A wine bar on the drag? Whaaa? I had never heard of such an establishment. I had to check it out.
Located to the right of the muscular arm curling a barbell which emerges from the front of the Hyde Park Gym, Vino Vino has been the hot spot for 35-year-old guys seeking to reclaim a taste of their youth, as well as gaggles of cookie-cutter sorori-blahnds since October 2006.
As I entered the place, energetic chatter mingled with music of what sounded like some local Austin artist. Seventy black wire racks of wine decorated the walls across from huge burnt-sienna-framed mirrors which created the illusion of a larger space. It was pretty cosy in there. I sat down and checked out the menu.
I paid seven dollars for a glass of an 18-dollar bottle of Birago Elio Perrone. A pretty standard rate for a decent sip of grape, I concede. I had never heard of it. But the description started with “oh, my…”
As I noticed the pearl snaps on his yee-haw shirt, Bartender Josh, also Wine Director at Fino, obsessively wiped out all the streaks from the wine glasses. Putting on a show about cleanliness standards for the woman with the reporter’s notebook? I hope not.
He says in May or June, Vino Vino will host a free tasting of 25-50 wines in the parking lot they share with the gym dubbed “Pink Fest.” The date is not set in stone yet.
I didn’t see any expensive or rare vintages on their wine list. Maybe you have to ask for those? *shrug*
Vino Vino doesn’t give students a discount. However, the friendly bartenders and chatty patrons leave me with the feeling that I’d return to the place. Wine Not?
Visit gooutside.wordpress.com next Friday to read the next adventure in the weekly blog series, V’s Grapevine.
