Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of going to Vino 100.  It’s a small wine shop in Wauwatosa, WI (they also have one in the 3rd Ward).  I should begin with a bit of background on my wine knowledge, though.. While I’m not a huge wine drinker, I do enjoy a glass now and then.  Half priced wino wednesdays have really brought out my inner wino and I’ve been drinking wine more frequently lately.  I just don’t have a lot of knowledge when it comes to relating wine names with flavors. 

Vino 100 takes a lot of the unknowns out of choosing wine.  The store is laid out with red wines along one wall and whites along another, with tasting tables and a small bar occupying the space between walls.  The genius is how they’ve organized the wines, though.  The wines are organized by taste rather than name.  For the white wine wall, they start with fruity, sweet wines on the left and gradually move to dry, full bodied wines on the right.  Each wine has a description and a visual representation for the wine’s flavor and body.  If the wine is on their menu, you can even sample the wine before making a purchase.  The red wine wall is organized in much the same way.

For me, they really hit it out of the park.  Instead of catering to the wine connoisseur, they cater to novices like myself and really make it easy to improve wine knowledge without an unexpected flavor or taste.