z0sa
Whom Gods Destroy

Overpriced and over-small, for such elaborate descriptions. But oh, so tasty.

You know, the sort of place where they try to give you wine in jelly jars, and boast of their connection to local producers, and go heavy on the angostura bitters?

(peychaud man here. I don't like an overly medicinal cocktail.)

Wine bars (and some restaurants -- I am thinking right now of Buenos Aires and Parkwood in Austin) sometimes offer wine flights. For the cost of a nice glass, you can try a progression of (about) three wines.

It's not a bad way to start out when you know nothing at all about the wines. You at least have a somewhat better shot at being served -- and subsequently, ordering -- something you actually like.

BTW, is there a gastropub scene in SA yet?

I live in Austin, and my knowledge of the SA wine market is somewhat (about 5 years) out of date. I don't know where to go for tastings or for wine bars in SA.

Central Market and most wine shops have free tastings, and by law they have to be posted. Check the electronic shingles or the notices in the shop when you're there.

The nature of some licenses require some establishments to charge for tastings. Wine Styles comes to mind here. It usually doesn't cost much (around $10), you get micro snax and it's not a bad way to get acquainted with some everyday wine, quickly.

Ah yes it's merlot. Very tasty and the slightest hint of smoky goodness is apparent.

Wine bars. Do you stop into any? What should I expect going into one (crowd and prices)? Are these the locations of free wine tastings?

At the Clos Du Bois price point (I'm assuming you're not drinking the $44 Cab) you can find a lot of wines that rock. You just have to go find them.

Do you ever go to wine bars or free wine tastings?

Chard, merlot cab or pinot noir?

Mine says Vacqueras. It's grenache based, with minor amounts of syrah and mourvedre.

For everyday juice, the Western Bev/Costco liquor annexes sometimes have good deals on pretty good wine.

High end bordeaux and other desirable exclusives are sometimes available at big box stores like CostCo.

Go to Central Market, SeaZar's, Joe Saglimbeni's and Wines Best Buy. (Go to both, trust me. It makes no sense not to.) Western Beverages on Broadway, is it still there? Gabriel's on Walzem has some neat stuff but --cuidado! -- some of it might be old.

Sun Harvest at Callaghan and I-10? Tiniest wine section in town. Beware the very adhesive wine guy, but he picks some good wines.

Don's and Ben's? I honestly don't know. Check it out.

HEB can be a good resource, depending on your location.

Ask questions. Tell them what you like. Say what you want to spend. Don't be afraid to take a chance. If one bottle does not satisfy, just move on to the next one.

(Always keep a spare bottle of wine in reserve for this purpose.)

Go to Grape Wine Company to plan a spendy wine theme for a special event or party.

Funky St. Mary's? Rainbow Spirits.

Just saw this: http://www.hipposgroceryanddeli.com/wine_all.php

Is there a Spec's there yet?