Bottled Grapes

SCAM SCAM SCAM! Thief! This is a scam! You cannot sign up for his wine and dinner pairings. If you purchased a dinner and wine package through amazon you are in for a rude awakening. The voucher will NOT work on his website. He will NOT email you the address to the restaurant (he says customers will bother the restaurant owners prior to the event) he will NOT answer your emails or your phone calls. I have been on the phone with amazon three times and have documented all of my contacts with amazon and «Bottled Grapes» The owner is not responding to emails or phone calls! HORRIBLE!
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY! Do not try to contact me now, Mr. Krunch Kretschmar, my dinner was supposed to be this evening, but you never contacted the FOUR of us that purchased vouchers for your class! I don’t really care how you reply to this comment either, because if I had done my homework on Unilocal,I would have seen that you have a ton of unhappy customers. I will be contacting the Better Business Bureau next.
THIEF!
You should not run a voucher program if you cannot provide BASIC customer service and provide the wine and dinner pairing you advertised.

I bought the Groupon and was never able to use it because the vendor never updates his website. Non-​responsive and unprofessional.

I had to write a review because of the responses the proprietor writes on Unilocal.I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone directly respond to a negative review. It is both insane yet ballsy. A few times a week I will check in on any new review with three stars or less to see the responses from the person who runs Bottled Grapes. It makes for a good laugh how he goes balls to the wall on the offensive. I say bravo sir! While I do not think it will help turn any disappointing experiences into return customers it is hilarious all the same. Thank you!

My husband and I attended Krunch’s BBQ wine tasting this last weekend and found both the class and the wines to be great! I purchased a Groupon and the class was only $ 40 for 2 people so I was a bit skeptical as to how good the class and the wines would be for that dollar amount. We have gone to many wine events from different venues (Webster Wine Bar, Randolf Wine cellars, Bin 36, corporate sponsored tastings, etc) and this was much more fun, as educational as the others, and had better value.
We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of this event. In addition, we had great BBQ food (different types of kebobs & salad), and homemade cheese cake which was delicious and perfectly paired with the bold red wine he had served. If we wanted more wine of any of the 5 wine selection we tasted, Krunch left bottles in the front so we could pour more into our wine glasses. When he ran out of a particular wine selection (after the tasting), he even opened up wine from his cellar to share with the class.
Some of the wines tasted are NOT the typical wines you find everywhere. He had wines that had limited distribution in Chicago. We tasted and learned about wines we would never have known about otherwise.
His class does sell out fast but it is worth it if you can get in one. It is just very popular. I tried for a couple months and was sort of giving up hope of every getting into a class. Just be patient. Once you take a class you will realize why his classes sell out fast.
But he is very accommodating and tries to make sure you can get into a class.
Overall great experience and will definately go back to one of his events again.

One of my favorite events this year… I can’t wait to schedule again! I had some difficulty coordinating a huge group of my (indecisive) friends to sign up for his classes together before too many spaces were filled… so Krunch was kind enough to make special arrangements to hold a class for my group exclusively! He paired with a chef for the event, and the 2 of them planned everything perfectly! The night included some light wine education, appropriate food pairing, cooking demo, and tasting. They arraned it all according to the theme/​region I requested. They followed my specifications, then they took over the remaining details themselves. What a fantastic night with 15 of my friends! Krunch also brough along a tasting of his decadent chocolates from Beijo de Chocolat! (AMAZING!!)
I would recommend organizing with crunch for a night with the girls (bridal shower event, bachelorette party event, birthday, etc) OR a great «couples» night!

My husband and I attended an Italian wine class last night. Krunch took time to explain so many details about wine tasting and pairing and even some history, that we had no clue about! The food was awesome (we want that recipe!) and the venue was neat. We were glad we went and would definitely do this again. It was a good time meeting people and chatting as we ate and drank. Thanks Krunch!

I attended Krunch’s class last week with a friend. We took a class on «Spanish Reds.»
Not only was the class educational, we had a lot of fun and met new friends. This wine class offered more than just the regular taste and allowed us to pour our own drinks and share bottles around the class. We tried four wines in the class and were able to understand their paring with and without food.
The class was great, but the venue was also really cool — held at a new business opening this spring Borelli’s up on Lawrence Ave.

I attended one of Krunch’s classes in May with a gal-​pal at the Foster location (delicious chocolates and other sweet treats!) and another class and Krunch’s house (hosted a BBQ) with my cousin. Both were fun and relaxing. At one point, Krunch ran out of wine and was kind enough to open some bottles from his secret stash! Sure, there was not a full-​on menu’ but this was a class, not a dinner pairing. I have participated in a plethora of wine tastings and I learned the most informational and fun facts at these two classes.
I never had a problem reserving two spots for each class and Krunch responded almost immediately to a question I had.
I think this is a great way to be introduced to the wine world, thanks to Krunch and his girlfriend’s laid back approach to presenting the information.

I am willing to give more stars if I could ever get into a wine tasting. I have to agree with the reviewer who has been unable to get into a class. I too was suppose to go to the Nov. class — the only one NOT full — but found out it was canceled when I emailed bottle grape to find out the location. I was told there would be class in Dec. and i could register for that. How much time should I have to spend on line to go to a bottle grape wine pairing? I should have been put into the Dec. class automatically and given the option to withdraw if the date was not good. After reading other reviews I don’t know if it worth the effort to use my groupon or just accept I will loose the money — unless Bottled grape” will reimburse me — that would be a reasonable request. and my real name is Joan.

I bought a Groupon and registered for a class. On the day of the class I rechecked the website to see if anything further was posted because I still had not seen the address where the class was being held. I emailed Krunch asking if he could please pass the address along. He called me letting me know that he had emailed out a few weeks prior an email asking to send in the voucher number and confirm your seat. I never received the email nor a courtesy call to confirm that I was attending, he just gave my seat away. I’m very unhappy with the customer service and like everyone else — it’s very hard to even schedule a class as they are always «sold out.» I’m extremely frustrated and would not recommend anyone buy this in the future.
Also, I recommend as soon as you sign up, email him your voucher number and confirm that you are attending the class. He doesn’t have that written anywhere, but otherwise he may give away your seat.

I went with the Living Social deal to one of the French wine and food pairings. Overall, I was just not that impressed but also didn’t think it was as terrible as a lot of the reviews made it seem.
I appreciated how Krunch explained everything and seemed really passionate about wines. I liked getting to taste the different wines and also that we were allowed to keep drinking the leftovers. We also met some nice people.
What bothered me the most was that I expected actual food — instead, there was one dish (ratatouille) for all 3 wine pairings, but there wasn’t even enough of it provided to feel satisfied or like I actually tried French foods. I assumed that a wine and food pairing from 7pm-​9pm would include something more substantial. Also, I would’ve liked a smaller group of people because this was huge.
If I had paid more for it, I would have felt kinda ripped off, but it was fine for what it was. If you want a casual wine and food tasting, go for it!

The reviews that give Krunch 1-​star are unfair. His wine tasting was a lot of fun. He made it clear from the outset that his goal was to expose us to different tastes, not teach us to pair.
Our tasting had three types of wine and a surprisingly delicious ratatouille with goat cheese that paired especially well with one of the red blends. The surprise was that ratatouille is French (as were the wines), but the class was held in a German culture center called the Dank House. The name is hilarious; the food, delicious.
Krunch himself is a character. Apparently he is the dark lord of Somalians or something, which I guess means he knows a lot about wine. My retention isn’t abnormally high when drinking wine, so actually I appreciated that he spared us the chemical breakdown of the fermentation process and kept his stories simple, entertaining, and funny.
We went to this class with one of the Groupon (or similar) deals, so it came to about $ 17 per person, which was well worth it.
I gave him three stars because I would have liked to try a few more wines, and I would have liked to have the opportunity to buy wine from him at the end.
My girlfriend and I had a really great night and met some funny people in the process. Thanks, Krunch!

I think Krunch claims to be a master sommelier confrerie, see
… There’s no membership list, so who knows. I was annoyed that it was tough to register and that it was impossible to find out WHERE to go on game day. Seriously? People who work downtown have trouble getting to the northside at 6 pm during a work week. Also, there was no food pairing lesson. The majority of the class was guessing what wine was which grape. I was annoyed that one of them was a BLEND. Really? Who the heck can tell what grapes are in a blend, especially for beginners. It wasn’t a total rip off, but I’m not sure this guy is who he claims to be.
UPDATE: My bad, I was wrong – Krunch claims to have the «International Grand Confrerie Sommelier» distinction (and not the other one I listed in my original review), for which a membership list is also not available.
To settle all of this, I will gladly remove my 1-​star rating if Krunch (1) stops sending me rude emails, and (2) successfully joins the Harvard Business School Alumni group on LinkedIn, to (partly) legitimize his claim that he has a PhD in Economics from Harvard. Although there’s no way to prove whether Krunch does/doesn’t carry the International Grand Confrerie Sommelier distinction, we can find out about the Harvard affiliation with some certainty.

I purchased a Living Social deal back in March, and we just attended a class last night. It was fantastic! I was seeing a lot of Spain/​Portugal/​France classes, and since we had a trip planned to Napa in July I had emailed Krunch asking him to host a CA class. Which he did and we loved it.
I agree, that the classes do fill up quickly, but he had told us earlier this summer that he would be posting/​hosting a lot more classes this fall, which seems to be the case. There seem to be a lot more offered now than there were earlier this summer.
I think some of the other reviewers need to take it for one it is… you can’t expect a stuffy/​fancy black tie wine event here, this is a very personal/​intimate evening, where Krunch invites you to his home (we had perfect weather, so it was fantastic to be sitting outside!). While my boyfriend and I love wine, and drink it often, we are NOT fancy wine drinkers, and don’t want to be. We just want to enjoy what we drink, and learn a little more about it as we go. Krunch’s class never made us feel like we weren’t educated enough, or even should be… he was just there to share what he knew.
We will definitely be going back, I think it would be fun to get a group of friends and make a night of it!

I had the same problem as one of the other reviews on here. I bought a Living Social coupon for a class and have not been able to schedule anything since. The classes immediately «sold out» or got cancelled. I’ve spoken to the guy on the phone personally, and he was a major a**hole. Said he would put me on a list of people to call when a class opened up then never called.
I’ve been trying to get into a class for months and am convinced that no such class actually exists. He’s just stringing me on. I have since contacted Living Social to complain and maybe get a refund, but they have not replied after two weeks. Stay away from this guy and anything he’s involved in.
Too bad zero stars is not an option.

We attended a class which was supposed to focus on Italy’s Friuli-​Venezia Guila region. The advertisement claims,
«In this class, we’ll explore the wines of the region and enjoy a multi-​course meal typical to the region»
Our multi-​course meal included cheap cheese and grapes, and then spaghetti alfredo. Neither of which were really authentic Italian let alone specific to the region. Two of the wines were from Sicily — not the supposed region we were learning about. He gave no information about the region or even what makes Italian wines unique.

My friends and I purchased Groupons and asked for a refund. 4000 Groupons were sold and we have been unable to get in a «class» because none are being scheduled, or there are so few that they are sold out immediately.
Based on the orange cheese and Ritz cracker review, I’m glad we couldn’t get in!

This guy can’t possibly be for real. I can’t find a single source that will validate the International Grand Confrerie Sommelier title, his coursework at HBS, or his wrestling career at Florida State.
That aside, the class was just odd. Our food/​wine pairing consisted of cheap store bought pasta served on paper plates accompanied by four wine selections. For an app, he served us orange and yellow cheese w/​Ritz crackers.
He answered some questions and mostly talked about himself and his «credentials».
This from a fancy pants titled International Grand Confrerie supposedly well versed in fine food and wine? I’m no sommelier, but even I wouldn’t serve orange cheese and Ritz crackers to guests.
Odd. Just. Odd.

I love taking the wine classes and have attended several over the past year or so. Krunch makes wine so accessible and I learn so much every class. My favorite so far was the wine and barbecuing class. Who knew that wine tasted so good with hot dogs and potato salad!
Unfortunately, I work out in Lombard so the trek into the city can be a bit daunting at times.

I love Wine!!! I’ve attended several classes and am making an effort to go every month. The information isn’t dull and just the right pace. It’s a great evening out! As soon as the email blasts come out, I make my plans with my group.