last nite i went to an alumni event (wooo hooo! i’m an alumni again!) at this new place called city vineyard (current site is a placeholder. i was told the real retail site will be launched in a week or so). melbournians… take note. this isn’t a bar, it’s a wine shop. the difference is you can taste every wine they carry before making a purchase. the tasting bit is what you see in the animation on the current site… u stroll up to this stainless steel bar and press the button of the wine u want to try. out shoots (into your glass which u hold under the number) a small amount of that wine.
warning: do not try to hold a conversation and look away while doing the button press… you’ll have wine all over your hand (yes, i speak from experience).
warning: yes, u can press the button multiple times and get a healthy glass although i’m assuming the staff would have a chat with you if that’s all you did.
the place only stocks AU wines & it’s the first indie wine distributor in australia (that’s pretty amazing and as i found out …. the reason why cellar door prices aren’t cheaper here… b/c the existing distributors demand incredibly low prices making it hard for the vineyard to profit but as there’s no other game in town they have to and then try to make up for loss of income at the cellar door).
being a networking evening, we drank a LOT of wine. it’s hard to know how much you’re drinking when you’re pressing buttons all nite but i was well on my way to trashed.
btw, they had sunset which is a kangaroo island winery we went to (and bought a bunch of). they also had another KI vineyard called dudley that we somehow managed to miss while on the island but had a v nice shiraz. there was one wine that tasted green & sort of like a not so sweet ribena (it was good even though i know that’s a horrible description). the shops owners have their own vineyard (something like craig o boat) and their shiraz (i think) was nifty. and there was a great one from gapstead (in victoria) called saperavi. turns out it’s a russian type of wine and i remember it having a slight port taste. wow.. i’m suprised i’m remembering this well.
anyway, it’s a v cool idea & those in melbourne should go check it out.