One of the absolute best ways you can discover incredible wines!
The Wine Room in Winter Park Florida has more than 150 wines on tap!!
YES! This is a great one!
Let’s talk about it.
It is no mystery that the best ways to find out what wines you like is to try different wines.
WAIT! You may say.
That can cost too much money.
Well, that’s why I’m here. To give advice on how not to overthink and overspend.
I was recently in Orlando, and discovered the most incredible wine bar ever!
It had over 150 wines on tap!! Insane! Why isn’t every wine bar like this?!?!?!
I really went overboard with the colors in that last sentence, but hey. I needed to draw attention to it.
Ok. I didn’t research it and find this wine bar on my own.
Huge shout out to Jacob at the hotel where we stayed. He saw me studying the wine list they had at the hotel, and could tell I loved wine. He suggested going to this wine bar.
I have written before about how fantastic it is to find someone who you can trust to give good advice. Check it out here. That post is called Two more insanely good value Trader Joe’s wines and who recommended them. Long title but great information.
Not only did Jacob steer us to this bar, but the following night suggested an incredible bottle of wine that wasn’t even on the wine list yet. An insanely reasonably priced wine too!
This is that incredible wine!
As with other French wines the grape variety is need to know, as they say. I write about that often. The answer for this one is 100% Cabernet Franc. Chinon wines can offer great value.
If you find this reliable person in your wine journeys, rejoice!
For you readers, I am that person.
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On to the Wine Bar!
Incredible set up at this place. You first put money on basically a debit card (any amount in $5 increments). You then insert it in the machine below. Choose your wine and what size pour you want, and it lands in your glass. Hopefully, you had the glass ready. You may not want to wear white clothing. You may be in the splash zone.
BEST VENDING MACHINE EVER!! Who needs candy when you can have wine?
This machine is just Italian wines. All great choices, but different price points.
There are prices listed for each wine pour. You can have 1oz., 2oz, or 5oz. pour sizes. It starts at around $2 or $3 for a small pour for some wines. It can go up quite a bit if you choose a really expensive bottle. I’m looking at you Napa.
Is this the coolest thing ever?!? Clearly, the answer is yes.
There are descriptions above each wine. I, personally, did not choose what I wanted to taste based on the descriptions. There were some fun stories about some of the wines, though. Very clever. A mention of what grape varieties that were used in some of the wines was helpful.
I can’t stand the point system, though. (You can see that some of the signs have numbers.) As most people who read this blog know, I do not want other people to tell me what is “good!”
There is a sommelier informally walking around in case there are any questions. I did not have any questions for her. I assume she was knowledgeable.
My goal was to have fun, and see which wines may be delicious.
I liked almost everything I tried. Two Merlot wines from Napa, that will remain nameless, were overpriced and really not good. In my opinion. Ok, not just my opinion. One woman, who announced she really didn’t know wines, said one of them smelled like “old grape.” It was not a bad description at all. Whatever works.
I found out that this area of Orlando loves Napa Wines. The wine bar had quite a few. I did not try any other wines from Napa. I feel you pay too much of a premium for the name Napa. But you do you.
Einstein is a 2018 Cabernet from Sonoma.
It’s actually a red blend of Cab, Merlot and Malbec. Absolutely delicious. I love wines from Sonoma, California.
The wine is called Southern Belle.
Not sure why it is called that since it is a red blend from Spain. Maybe it’s because the wine was aged in used Pappy Van Winkle barrels. It was so good no matter what they called it!
This wine bar was fantastic and fun, but we all don’t live near it.
Again, why don’t more wine bars do this?!?!
How else can I learn what I like?
Without breaking the bank, that is.
If you have a wine drinking group, fantastic! Gather a few bottles of a similar price point and compare. You don’t have to analyze any further than saying: I like this wine more than this other wine.
Make a note of what you do like, or really don’t like.
Unless you want to get hammered, do not have 1 bottle per person. Do not be like the class mother in preschool who had each parent bring enough snack for the whole class. Not that I remember who this woman was, but I do! Do the math people!
If you do not have a wine drinking group, there are other ways. You are just like Jacob (fantastic guy mentioned above) and me when I was younger. When I first started on my wine journey, none of my friends were as into it as I was.
If there is any wine bar near you, or a wine focused restaurant, see if they have wine flights. Those are small tastes of a whole bunch of wine. If they are similar, sometimes you can see differences. Again, no need to analyze. You can just say: I like this wine more than this other wine.
If there is anyone at the wine bar who is really knowledgeable, get to know them.
Wine drinking fans are the best!! They want to share information on what they like.
Whenever you are ordering a glass of wine in a bar or restaurant, ask to taste it first.
If you are deciding between 2 different ones, ask to try both. You can learn a lot that way. I have never ever been turned down when I have asked to do that.
Sometimes wine stores have informal tastings. I know that some Trader Joe’s wine stores do exactly that.
Now go forth and have fun trying some wines!
If wine isn’t fun, why bother?
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