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North Loop Wine & Spirits Friday Wine Tasting
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To Do in the Twin Cities
Wine & Beer
North Loop Wine & Spirits Friday Wine Tasting
Date: Fridays 5-8PM, 2023
A 218 N Washington Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Phone: (612) 338-5393
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North Loop weekly tasting
Every week E and I watch the evening nation news until 6PM Then we dress in evening wear and drive to North Loop Wine & Spirits for a wine tasting. North Loop is easy to find it’s at 218 N Washington Ave in Mpls North loop. Don’t know where that is? A block from Runyons & Hewing, same block as Red Rabbit & Stadium Bar and they share a back yard with Monte Carlo. Three blocks from Whole Foods. Oh, and Kitty Corner from Sex World…. I knew you knew.
Why do we go there then? First of all, have you WATCHED evening News lately… don’t need much reason to drink. We have done other wine tastings on Friday night and prefer North loop. Surdyks have a wine tasting that is typically over at 6 – 6:30 and we don’t typically get downtown until 6:30. Surdyks has changed over the years but for a while they had very attractive young people serving. Terms like Cab, Malbec, Syrah… were not part of their vocabulary. I read and explained a bottle once to a young lady that was pouring and she was absolutely fascinated by what can be learned on a wine bottle.
We have gone to 44th & France wine tasting and they are equivalent to North Loop. But no dogs or cute kids and an older crowd. Both tastings have intelligent people pouring wine.
But North loop for us in centrally located for the restaurant review we always do after, it’s easy to get to and have free parking. And the wines and presenters are the best in the metro. And Lisa the owner and the sales people: Patrick, Dave & Bill are knowledgeable and good people.
Typically, there will be six wines in a tasting which usually includes: a sparkling, a white or two, a Rose’ and a Red or two. Sometimes a bonus wine. Don‘t expect a half a glass. Expect the wine in your glass to cover a quarter. Why? First an ounce, the typical pour, is enough to get the taste of a wine. By doing so a 25 oz bottle can serve 25 people and the wine needs to be paid for. If you drink enough wine you will understand after six glasses to taste you have few taste buds still working fine. So the pour is important.
The tasting takes ten to fifteen minutes for us to taste. It is perfect for making 7 PM Dinner reservations for review and learn a bit. What will you learn? A bit about the great grapes & wine regions of the world. You’ll learn about the grapes you like don’t like. We all like something different. We are not big White or Rose’ fans.
You’ll learn interesting regional and political things. Did you know Sicily is/isn’t part of Italy… depends if you ask on the island or the mainland. Did you know the great generals: Napoleon & Julius based their trek across Europe based on where the best wine regions were. Might as well drink good wine after a long day. Did you know the Catholic got tired of fighting the vices of wine and gave up and included it in the mass? These and so much more you will learn at the tasting table including the hot new restaurants and events in the metro. And we solve MOST of the problems of life while tasting.
The tasting is very simple. You park and walk up to the tasting table. Wintertime it is just inside the back door. Expect ten to 30 people to be tasting and no knowledge is required. One of the local distributors will ask you if you desire to taste and give you glasses. The answer is Yes BTW. Then they will ask you what you want to taste. The answer is all of them. They will start with usually a sparkling wine on the left side. All wine bottles can be picked up and read if you desire. But the presenter will tell you the grape(s) and area of the world it came from. And they are very open to answer even the most stupid questions.
And before you think you are not smart enough about wine to taste, realize this. There are 5000+ types of grapes used to make wine. The top dozen grapes are in a group called Noble Grapes the list seems different for everyone you talk to, but they always include: Cab Sav, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sav Blanc and 5-10 more. About 95% of the wine drank in the world is in this group. OK of that 5,000 grapes there are, 10,000 different wineries all putting their own spin. And then they start blending grapes together in a million combinations. Did I mention next year there will be a new crop and everything resets? We have been tasting for 15 years and it is rare we don’t learn something new with each tasting. Ask the stupid question, it isn’t so stupid.
So, the presenter will pour the first or desired wine. After their 15 second speech: please, please, please, please back away from the table so others can look at the wine bottles, prices and get a pour. The name of the wines will be on the table and the price, which is usually about 10% off that night. We buy a great bottle about every other time.
When done with your first glass, yes you can pour it out if you don’t like it. The presenter, normally will know which wine you had and get you a taste of the next in line, until you have tried all six. Oh and don’t forget to pet the dogs and play with the cute kids.
When you have finished the six wines typically in fifteen minutes give back the glass and buy a bottle for 10% off usually right at the table, thank the presenter and move on with your evening.
We do the North Loop Tasting nearly every Friday night. The tasting is open and free from 4-8PM every Friday night. See you there.
Contact us Dennis@ToDoTC.com