Max’s Wine Wars Enrich Uptown

by Andrew Chalk

At the busy corner of Lemmon and McKinney Avenue, right next to the northbound trolley stop and just a couple of blocks from my dog’s favorite park (Mutts) is Max’s Wine Dive. I was initially off put by its slogan “Fried Chicken and Champagne?…Why The Hell Not?!” It seemed that chicken could go with so much more types of wine.        

This week I got the chance to find out, as the media were invited inside. The black and wood interior reverberated to the sound of the guitar licks in Peter Frampton’s “Do You Feel Like We Do”. I walked to the media table at the back where media types reverberated to the sound of “Do You Feel Like We Do”. I placed an order with a waitress who reverberated to the sound of “Do You Feel Like We Do”. Did I mention that this place is loud? In fact, it is not only loud, but for a Tuesday night it was hopping. When we left, people were waiting for seats.

Our purpose was to sample Max’s bi-weekly Wine Wars. An event where you sip through eight wines, four white and four red, served blind by sommelier Kevin Usher. You make notes and try to guess what the wines are. During the first wine everyone is reticent about making any comments. By the sixth, nobody can get a word in edgeways. In short, this is fun. Around 27 happy people took part this week in what was the third Wine Wars event. The numbers grow by about 10 each time.

My guesses were varied. It was easy recognizing the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (so grassy) and the California Chardonnay (lots of oak and tropical fruit) but some other wines were devilishly hard (Peter Frampton may have contributed). I conclude that drinking wine is good practice for this event and resolve to train harder. All the wines were of good quality and in good shape.

The next Wine War is July 23rd (then August 6th) at 6pm. I could not find it on the web site but that may just be because I am better keeping notes with a quill pen. At $15 +t&t it is a bargain. The regular menu of food is also available and lots of wines in the tasting are available at discount prices on the night of the event for drinking at Max’s or taking home.

This event is Crave Recommended.