Twin Liquors Wine Tasting

Im branching out from Specs and went to the big Twin Liquor wine tasting! Just like Specs, there were 20 wines, but the tasting was set up a bit differently. All the wines were in the front of the store in a row, close together. They gave you a wine glass and you went around to taste the ones you were interested in. Of course we were interested in all of them, so we just went in line.

Everyone was super nice, but there were a few downsides to this approach. For one thing, you end up tasting wines too fast because you feel like you have to keep moving along. At Specs, there are 10 stations around the store, which lets you walk around, chat, and take your time between samples. Because of this, we got wayyy tipsier than normal - not good. In fact, because it was so quick, it didn't hit us until we were about done which is awkward and not safe if you're planning on leaving any time soon. We ended up drinking all the wine in under an hour and milling about the store chatting for another hour just to let it all wear off.

Another thing that was weird was that there was no tasting sheet to tell us what the wines were and how much they cost. No huge deal, but I like to make notes about the wines and take it home with me to look at later.

One very sad thing was that there was no food! This also contributed to the increased tipsiness, as we had nothing in our stomachs. Twin Liquors doesn't really sell food that I know of, so its not their fault... but I was craving some cheese with all that wine for sure.

The upsides: there were some really great wines! I thought overall the wines were more expensive here, with a lot of them being around $18 or 19 and only 1 or 2 were under $10. This, coupled with the fact that we were going to the chocolate festival afterward caused me not to buy any that day.

Another REALLY cool thing about this tasting was that there was a bar area where they were serving wines. Which meant you could put... your... glass... down! This is a small thing, but when you're usually juggling a glass, and food sample, and paper and pencil... it was so nice to just relax with it.

So on to the wines! I cant remember them that well since I didn't have a sheet to bring home, but I'll do my best. We tried some organic wines which were good, but wine is so variable that I didnt see what difference the fact that they were organic made. We also had a really good cab from Alexander Valley and an awesome Montecillo Crianza that we both loved. There was a pink port, which I had never heard of, and the guy served it to us mixed with sparking water which was strange. Other than those, there wasn't anything that really stood out to me.

So I liked this tasting, and will definitely make it a regular part of my monthly tasting schedule, but I would say it didn't quite compare to Specs.