750ml Wine Bar

Thursday night I met a good friend over at one of Akron’s little hidden gems – 750ml - out at Pilgrim Square on West Market Street. I’ve been in once or twice to look at their wines but not to stay for any of their events. My friend Georjette wanted to see what the place was like, so we set up a girls night out to try it out.

The place is cute as a button – comfy chairs set up living room style that make for good conversation and a small wine bar that attracted a group of friends of the owners. Throughout the evening there were several small groups in and out having a glass or two of wine. There is also a nice patio outside but it was a bit hot for us to be out there this week.

This weekend they are featuring flights of wines from Dancing Coyote Wines in California. Two whites and two reds were in the flight. We started with their Albarino that was fruity yet with a peppery note in the back of the throat and moved onto their slightly sweeter Cha Cha - mostly Chardonnay. Moving to the reds, the Tango is a great blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Tempranillo (which turned out to be my favorite of the batch) and their Petite Syrah. Disappointingly the gentleman that was supposed to be leading the flight tasting was a no show – along with his notes – but we had fun anyhow sampling on our own.

About half way through our flight we decided to order some food and ended up with a nice assortment of goodies. Their Fig-Prosciutto spread was phenomenal and the chocolate truffles….well…extra phenomenal? The smooth creamy dark chocolate paired really well with the Tango and I’m not too ashamed to say I had a slight buzz by the end of the evening. The place closes normally at 9, but thanks to the owners gracious hospitality we were still sitting their chatting away and having a grand old time at 10:30. When someplace is that comfortable, it’s easy to let the hours slip by.

I'm fond of Riverside Wine Bar out in Kent - they have a terrific outdoor patio that overlooks the river and you can wave to the train conductors as they trundle by - but it's a bit of a haul on a weeknight to get into Kent. 750ml solves that problem nicely since it's so close to home.

And, of course, my favorite place to buy wines is still Western Reserve Wines up in Solon, their Saturday tastings have been so helpful in my fundamental wine education. I still don't quite understand the vocabulary of the whole tasting business, but I'm having fun picking wines I like.