Whine about Wine

I love 58 Degrees. When I lived in midtown I was there at least once a week. I knew some of the servers by name. Some of them knew mine. They were nice, knowledgable and seemed to really enjoy and be passionate about wine.

Based on my most recent visit, it seems something has changed.

I recently went to one of their $10 Wednesday night tastings. It wasn't my first time at one of these events. The usual routine is you buy five or six tickets for $10 and each ticket gets you a taste of each of the wines in their selected flight. The first problem -- the pourer was not very knowledgable about the wines. In fact, he poured one that was so "cooked" that it smelled like vinegar. When one of my fellow tasters told him about the problem he didn't think it was worth changing the bottle. That's not good.

The second problem -- they were stingy with the pours. I don't mean they didn't give me a full glass as my taste. In the past, if you wanted to pass on a port (yuk!) for example, you could get another taste of Pinot with your extra ticket. No more! It's one taste of each wine and that's it.

Now, I understand their policy. It was explained by our server (a woman we've always liked) that people were taking advantage and just getting six tastes of the most expensive wine on the list instead of sampling them all. I get that, but they didn't make the customers aware of the change. In fact, they go to CSI lengths to stop the abuse! When I brought up my glass for a taste of Grenache I brought my friend's glass too. She had already had the Grenache but wanted to skip the next one on the list for a 2nd taste of Grenache. The Grenache came after a rose in the tasting line. My glass had pink in it, hers had red. He refused to pour her a taste because the forensic evidence proved she was going out of order.

And overall, besides the server I just mentioned, the staff doesn't seem very engaged or interested in what they are selling. On a different visit, we asked a bartender for his thoughts on the rosés on the menu. He said "all rosés are dry." That's just not true. When asking another server about a series of whites I might be interested in trying, he referred to them all as "nice." Same for several reds.

I'm sure I may sound like a big whiner (ha!). That's partially true, but it's not the issue here. I love wine. I am sure I'll be back to 58 Degrees because they have great wine. I'm just sad about the change since the place first opened. And now with all the competition within walking distance, they should be striving to be the most friendly, knowledgable staff in midtown.

In fact, later that night after the aforementioned tasting, my friends and I hoofed it to The Grand on 16th & L and had some delicious vintages that were recommended by our charming server. What a difference a few blocks made.