The best thing about Grape Expectations (a downtown bottle shop) isn’t its carefully curated selections of wines, wide array of Alaskan brews, or convenient location. The best thing about Grape Expectations is Terri, the owner.
Terri is the kind of person who, when you explain that you’re looking for a bottle of champagne, but aren’t sure what to pick without breaking the bank, exclaims, “oh, I LOVE bubbly! This one’s good. Oh wait. THIS one’s good. Hmmm, how about this one? OH! THIS one is perfect!” And then it is.
Perfect.
Terri is also patient when assisting patrons who have not-particularly-discerning-palates (me), who tend to choose wines based on the label art (still me), and can’t remember the names of wines liked previously beyond vague descriptions such as “jammy” but “not tooooo sweet” (yep, me). She’s also generously enthusiastic with people who wear sweats to wine stores late at night to randomly buy champagne (should I be embarrassed that yet again, it’s me?) for a spur of the moment celebration and then linger to chat about the wine business, inspiration, loving Anchorage, exciting new restaurants, and the massive potential of our city.
Basically, Terri is the kind of person who makes what could be a relatively mundane experience into something extra special and fun, and leaves you buzzing with not only champagne, but with excitement in finding someone so full of life and energy to share.
If you read the Our Store portion of Grape Expectation’s website, Terri’s appreciation of our community comes through loud and clear: “I believe if everyone gave 1% of their time and energy to the community we would have a much better place to live.” She also shares a bit about the challenges of starting a small business. I’m so happy that she followed her dreams and stayed true to her business plan, because her vision is pretty grape (errr….great.)
Thank you Terri for being such a lively, positive force in our community! And for helping me pick out the perfect bubbly and jammy but not tooooo sweet wines.
