A Decatur mom writes in that Tastings has closed and that they have a “sign up on their door saying thanks for the patronage, but we are now closed.

Kelly confirms…

Despite our best efforts, we were not able to attract the business that we needed in order to stay afloat in this struggling economy.

Thanks to all the Decaturites who supported us and on behalf of Deb and myself, it was a pleasure to get to know those of you who frequented Tastings. Best regards.

All the best to Kelly and Deb.

There’s a rumor floating around this morning that Tastings: A Wine Experience is closing.

Owner Kelly Resignola tells DM the rumor is not true, and that she is grateful for the steady business they have been maintaining.

Sounds like a good reason to stop by for a drink.

Tastings’ Deb and Kelly write in…

Our customers have spoken and we have listened….for the new year we have lowered the tasting prices on all of our wines.  In addition, in recognition of the trying economic times we all find ourselves in, we have reallocated our inventory to concentrate more on the high quality yet reasonably priced wines.  Our current selection features over 17 wines by the taste for $2 or less and 24 wines under $10 by the glass.  Of course, we will still carry the mid to high end wines for those times when you want to indulge and taste a wine that would not be offered by the taste, or even by the glass, in a restaurant.

We will continue our weekly specials:  Monday – 1/2 price house wines and buy one get one free pizza, Tuesday – Trivia – $30, $20 and $10 tasting cards as prizes, Wednesday – $15 wine tastings, and Friday – $5 martinis and 1/2 price draught beer.

Kelly writes in with all the essential details for Tastings‘ New Year’s Eve shindig…

NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION AT TASTINGS, 6PM-til ? (RELAX – NO RESERVATIONS REQUIRED)

Drink & Food Specials,$5 Glasses of Champagne, Champagne Toast at Midnight

For Every $50 Tasting Card Purchased, Receive a Ticket for Drawings:

Leanne Laine Art, 3 Pack of Wine, 1 Night Stay & Breakfast for 2 at Holiday Inn Decatur, and $100 Tasting Card

Hmm…those seem like some pretty substantial prizes with pretty good odds.  AND its within stumbling distance. Hmm.

Carl sends in a couple updates about 335 building businesses.

The first deals with the new Eyeworks in the 335 building…

The owners are from Manhattan and opted to open this business in our City due to its urban feel.  They consider themselves very fashion conscious and carry a variety of stylish frames.  For those passing by with their four-legged friends, the Optometrist’s wife bakes dog biscuits and are happy to share them with anyone that stops in.  They are also giving away multi-purpose contact lens solution to new visitors.  Their website is http://www.eyeworksdecatur.com/\

AND I forgot to mention that Eyeworks is offering a Grand Opening special of 25% off complete pairs of glasses (frames + lenses)

The second talks about Tastings new hours and latest offerings…

Like many local businesses, Tastings has also realigned their schedule.  Hours are now Mon-Wed 4PM-10PM, Thurs-Sat. 11:30AM-12AM, and Sun, 4PM-10PM.  They continue to offer $8 lunch specials (includes a soda) on Thursdays and Fridays from 11:30 to 3.  They are offering trivia on Tuesdays at 8 PM with the opportunity to win a $50 gift card.  They continue to offer half-price draught beer and $5 martini specials all day Friday and half-price house wine on Monday. Sign up for their newsletter to learn about weekly wine and beer tastings: http://www.awineexperience.com/newsletter.aspx

Kelly writes in with the details…

Tastings is having an election night party tonight at 7PM.  We’re having a Warsteiner beer tasting, Election Triva; 3 rounds with a grand prize of a $50 Tastings Card, and to give everyone a break in this difficult economy Tastings will offer 1/2 off pizza, sandwiches, salads, house wines, & draft beer.

We’ll watch election coverage as well.  Everyone is invited!

OK…I know, not much notice! But its good food and wine, so I figure you don’t need much convincing.

If you missed it here’s my review of Tastings from a few weeks back.

And here are the Grand Opening details…

Tastings, Decatur Grand Opening,
July 25th and 26th

Join us at our Grand Opening for the debut of the inaugural release of the Mondavi family’s return to fine wine with Continuum. Tastings is the only place in town where you will be able to enjoy Continuum by the taste or glass.

Continuum celebrates the Mondavi family’s proud history in Napa Valley. The grapes are hand harvested into small lug-boxes, hand sorted and fed by gravity into small oak tanks for fermentation. The wines are aged in 100% new French oak barrels and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

For all the details, click the continuation… Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Per the all-knowing Carl over at InDecatur…

Rue de Leon is closing on June 15th, while Birdi’s owner wants to get the heck out of Dodge and “move to the mountains”.

Carl also points out that RockIt Boutique opens “officially” this weekend. We saw this a couple weeks back before I went overseas, but never got around to posting it, because I had no real info or a link for it. I think its in the old record store space on the pedestrian-only portion of Sycamore. Not positive its that exact location though.

Also he notes that Saba (love the awning) and Tastings are opening this coming week.

This humble blogger has been invited to the the Tastings soft-opening party tomorrow night, so hopefully I’ll have some pics for those of you who have yet to see the amazing renovations they’ve undertaken at the old Tropical Smoothie location.

My wife and I have been a bit curious about the lack of activity behind the torn brown paper at the old Tropical Smoothie Location. But we needn’t have feared.

In an email, the co-owner of Tastings: A Wine Experience, Kelly Resignola, says that they are shooting for a “early May” opening.

And not a moment too soon. The alcohol density within a quarter mile of my residence was getting scarily low.