Crush Bottle Shop Hosts First Wine Tasting Class

Crush Bottle Shop, a new wine and spirits store on Broad Street, hosted an evening wine tasting class on Monday, October 14.

At Monday’s event, Brett Wiese, a national wine importer and distributor from Tri-Vin Imports, led a class on wines imported from Spain. Founded in 1987, the company to at discovering and promote premium quality and high-value wines from around the world, known in the industry for its world-class selection of Portuguese wines. A selection of Tri-Vin wines are available at Crush Bottle Shop.

Guests tasted six different red and white wines at the event, learning about the origins of each. Wiese explained what contributes to different wine aromas: crisp, tart, sweet, buttery, full-bodied, fruity, bold and tannins. He encouraged the guests to notice what they liked or disliked about the wine with respect to the range of tastes.

Senior Tati Marku, who attended the class, said she gained practical knowledge and enjoyed her experience. 

“I never really understood the different wine descriptions before, but now I will be more informed when ordering wine,” Marku said.

Senior Kayla Darini also attended the class and said she was impressed by the experience. 

“You can tell that the people who work there and the man that lead the class really care about their products,” Darini said.

The classes expose students to varying aspects of wine, from types of grapes, international growing regions, how to pair food with wine and how to decode wine lists (Look for Surviving a European Wine List this Spring).

Store owner Alice Virden-Speer commented that she feels excited about the many ways she plans on showing people about the joys of wine and spirits.

“We will hold a free class the first Monday of every month as well as Thirsty Thursday where you can pop in the store at 12 Broad Street any time on Thursday and try a few sips of 

something new, or possibly something you’ve wondered about,” Virden-Speer said. “We ask people to register so we have our space set up comfortably but we will still welcome  you to pop in.”

Upcoming Crush Bottle Shop events include a Wine of Portugal tasting on November 4, an introductory tasting on December 2 and holiday tasting on December 16. Virden-Speer said that the schedule for classes in the spring is in the finalization process and will be published when the store’s website launches in November.

The store’s hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday.