News & Events

Hello Morganton! Are you ready to spice up your life? Then you should know about a local hot spot on the Morganton NC shopping scene that’s “your connection to the good things in life.” They’ve got sugar and spice and everything nice. And by “nice” we mean an incredibly nice selection of the finest in gourmet arabica coffee beans, loose-leaf teas, award-winning wines, plus gifts and gadgets galore.

The Kitchen Connection & Wine Shop is now located at 108 West Union Street in Downtown Morganton right next to Yianni’s Restaurant. Although the Grand Opening for this Downtown shop took place just 10 months ago (September 2016), owner, Pamela Saunders, and her husband, Keith, are not exactly new to the task of serving up the finest in culinary merchandise to customers in Morganton. This powerhouse husband-and-wife entrepreneurial team have been in business for 22 years running The Kitchen Connection, which has even earned Ms. Saunders the Burke County Chamber of Commerce’s 2013 Cornerstone Award for Female-Owned Business of the Year.

Having already built a time-honored relationship with customers at the original Sanford Drive location in Morganton and from neighboring North Carolina mountain communities, this new Kitchen Connection location prompted Saunders to rebrand and expand! The new Downtown store has additional square footage that provides a more comfortable and enjoyable shopping experience for customers who like to browse, taste, sip, and shop.

As for rebranding, The Kitchen Connection has added “Wine Shop” to its name and, with it, a slew of extra offerings to spice things up and keep this small business growing and thriving in a town of foodies and wine lovers. Known for 22 years as the local shop that offers the best in party supplies, custom gift baskets, kitchen tools and top-of-the line cookware, The Kitchen Connection & Wine Shop has some great new features to keep customers “connected to the good things in life.” These new offerings include:

WINE STATION offers wine by the glass

The Wine Shop has a great selection of bottles to choose from. But for those who want to take-a-break-and-partake, wine is sold by the glass and dispensed from an innovative in-house Wine Station. Manufactured by Napa Technologies of California, this sophisticated wine preservation and dispensing system uses state-of-the-art software to cool each glass to the optimal temperature, allowing customers to savor the flavor of each glass just as the wine maker intended. Saunders is excited to offer the Wine Station at her new Morganton Wine Shop. “There are very few of these Wine Stations in Western North Carolina,” she says, “and we hope it will add to the appeal of our downtown, helping to attract more visitors to our area.” With so many wine lovers in the mountain towns in North Carolina, we bet they’ll be lining up to give Saunders’s Wine Station a try!

WINE TASTINGS let you “Sip ‘n’ Shop”

Living up to their philosophy of “drink what you enjoy,” The Kitchen Connection & Wine Shop invites customers to explore their inner sommelier by doing a “Sip ‘n’ Shop” through the store on Fridays and Saturdays when a few bottles of wine are uncorked for in-store tastings. On select dates, wine distributors might even be available on site to answer questions and offer tips for pairings.

The Kitchen Connection & Wine Shop staff are always on a mission to find great, inexpensive wines to offer their customers at discounted rates. In addition to offering popular favorites from California, Italy, and France – which include a selection Pino Noir, Merlot, Pinot Grigio, Moscato, Shiraz, and Chardonnay – they source and sell Cakebread, Caymus, Rombauer, and other outstanding boutique wines. Their diverse selection of wines sets them apart from the competition and has earned them Best Wines in Burke awards for six consecutive years. But they don’t stop there! The owners continue to attend trade shows, visit wineries (as far away as the Pacific Northwest), and work closely with distributors to find distinctive wines they can bring back to their customers at 5-20% savings.

COFFEE CLUB members get peak flavor and freshness… and some free beans!

The Kitchen Connection doesn’t just serve up a great cup o’ Joe. They’re masters at understanding – and explaining to customers – what the art of coffee is all about. From sourcing, cultivating, and growing to brewing, freezing, storing, and grinding the beans, the experts at The Kitchen Connection know what’s best at every step in the process. And when it comes to roasting, The Kitchen Connection ensures their coffees are roasted delivered on schedule so they arrive fresh and vacuum-packed in Mylar bags to preserve peak flavor and freshness. They offer a variety of beans and unique seasonal flavors, and they’ll grind the beans up fresh for each customer. Java lovers who join the Coffee Club and purchase 10 pounds of coffee will receive their 11th pound for free!

That’s just a sampling of what you’ll find in this foody-friendly all-things-kitchen shop. But don’t take our word for it. Visit The Kitchen Connection & Wine Shop for yourself. Next time you’re in Downtown Morganton, stop by and explore row after row of cookware, bakeware, and cast-iron pots; kitchen gadgets, barware, grilling supplies; mouth-watering condiments, jams, crackers, and salsas; beautiful linens, ceramics, and glassware for everyday use or entertaining; and uniquely designed gift baskets tailored to your tastes and occasions. And be sure to take advantage of the Wine Station, Sip ‘n’ Shop Tastings, and Coffee Club.

Morganton is a mountain-town hot-spot with some of the coolest shops and restaurants in Western North Carolina. The growth of these local small businesses is just one reason Morganton’s culturally rich Downtown area attracts so many neighbors from nearby North Carolina mountain communities, including The Coves Mountain River Club.

Just a short drive from Morganton is Lenoir, one of the most charming mountain towns in North Carolina. And this is where you’ll find The Coves, a scenic gated mountain-river community with a collection of beautifully crafted homes with chic elegant-yet-rustic designs, breezy floorplans, and picturesque windows that open up to spectacular views of Grandfather Mountain and the Johns River. Neighbors here are the first to boast about this quiet but lively community that serves up an endless stream of year-round recreational activities, including hiking, fishing, biking, horseback riding, wine making, community gardening, swimming, and pool-side yoga.

Talk about spicing up your life! The Coves is where mountain meets river, and relaxation meets invigoration. It’s your key to your very own heaven-in-the-foothills lifestyle, where the climate is always pleasant, each season is more beautiful than the last, and your quiet mountain retreat comes with quick access to vibrant North Carolina mountain communities with your choice of cool shops, restaurants, museums, theatres, and night life. That’s mountain living done right!

Visit The Coves Mountain River Club and find out how to spice up your life with a new mountain property of your own. While you’re here, be sure to stop by The Kitchen Connection & Wine Shop in Downtown Morganton.

Call us at 828.754.0700 to schedule your visit.

If you’re exploring the area for the first time, as for our 84-page complimentary Western North Carolina Visitor’s Guide, which gives you more information about living in the foothills.