My friend Janine recently bought and took over Camelot Cellars earlier this year.  Having a friend who owns a wine shop is a beautiful thing, in case you were wondering.

Camelot Cellars is a boutique winery located in the Short North district of downtown Columbus. Camelot is a winery in that they create and bottle their own wines.  However they do not have a vineyard in Ohio.  They buy juices from all over the world and then create the wine in-house from those juices.

This means that when you buy an Italian Pinot Grigio (which happens to be my favorite white), you are getting exactly that.  A lovely wine that was created from juice directly from Italy.

Calling Camelot a boutique winery is accurate because it is way more than a place that sells wines.  It has so much to offer its customers.

You can go to Camelot for a relaxing moment and enjoy a glass of wine or two.  You can try flights of wine.  You can schedule to have your very own tasting. Either as lovely intimate date or with a group of friends. You can have small business meetings at Camelot and discuss financials over a burgundy.

Camelot also provides free wifi to it’s customers!

You can meet a group of friends for drinks and to catch up.

Camelot has a lot of award winning wines that you will be able to taste and try out. Brendan or Rick will be there to take care of you and if you tell them I sent you, you might get an extra little splash in your glass.**

**Probably not, but at least you’ll get a smile and a nod confirming that yes, they know that goofy lady.

You can even take it one step further and create your own wines.

Oh yes friends, you can custom blend your own wines. This is one of the many upsides to Camelot producing and bottling their own wines.  It allows customers the freedom to try their hand at blending wines as well.

If you don’t want to blend a wine, you also have the option of creating custom wine labels for a party or event that you’re having.  Camelot can also be rented for wine parties which is great for maybe fundraising efforts or a great way to spend a birthday or bachelorette party.  You can have a wine party for any reason!  You’ll pick out a wine and then you can customize a label.  Camelot has a few examples at their shop and someone will be there to help you along in creating and then labeling your wine.

Now that you know a little of what Camelot is about, I have to tell you that Camelot will be changing! Not the concept, just the interior. Don’t worry! Janine has big plans for the inside and it’s getting completely made over.  The bar will be bigger and there will be lots of comfy chairs and little intimate nooks and crannies so that customers can go in and feel cozy as they have their wines.

I’m lucky because Janine wants the process documented and I get to do just that!  Whooo! So look for more pictures later this month as we sneak in and take some pictures of the demo and remodeling process.  I have lots of before pics (these are just a few) so I should be able to do some side-by-side comparisons.

The huge Grand RE-Opening of Camelot Cellars will be on Wednesday, July 6th, 2011 from 6pm-9pm.  There will also be valet parking as well, so no worries about where you’ll park downtown!  Yours truly will be there and I’ll be providing some healthy and fun hors d’oeuvres.  Come chat with me, meet Janine, and check out Camelot Cellars!

Camelot Cellars
958 North High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43201
614-441-8860

Call or stop in and speak with Janine or Rick who will help you out with any questions you have.  They will still be open during renovations and you will be able to try some wines or set up an event.