VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Wine and weird meet at Vinomania
Madyson Diaz: On the outside, Vinomania looks like any other wine store. But once you step inside…it’s probably not like any wine store you’ve ever seen.
Gary Decker: You see these two heads? And the sign in front says “What are you looking at?” She goes like this, she goes, “Those things are creepy.” I go, “She thinks we’re creepy.”
Diaz: Store owner Gary Decker is not just pouring wine – he’s pouring personality into every corner of his store.
Decker: I tell people it’s all stuff my wife won’t let me put in our house. Like that ram with the arms and legs. It’s a little weird.
Diaz: Before opening Vinomania, Gary spent decades in the restaurant world – working his way up from dishwasher to owner.
Decker: The restaurants I worked at were wine and food savvy. You needed to know wine. So from there I just moved into a place where it’s just me in the store.
Diaz: Vinomania has wine, charm, and…a few unexpected faces. So, should we be worried about the tariffs? Well, Gary isn’t – at least not yet. He says that for now, there’s still plenty of wine on the shelves.
Decker: What happens is this: for you to come in and drain my store out, right, it would probably take me two months of me selling to people. The places I buy from have warehouses full of wine.
Diaz: And even if tariffs eventually push prices up, gary says his goal stays the same – giving customers quality wine at a fair price.
Decker: I wanna sell you a $12 bottle that takes like 15. I don’t wanna sell you an 18 that tastes like 12. So you want a good value and there’s value all over the place.
Diaz: so whether you’re here for the wine, the weird…or a little bit of both, at vinomania, there’s always something to uncork. In Syracuse, I’m Madyson Diaz, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) — From the outside, Vinomania might look like your average wine shop. But one step inside reveals something much different. Lining the walls are mannequin heads, animal statues with human limbs and a collection of oddities you likely haven’t seen anywhere else.
“It’s all stuff my wife won’t let me put in our house,” said owner Gary Decker with a laugh. “It’s a little weird.”
But that weirdness is part of the charm. Decker has transformed his shop into a reflection of his own sense of humor and years spent in the hospitality industry. He began his career as a dishwasher and worked his way up to restaurant owner, developing a deep knowledge of wine along the way.
“The restaurants I worked at were wine and food savvy,” Decker said. “You needed to know wine. So from there I just moved into a place where it’s just me in the store.”
That independence allows him to focus on one thing: value.
“I wanna sell you a $12 bottle that tastes like 15,” he said. “I don’t wanna sell you an 18 that tastes like 12. So you want a good value and there’s value all over the place.”
While international tariffs have left some in the wine world nervous, Decker is staying calm. He says there’s still plenty of wine in stock — and even more waiting in warehouses.
“For you to come in and drain my store out, it would probably take me two months of selling to people,” he said.
So whether customers walk through the door for the wine, the weird, or a little of both, they’ll find something that surprises them at Vinomania. Decker wouldn’t have it any other way.