Liquor Stores Now Offer Wine Tastings
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If you’ve ever had a hard time making a decision on what is best for you when it comes to a purchase, you know “trying it before you buy it” can be invaluable. That concept could be in play the next time you walk into your local wine and liquor store, thanks to a new Tennessee law. The law, passed by Governor Haslam, allows wine and spirits stores to provide “taste tests” of wine to customers before their purchase. “Buying wine can be a very complicated affair as many thousands of wines are on the market, so this enables them to eliminate some of the confusion,” said Lynnwood Wine and Spirits owner Bob Lindsey. Pre-selected and only available during designated hours, Lindsey says the tastings help to educate his customers. “We’ve already had some customers come in that have been buying the same wine for years and years, for fear of trying something else,” said Lindsey. “Now, they’re wanting to experiment and they’ve found that there’s some great selections out there.” But not everyone thinks the liquor store is the place to taste. “I just think it’s not a good idea for people to bring something like that in for people just to come in and drink,” said Jackson resident Louise Merriweather. “When they get ready to taste the wine, you know most of the time people aren’t coming to buy, they’re coming to drink.” Lindsey says that isn’t the case. “People need to understand we’re pouring only very small tastes of the products,” said Lindsey. “They’re not going to be able to come in and ‘have a drink’. They may sample several products and still, it’s going to be a very small amount.” Regardless of the amount, others worry it may take away from local wineries. “It could definitely damper their business and draw quite a bit of the crowd away from them,” said Cody Wheeler, a local resident. “We sell a lot of wines from Tennessee wineries, and we move a lot of their product for them,” said Lindsey. “So if anything else, this will help them to sell more product.” Lindsey also says his liquor store requires a valid photo I.D. from anyone that is sampling any alcohol product regardless of their age.
