Our next stop takes us out for a night of imbibing. We traveled to The Wine Loft in downtown Kalamazoo to gallivant with a large group of friends. Our first visit to this most interesting place left us with a bad taste in our mouths…not because of crappy wine either. When the facility first opened, we stopped in on a Friday night, and while the joint was quite eclectic, it was filled with scantily clad women and men whose muscles were popping from their shirts. The background music was a sort of bumpin’ mix that might appeal to the “I just got out of college and got a real job” crowd.
Now, mind my initial criticisms, that’s just what you might encounter on a 
weekend…and hey…if that’s your gig, more power to you – enjoy! While our friends can hang with a crowd like that, we’d much rather sit in an atmosphere where yelling isn’t a requirement for communication. When we visited the Wine Loft on this occasion, it was a Tuesday evening – also half off bottles of wine night – yippie! One of our friends reserved the loft area (yes…the Wine Loft has an “actual” loft). This was our first time upstairs in the fun lofty area and it was just delightful. We sat by the faux Yule logs burning on the television behind us – you could even feel the warmth…oh wait…maybe that was the wine.
At any rate, while we were lounging on the large square couches, our very friendly server popped up the stairs and handed us a fairly vast wine list. While looking over the list, I was pretty excited…you know….half off. My disappointment came when I realized that the majority of the bottles were over $40 and most of them were above $65 and all the way up to $200. Now, I’m no wine connoisseur, but I certainly know what my little taste buds desire; however, I still can’t bring myself to believe that the more expensive it is, the better it must taste.
Steve and I finally settled on a Pinot Grigio from California – original price $28 a bottle, so we escaped with a $14 trough of wine. Now, one would expect that a wine at that price would be moderately elegant, right? Hmmmmm….well, I don’t know how you feel about screw-top wines, but all cheapness was revealed when our server returned with our wine and forcefully unscrewed the aluminum top. Obviously there was no cork for me to smell – what the hell kind of wine place is this anyway? “Ummm, can I smell the cap please?” How classy! Our faux sommelier did the correct thing and poured a taste for me. I still wonder what would happen if I said “This is disgusting, take it back!” – are you allowed to do that?!? I’ll have to try on our next adventure out. The wine wasn’t too bad; however, my friend tried it and said that it tasted “like a cup of water.” I suppose that’s what a $28 screw-top bottle is like these days.
As more friends arrived to the gathering, the loft was expanding like a stuffed 
belly. The server came over to take drink orders from the new arrivals. “Tonight is half-off bottle of wine night,” she said…with one caveat, “that’s for everything under $100.” HEY! They never told US that! What if I got crazy and ordered that $200 bottle of elitist Sicilian wine?
Even though we just went for the drinks, we did peer into their menu to see if there was anything delightful to snack on. The Wine Loft has delectable sounding dishes (mind you, none are vegan, so if you are a vegan, make sure you stuff your face with some crackers before arriving). Wine and empty bellies are a bad mix. The menu had everything from Baked Brie to Wild Mushroom Bruschetta to Shrimp Ceviche – they even have an option to select three cheeses of your liking to make your own snack platter – so sophisticated! Even though I’m a non-cheese eater, I can appreciate the ala carte element of ordering this dish.
As the Yule log began to burn out and the loft tired of our presence, we slowly parted down the stairs…off to the next adventure. We would most certainly return to the loft….but only on Tuesdays.
