“How simple and frugal thing is a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. … All that is required to feel that here and now is a simple, frugal heart.” – Zorba the Greek, 1946.
For the past month or so, I’ve been sniffing around town, questing for shops that offer good or better selections of wine. For me, a wine fanatic, each visit has been a pantingly pleasant experience. As a brief survey of Milwaukee’s munificent merchants, here is my first pick:
Consumer Beverage Center
15313 S. 108th St., Hales Corners, 414-425-1550
Burstingly enthusiastic owner, Mike Praedel, runs an extremely well-organized store with clearly delineated shopping areas such as Napa/Sonoma Values, South American, South African and other varietals.
Mike has a great repertoire of overall wine knowledge and knows his particular wines well. He regularly conducts tastings at the Franklin, Hales Corners and Muskego libraries as well as in clubs such as Tuckaway. He does a total of eight per year. Additionally, Mike manages an e-mail list of 2,000 customers (parenthetically, he told me that a recent enthusiastic offering generated a hasty 95 cases in sales).
Mike’s best-selling wines are in the $9-12 arena and include Acacia Red Blend (Calif.), $9.99; Avalon Cabernet, $12.99; and Omaka Springs (New Zealand) Sauvignon Blanc, $9.99 (I simply had to snag one of these).
Cheers whilst I sample!
