Bacchus Wines: Bubbly, Baby! Tasting

Directly before I left for Argentina, I’d attended, compliments of the firm handling PR for them, a chocolate & bubbly tasting held at Bacchus – Wine Made Simple. 

The downstairs, which is where the tasting was held, was a gorgeous space, with bottles arranged by type and all the beautiful dark wood you could possibly want in your own personal wine cellar.  I was informed that Bacchus was one of only two wine stores in the city to have the vacuum sealed tasting dispensers, which were not used for this tasting. 

Instead, we had wine educators at several stations scattered around teaching us about what they were pouring us.  The woman above on the right in particular knew exactly what she was talking about as she educated us on the various types of spumanti she was pouring.  She was our first stop and definitely our most knowledgeable stop as well.

While the space was, as mentioned, gorgeously appointed, I was disappointed with a few items.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not quite an oenophile, though I’m trying to learn about various wines and as such, am going to more and more tastings.  But I had misread and misunderstood the labeling of the event and thought it was an actual chocolate AND bubbly (sparkling wine) tasting- I went to this random free tasting at another wine store about a year ago, where they gave you a piece of chocolate and then a taste of a wine (or hard liquor, as one of them was) and I was truly impressed at the time at how the two complemented each other.  I had been looking forward to seeing more of this, but quickly found out through my own misunderstanding that this was simply a bubbly tasting with chocolate thrown in on the side.

Otherwise, it was a lovely event, with only a few problems that I would love to see fixed, and then it would be a perfect wine tasting.

There was no garbage disposal near the food.  A huge mistake, as there were olives – and indeed, there appeared to be an olive-pit-disposale dish, but it was the size of an ashtray and quickly overflowed.  What about our napkins?  There should have been a wastebasket by the food for people to dispose of things easily and discreetly, and perhaps a few small plates to carry with you as you tasted.

There were no table numbers at each tasting station; we had to ask to know which one we were at (there was no rhyme or reason or discernible order).  We were given order forms with the stations, the names of the wines being sampled at each station, but each station was blankly a mystery as to which it was until we approached and asked, which was not always possible as the event began filling up.

Last but not least, my biggest pet peeve; it could have been better organized.  We were told to just go in any order, but let’s be honest: wine is meant to be tasted lightest to boldest, that much I know; if you start at the boldest, by the time you get to the lighter ones, your taste buds will be so overwhelmed that it will cloud your palate, no matter how much water you drink.  I would have liked to see organized little clusters by each wine station, or perhaps a more clearly marked line; some people were getting skipped by the pushier people, and occasionally the pourer would say something, but more often than not, she would remain silent and the less outspoken people got passed over.  That’s not very cool. 

I don’t want to sound all negative however; the event was a delightful one, with many knowledgeable people spread around for you to pick their brains about various sparkling wines.  The place is gorgeous, and the owners were on hand, mingling with people, and they were very nice when I approached them.  They clearly love this business and are passionate about wine. 

The tasting was generous, with many wonderful sparkling wines to taste; there was a table full of assorted munchies to pick on as you tasted the wines as well.  I also especially liked that the Riedel glass given to you from which to taste for the evening was yours to keep when you left!  Gorgeous balloon glasses, which they asked you to go upstairs when you were done, and the cashier boxed up our glasses (although I wish we could have rinsed them before she did so!) for us to take home without fear of breakage. 

All in all, a fun experience that I will definitely be back and will be bringing friends as well!

Yvo says: A fun place with a wealth of knowledge and a large selection of various tasty wines, the tastings are fun, informal but educational, and inexpensive as well.  The website (listed above) has information on upcoming tasting events.  You may see me there.
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