I walked in through the sliding entrance door after discovering that the "Do Not Enter" door would not open up no matter how long i stood in front of it. I study the landscape in front of me. Once again the dreaded aisles and aisles of wine. This time,though, there were hanging signs from the ceiling letting me know what wine i would find in that isle. I picked and aisle to stand in for a bit, it happened to be the Malbec aisle and studied the organization. The wines were placed in alphabetical order, which i thought was genius, cause as long as one new the name of the producer they would be able to find the wine. As I studied the organization, i noticed taking up space on one of the shelves was literature. I picked one up it was a guide to wine, spirits and beer. A rather hefty one indeed (almost 500 pages) and in front was a sign indicating it was free and should take it. I took a cursory glance at the book and thought this can't be something with this much information and in full-color. So I looked around for a basket, place the full color "this can't be free" guide in the bottom, place the flimsier newsprint buying guide on top (like it was going to hide some great find) and of to wine shopping i went.
The reason I went to the Malbec section was to (believe it or not) find a Malbec to try. I had never had one and knowing that Argentina is the leading producer of Malbec made me want to try at least one. My mother is from Argentina and i have a great love for that country. Well no sooner was I looking through the Malbec's when I got the dreaded "Can I help you with something?"
Caught of guard I responded "Nope, I am just checking things out". Great words of a crack journalist and bloger.
The employee then said, "Ok. If there is anything you need let me know," and then we parted ways by her pointing out what she called a good Malbec. She pointed to the Cruz Alta Reserve 2008. I, of course. thanked her and let her move on. Then grabbed a bottle of what she had recommended. We'll see how that one shapes up in a future episode.
Then i went of to and aisle of my favorite varietal, the Chardonnay. I looked long and hard over many names some of which are known to me and others i had no clue. My eyes then feel on an 2009 Chadonnay from Coastline. At 10 bucks i thought it was worth a go. So put that wine in the basket, grabbed the wine tasting sheet for December (yeah they got wine tasting one weekends too) and was of to the check out. I was amazed to find that the didn't charge me for it and through it into my bag.
In summary Total Wine is a very clean friendly establishment well suited for the beginner and advanced wine buyer. Next time I go i will attempt to pick their brains even more, and do some wine tasting as well. If you want to know more about total wine or want to find one near you check out http://www.totalwine.com/.
Cheers.
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