who suggested this restaurant to my friends. 8:50pm I went outside started calling several other local restaurants to find out if they could accommodate our group of six. When I came back inside to tell my friends what our options were, we were told that our table was ready and we were seated promptly.
With tip, everything came out to $ 250.00 for six people. We ordered 3 or 4 pizzas, a meat and cheese platter, two bottles of wine, a wine sampler, tiramisu and snickers fondue. One of my friends did complain, but no one really apologized for the wait. To be fair, they did bring us 6 free shots, gave one of my friends a free glass of wine and gave us a free piece of tiramisu.
We all nibbled on the cheese and meat platter, it was OK but I’m not sure if it was worth the $ 25.00.
The pizzas were also OK, nothing to write home about. We ordered a sweet pizza, that I wasn’t sure about, but it was my favourite pizza. It was good, but not good enough for me to want to come back.
The Snickers fondu was also OK. I was really looking forward to it, but it did not live up to my expectations. Not sure what it was, but I was not feeling it.
The Tiramisu was really good. We liked it, and I would order it again if I returned.
Overall, the food was OK. I would not recommend the food, but it’s a great place to hang out and have some wine with your friends.
Unfortunately, I don’t really think I will ever go back. If I had to do it again, I would have went to dinner at another restaurant, and then would have went for drinks at Wineology at the end of the night. If I do return, it would be in the summer after enjoying a meal somewhere else. It’s a pity, because I really wanted to like this place.

My immediate impression when I walked in was that I was at the old Spago’s Trattoria: heavy stone and wood décor, dim lighting, with an enormous pizza oven anchoring the room. I liked it. Between the dim lighting and Ray Charles softly playing, I felt pretty relaxed right away.
I sat down at the bar and perused their wines available by the glass, which was quite a lengthy list. I had a glass of California Chardonnay, which I loved, and a glass of Côte du Rhone. The Chardonnay was accurately described by my server, Tina, as smooth yet very full bodied. I was extremely impressed that each wine I ordered had proper corresponding stemware, I haven’t seen that in Windsor before.
I had oysters, a meat and cheese platter, and a pizza. The oysters were big, briny, well-​shucked Malpecs, which is hard not to like. The meat and cheese platter costs $ 25 but is extremely generous. It had five different cheeses and four different meats, as well as some bread, olives, dried fruit, nuts, as well as some fig jam infused with red wine. None of the cheeses or meats were spectacular on their own, but as something to snack on with wine, it works well. I had Vince’s Pizza, which is topped with figs and prosciutto. It was a little dry, it could have done with a little olive oil or drizzle of balsamic, but again as a casual snack, it’s tasty.
The service was undeniably terrific. Tina seemed to know what she was doing, though she did refer to my Chardonnay as a Napa Chardonnay, which is untrue because it’s actually a blend of grapes from three different counties, one of which is Napa. But she was very kind. She went above and beyond by giving me change when she said she saw parking services eyeing my car. I have heard that when it gets busy here, service takes a slight hit. That’s always going to be the case to a degree. But, since it wasn’t busy at all — I was there shortly after it opened — and my service was spot on, I can’t speak to that much.
The reserve list of wines by the bottle looked pretty cool as well, wish I had more time or was with a bigger group. Would have loved to try the French Sauvignon Blanc by the bottle.
Wineology is certainly imperfect, and there are things to nitpick about the wine list. I dislike the focus on local wine, it’s nice to have some local wines but within reason. I understand that they’ll sell, though. I also wish they had some more high end glass pours that aren’t from Italy. It’s a personal preference for me, though, because I’ve never been an Italian wine fanatic. My final minor gripe would be that I wish they had some more Pinot noir, other than the one from Ontario, available by the glass.
This place is a great start for a city like Windsor. A friend told me before that Wineology isn’t a place to go if you want to have dinner, it’s a spot for wine and snacks. And I think that’s really the best way to summarize it.