We are so excited to be opening our first store, located at 1760 Frankfort Avenue, on the corner of Pope and Frankfort! Please join us during the Frankfort Avenue Trolley Hop on Friday, February 24th to taste some delicious wine, and get some special treats for your four-legged friends as well. See you there!

From all of us at Vines & Canines, we wish our founder Marc a warm congratulations! He got married last month to his beautiful wife Crystal at a favorite winery. May your love bloom brighter and your companionship grow sweeter with each passing year. Congratulations on you wedding!

We are really looking forward to these upcoming dog-friendly events: a 5K dog run/walk for a great cause, and a day of Halloween fun at a great local brewery. Both will be a tail-waggin’ awesome time. Please check out the information below, and mark your calendars for some four-legged fun. Hope to see you there!

The Million Mutt March, October 16, 2011

The Million Mutt March is a 5K run/walk in support of positive, solution-oriented change for animals in Louisville sponsored by No Kill Louisville. Please join us on Sunday, Oct. 16, at Cherokee Park as we show our city and regional leaders that our companion pets are a priority. Dogs are welcome, but not required. If you do bring your dog(s), please make sure they have a secure collar and leash. Visit No Kill Louisville to learn more.

Dogtoberfest, October 30, 2011

The Bluegrass Brewing Company presents Dogtoberfest on Sunday, October 30, from 2pm-7pm, at the St. Matthews location, 3929 Shelbyville Road. It will feature a costume contest where the winner receives the honor of having a BBC beer named after their dog for one month. Additional contest categories include: dog/owner look-alike, best trick, and best looking. There will be hourly raffles with proceeds going towards Saving Sunny and the Kentucky Humane Society. See you there!

Vines & Canines is proud to participate in the Kentucky Humane Society’s 18th annual benefit Tuxes & Tails gala event. It will be held August 27th, at the Galt House, and feature a silent auction, open bar, and hors d’oeuvres followed by a delicious dinner, live auction, adoptable pets, and much more! Last year’s benefit auction & gala raised more than $155,000, which helped thousands of homeless animals in our care. Let’s save the date & make this year’s event even better! Visit the Kentucky Humane Society’s website to learn more.

So much emphasis and weight is placed on wine reviews from publications such as the Wine Spectator, and Robert Parker that many consumers have lost the pleasure of going to the local wine store and plucking a bottle from the shelf based on a recommendation from the person behind the counter. After working both sides of the fence, (one: the side of the wholesaler, and two: the side of purchaser) I have been able to see what kind of impact this system has on the wine industry.

Don’t get me wrong, wine is a difficult and vast ocean to navigate, and help in finding a style of wine that suits your palate is always appreciated. That being said, remember as a consumer your palate may not be similar to that as the wine professional that is “rating” a wine in one of the popular publications.

I can’t begin to tell you how many times, as a wine director, a recommendation was shunned because the rating a wine received was an “88”. Even though I was very confident in the style the guest was after, as well as the composition of the pairing, the wine was “not what they were looking for.”

All this being said, have a little faith in a knowledgeable server, or the wine aficionado at your favorite wine store. More often than not, you may find an unexpected jewel that is right up your alley.

Cheers!

Having spent the better part of my adult years surrounded by wine in some capacity or another, I have had the luxury of taking part in some incredible bottles. Labels such as Domaine Romanee Conti, Chateau de Beaucastel, La Tache, Dana Vineyards, all come to mind.

However, the bottles I shared with friends on some obscure balcony, popping a cork with my dog Archie while fishing in Naples Bay, or enjoying a simple Italian table wine over dinner with my father were the wines I truly savored the most.

In this day and age it is easy to get caught up in prices, labels, and ratings and forget that sharing a bottle of wine with a friend is about more than the juice in the bottle. It’s about the moment, that little microcosm of time that has been set aside when you peel away the foil, pull the cork, or even unscrew the cap. On your next bottle, remember to savor the moment as well as the wine.

Cheers!!