Tag Archives: Boutique

Review: Downtown & Vine

Posted on by
Reply
This little wine bar occupies a beautiful space in the pedestrian mall area of K street downtown.  This is a welcome addition to the area, a perfect spot to grab a drink before a movie at the IMAX across the way.  There is a parking garage right next door, so if you don’t grab street parking, you still don’t have far to walk (the garage is spendy…for 2 hours, I paid $14).I attended the Yelp Wine tasting event here last night, with a large group of people.  Good mix of wine connoisseurs and relative newbies; we all got great treatment from the staff.  Gregg, the owner, went over his and Kate’s reasons for selecting their business, as well as why they chose the various wine regions they represent in their collection.  

We were given pours of the following:
2008 Iron Horse Classic Brut sparkling wine (Sonoma).  Did you know that Iron Horse is the wine of choice for American Presidents to serve to visiting dignitaries?  No?  Read more about that here…I was very impressed by the wine, by the way.  http://inside-sonoma.com…
2011 Neyers Chardonnay Carneros)
2010 De Loach Pinot Noir (Green Valley)
2010 Dillian Barbera (Plymouth, Amador County)
2008 Michael Mondavi Family Emblem “Oso” Cabernet Sauvignon

They also gave us little bites of bread, cheese and meat to augment the wine tasting experience.  Delicious.

I was torn between the De Loach Pinot and the Dillian Barbera, but in the end, the Barbera won (I love Barberas, what can I say!)  We also got a 15% yelp check-in discount.

The wine bar is not that large, but the owners have done a great job of making it look spacious: light woods, beautiful white armchairs in little groupings, a long bar along the left as you walk into the main room, a glassed-in room towards the back…all make for interesting vignettes and keep your eye moving around the space.

I look forward to visiting this place again!

Downtown & Vine
1200 K St
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 228-4518

Advertisement

Review: Glenfiddich Tasting at the Citizen Hotel

Posted on by
Reply
Glenfid-DICK.  That’s how you say it.  If nothing else, that pronunciation lesson alone was worth the trip to this event.  However, as with any event hosted by Alex, the Yelp community manager (Sacramento), the Glenfiddich Scotch Tasting at the Citizen Hotel was nothing short of classy and amazing.  The location was the perfect setting…the mezzanine above and surrounding the reception desk of the hotel was oddly intimate.  The plush carpeting and dark walls added to the smoking lounge feel, and the tables were set beautifully with platters of meats and cheeses, and tumblers filled with single drams of the four whiskeys we would taste.  A tall glass of water and a surprising addition of a medicine dropper rounded out each place setting.A medicine dropper?  Yes.  Very necessary.  Because that’s how you add water to whiskey.  With a medicine dropper.  And yes, it is now a part of my whiskey tasting accoutrements, accompanying me on my nights out, discretely couched within its plastic sleeve, ready to be whipped out for a quick addition of the perfect amount of water to my dram of whiskey.

We tasted aged single malt whiskeys, from 12 years up to 21, and as the age progressed, so did the amount of water that got added to my whiskey to make it palatable for my sensitive throat.  Water cuts the burn, y’all!  They were all delicious, but I found myself partial to the 12 year old.  

The Glenfiddich rep, Mitch, was appropriately irreverant and unintelligible, as per his scottish heritage, and exceedingly funny.  After the tutorial, he visited all the tables and answered a few more questions, some of which were influenced heavily by the amount of whiskey imbibed earlier, leading to some amusing conversations around our table.

It was all over much too soon, within an hour, but of course, the party was just getting started for my table mates….I however, was a good girl and went straight home.  

Thanks, Yelp and Alex, for another delicously extravagant experience.

The Citizen Hotel
926 J St
Sacramento, CA 95814

Review: Fringe

Posted on by
Reply

I love this place.  Every time I come here, I end up buying something.  While the prices are not cheap, I find things that I don’t see elsewhere, so that makes it worthwhile for me.  Browsing through the racks of one-of-a-kind vintage dresses, tops and skirts, trying on Louboutin shoes, posing in designer bags and belts, all makes for a pleasant Sunday afternoon.

The owner, Audrey Wells, was working this past Sunday when I stopped in for a few minutes.  She immediately zoomed in on my vintage Chloe bag, which I’d bought at Fringe back in March, recognizing it as one of hers.  Now that’s a savvy shop owner!  She is very easy to talk to, giving suggestions for ways to wear different pieces of clothing, helping me find non-traditional ways to look at clothing options.

You know how you’re supposed to walk away from potential purchases, and only get them if you think about them over the next few days?  Well, there’s a pair of parrot green 4 inch heels made in Spain that fit me beautifully.  I can’t stop thinking about them.

Hmmmm.

Fringe
2409 21st St
Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 706-0216