Clock Tower Welcomes Wine Bar

Oenophiles, raise your glasses and get ready to toast a new wine bar in Greater Annapolis. 

Grapes Wine Bar opened Friday in Clock Tower Place along Forest Drive, next to its big sister, Wine Cellars of Annapolis. 

“It’s a true wine bar,” said Ellen Spicknall, manager of Wine Cellars. “There will be interesting selections that will be updated all the time and a small plates menu.”

If you’re thinking there are a lot of wine bars opening in Annapolis lately, it may be worth noting the U.S. has just become the world’s largest wine-consuming nation, according to the California-based Wine Institute, surpassing France for the first time.

According to Spicknall, there’s room for everyone.

“Everybody will do there own version,” she said. “No two will be alike.”

As for Grapes, Spicknall said it’s also about the location.

“There’s nothing else around here—no other restaurants,” she said. “It’s easy to get in and out, there’s lots of parking and it will have a neighborhood feel to it.” 

For their grand opening on Friday, Grapes had extended hours from 11:30 a.m. until 11 p.m.

“We have a license to operate until midnight,” said Spicknall, who added they’re not planning on staying open that late in the beginning.

Wine Cellars of Annapolis was opened in 2002 by Patrick Bouculat, a native of Lyon, France, and a graduate of the Academie du Vin in Paris. The store has played host to an annual Wine ‘Feastival' since 2003.