Tucson, AZ

With roughly eight thousand (yep, you read that right) different types of wine, two thousand types of spirits, and one thousand different beers, Total Wine seems to have cornered the market on all things alcohol.  In case you haven’t heard, Total Wine is the new beverage store located at 4370 N. Oracle Road.  They are open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.

My husband and I went to check it out the other day.  The place is like Alcohol Mecca.  It has everything you could think of and all at warehouse prices, similar to Costco.  We were impressed with their selection of wine and with over 8,000 choices, who wouldn’t be?  There were various wine selections appropriate for all occasions and meals, with staff eagerly waiting to make recommendations.

Probably the best aspect of Total Wine is the Penny Wine Tasting.  You heard right!  Just a penny!  This wine tasting occurs every Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 12:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.  When my sister first told me about this, I thought that there must be some type of catch.  Certainly you can’t go into a store, pay only a penny, and then sample all the wine.  But it’s true.  They have very knowledgeable staff to help instruct you on food pairing for the different wines they are sampling.  You simply pay your penny (or a larger donation if you feel the need to), grab a glass, and let the tasting begin.

There are some die hard snobs (although really, how snobby can you possibly be when sampling wine in a store) that seem to congregate (you just have to push through them), but there are others like myself who just wanted to be exposed to new and different types of wines.  I left with a terrific Merlot to try with dinner tonight.  So, if you are ever in need of last minute plans for the weekend, stop by Total Wine for the wine tasting.  It’s practically free.