Wannabe Wino

Maybe you thought those three bottles I bought at Chronicle would be enough for our 5 days in the Pasadena area? Clearly you don't read this blog enough! :)

Plus, my mother in-law had gone to this new wine shop in Montrose that she thought I would enjoy and we were headed to Rocky Cola Cafe in Montrose anyway....with Goudas and Vines just down the street I couldn't resist. Sorry, no websites for either place...for some odd reason they don't appear to have web presence, Goudas and Vines is not even listed in the Yahoo Yellow Pages.

Take what I told you about Chronicle Wine Cellar, do a 180 and you'll find what Goudas and Vines is. Polar opposites in the world of wine shops, yet I enjoyed my trips to both of them. Goudas, as the name implies, sells more than just wine. This is a full service shop, with wine, cheeses, food, olive oils, glassware, etc.

The shop is incredibly spacious and quite modern looking inside, including a tasting bar where you can buy pours of different sizes of various wines. The bar runs almost the entire length of the back of the store. Wines line both of the sides of the store, as well as several racks in the middle. You can eat the food you buy, plus drink your wine at small tables either inside or on the sidewalk. The wines are each laid out on their own bit of the rack and on the sides go from floor to ceiling.

I found the selection to be excellent, though it lacked the fun of moving one bottle out of the way to discover something else hiding behind it. And there would be no endless exploring in this kind of a store. Everything was well lit and labeled and easy to find. I recognized many of the wines (though I never see them in my stores), including a bottle of Verdehlo from Twisted Oak (mine was on its way from WineQ already though, and at a better price!). I also recognized the CT wine, Ballet of Angels from Sharpe Hill that Dr. Debs reviewed recently(Matt promptly declared the label "creepy"). Again I limited myself and only took home two bottles: a $21.95 2004 Four Vines Zinfandel from Amador County, another one I recognized from Dr.Debs (are you getting the feeling I read her blog a lot?) and a $9.95 2005 Rabbit Run Sauvignon Blanc from the Central Coast.

Overall, I was very pleased with my wine shopping experiences in the Pasadena area. I'll be certain to stop by both places again, as both offered a unique shopping experience. And better values than I can find here in VA shops (seriously folks, beef up those under $15 offerings!).