From the Vine Wine Room

At many Chippewa Valley nightspots, the wine selection is limited to a few lonely single-serving bottles (red and white, if you’re lucky) sitting on the back bar behind the Bacardi bottles and beer taps. However, shifting consumer tastes and entrepreneurial ingenuity have brought several wine-focused drinking establishments to the area in recent years. If you prefer pinot to Pabst, these are the joints for you.

Kathy Nuenke, who opened From the Vine Wine Room, 2526 Golf Road, in July 2011, says educating customers is part of her job. “It doesn’t need to be a scary thing, and we try not to make it a scary thing,” she says of familiarizing them with wine. She serves wine in flights – each flight includes 2 ounces each of three different wines – to help drinkers hone their palates and learn their preferences.

When asked her favorites, Nuenke recommends the zinfandels, which come from the Lodi and Sonoma regions of California, as well as the syrah/shiraz flight, which features spicier, heavier wines. She acknowledges that Wisconsin wine drinkers’ tastes “tend to be a little on the sweeter side,” with Italian Roscato (of Olive Garden fame) and German Rieslings among the favorites.

As of last year, From the Vine isn’t the only wine bar in town: Splash Wine Bistro which opened at 416 Water St. in December, carries a wide range of white, red, and sparkling wines as well as specialty beers. Splash also boasts a menu featuring cheeses, cured meats, salads, small plates, and desserts to accompany the beverages.

One of the region’s longest-running wine establishments is the Duncan Creek Wine Bar in Chippewa Falls, which for six years has served up fine cuisine alongside a selection of about 80 wines from around the world. Chef Jim Hopkins – whose wife, Brenda, owns the bar and restaurant – says Duncan Creek customer’s are well-versed in wine. “If you’re coming to eat at our particular restaurant … you’re not afraid to go outside the box and try some different items,” he says.

Hopkins says the most popular selections tend to be those that are featured in the wine list: “We try to search out some lesser-known product, more so that we bring in for the taste profile versus going for just the generic grocery store wines,” Hopkins says. For diners and drinkers who are looking for the perfect match, Duncan Creek holds periodic wine-pairing dinners. The next is May 15, and will feature a six-course dinner, which each course matched with the ideal glass.