Adventures in Tasting

So I have been doing wine tastings for about 6 months now. By "doing" I mean that on Saturdays I am that perky girl at your local Kroger, Fresh Market or Food Lion standing in the wine aisle asking the question EVERYONE likes to hear "Would you like to try some wine?"

I have a particular Fresh Market in town that I love going to because the management is pretty lax and the clientele is usually very friendly and loose with their money. However, the Fresh Market spot for this past Saturday was taken so I settled for a local Food Lion.

Although I knew the area where the Food Lion was located (semi-rural, red-necky, genuinely down to earth people, much like my own hometown) I had never actually been to this Food Lion. However, after talking to the store manager and the sales rep I was a little bit worried. They both agreed that for the clientele at this Food Lion, Barefoot wine was the best way to go. Now don't get me wrong, for 6 bucks Barefoot is a good deal for the money because a) it doesn't taste like vinegar b) it is pretty standard across the board c) it doesnt give you a wicked cheap wine headache the next day and d) it doesnt remind me in the slightest of Helen Keller ;) (I had to throw that one in there)

HOWEVER usually when I do tastings we taste wines that are in the 10-12 dollar price range because we want the customers to try something different and perhaps spend a bit more than they normally would.

Ok so the selection of Barefoot was the first sign that I was in for an interesting day. The second sign was the fact that nearly every other customer who came through the section was looking to buy white zinfandel. Again, not hating on zinfandel but I mean you know.

The third sign that this was not your average tasting was that I saw a boy who was CLEARLY well under the legal age walked through the wine section making a dash for the door with a case of Budweiser in his hand. Two seconds later a store clerk went running after him and ten minutes after that he was sitting in the manager's office surrounded by 4 cops.

And that's all she wrote. This weekend I am back at my fave, Fresh Market. It probably won't be as interesting as my escapades in Food Lion but at least I will know what to expect.

Until next time... sayonara!