Thanks to the generosity of its owners, Kelly and Deb (prior Decatur residents now living in Avondale), my wife and I headed down the street on Saturday evening to check out Tastings: A Wine Experience, which is located in the 335 W. Ponce condo building, for the wine bar’s “soft opening”.

Upon entering, we were amazed by the transformation that has taken place to convert this space from a Tropical Smoothie Cafe to an upscale wine bar. After getting over our initial shock, we were given the run down about how to navigate the unique set up. In front of us stood an army of reds and whites, all hooked up to a special “Enomatic tasting machine”, which allows patrons to extract a “taste”, half-glass, or full-glass of the wine of their choosing.

In order to partake, all you have to do is go up to the bar and put some denomination of money on a special Tastings card (we went with $30) to use in the machines. At first the shear number of choices can seem daunting, but the good layout (by region and type), individual descriptions, and helpful, friendly staff quickly coach you through your indecision. Once you’ve picked your wine-of-the moment, stick your card in the “tasting machine” and select your “pour”. In the spirit of endless choices, we stuck with the “tasting” pour the entire night.

Our $30 bucks got us about 5 tastings each (for a total of 10). We stuck mostly to reds (though there was also a good selection of chilled whites), and sampled wines from all over the world. Fragrant, mild, peppery, chocolaty, jammy, short-finish, long-finish, we tried them all for a cool $30. There’s even a “cheat-sheet” available, so that you can rattle off these same descriptors to friends.

And that’s what’s cool about Tastings. Instead of always relying on recommendations from friends or the equally vague Wine Spectator score/review at the liquor store, you can just head over to Tastings and let your our own tongue/nose decide!

Then just take a bottle home with you!

Though wine is the obvious star of the show, Tastings also offers a wide array of food selections. Most are appetizer-ish, designed for you to share as a group as you debate the finer points of wine-making. We were served some tasty blue cheese chips, a margarita pizza, some delicious crab cakes and shrimp and chorizo. Each was a good accompaniment to the wines we were drinking, which was most important in our minds.

Though you could tell that the servers were still getting their bearings, each was very friendly and remarkably helpful. In fact, aside from the wine itself, the staff might be this new spot’s best asset.

So, if you’re looking to up your wine game or just have a fun night out on the town with friends, I would recommend letting Tastings entertain you for an evening.