{"id":3286,"date":"2026-05-01T14:00:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=3286"},"modified":"2026-05-01T14:16:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:16:32","slug":"tastings-at-the-wine-shop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=3286","title":{"rendered":"Tastings at the Wine Shop"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s almost commonplace these days: We walk into a wine shop and there\u2019s someone standing behind a little podium with a few open bottles of wine and a rack of glasses or more often small plastic cups.  \u201cHi.  Would you like to taste a little wine from <fill in the name of a wine region<\/em>>?\u201d  The wine might come from anywhere, from California to Georgia (in Eastern Europe, not the American South).  Our answer is generally, \u201cSure, why not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be honest, the great majority of the time the wine on offer isn\u2019t very good.  We rarely say, \u201cWow!  Let\u2019s buy some.\u201d  Although there have been a few occasions when we have done that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also some tastings held in wine shops that are a great deal more sophisticated.  A representative of a winery arrives with bottles \u2013 sometimes cases \u2013 of various wines from their vineyards and sets up behind a makeshift bar.  In these instances, shoppers sip one wine after the other, just as if they were in a tasting room somewhere in Wine Country, except that there is no charge for the tasting.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Annie Shull, proprietor of Raptor Ridge Winery, serving at a wine tasting.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

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We were recently in St. Paul, Minnesota and stopped by a shop called Solo Vino.  The proprietor is Chuck Kanski, a friend of long standing.  We always go to Solo Vino when we\u2019re in town, to say hello and buy a few bottles.  That day, he was hosting a wine maker from Raptor Ridge Winery in Oregon.  She had brought a selection of six whites of various styles.  We can sincerely say that we gained a pretty thorough understanding what her winery produces.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, we\u2019ve been talking about free<\/em> tastings.  Then there are some stores that really dig into their inventories and offer a serious comparison tasting.  We well remember an event at New York City\u2019s Morrell wine store tasting of Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape; it was truly an education.  There\u2019s a store a short walk from our home called Le D\u00fb.  They just had a tasting of Iberian wines from all over the peninsula.  We don\u2019t remember the price for that CdP tasting, but the one at Le D\u00fb cost $60.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many wine shops that have those gas-filled cases that pour a few ounces at the touch of a tap.  We\u2019ve enjoyed them at Union Square in New York and some SAQ stores in Qu\u00e9bec.  The selections are generally not extensive but often have high-quality wines on offer.  There\u2019s usually a fee for each pull of the tap and for the amount that pours out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, travelling in European corners of Wine Country, we have often encountered d\u00e9gustations<\/a><\/em> (or degustaziones<\/em>) in towns like B\u00e9ziers<\/a> in France or Montalcino<\/a>, Italy.\u00a0 Enterprising owners of local wine shops select a few bottles and open them as a sales pitch to get visitors to buy some more.\u00a0 The wines are all representative of the famous wines made there, but the quality is hit-or-miss.\u00a0 It all depends on the integrity of the proprietor.\u00a0 We\u2019ve found that if we are truly interested, there\u2019s something special just under the bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The overall point is to take advantage of wine tastings where you can find them.  We often find them where we\u2019re going to shop anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s almost commonplace these days: We walk into a wine shop and there\u2019s someone standing behind a little podium with a few open bottles of wine and a rack of glasses or more often small plastic cups.  \u201cHi.  Would you like to taste a little wine from <fill in the name of a wine region>?\u201d  … Continue reading Tastings at the Wine Shop<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3286"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3286"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3294,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3286\/revisions\/3294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}