WineStyles

Wine Styles is def anti-​snob. I’ve seen people in there trying to pick a wine for dinner guests based on color or sweetness. And the manager at one (thankfully now closed) at Anderson Mill and 183 told me that now-​a-​days you can drink any kind of wine you want with your food. «Personally,» he said, «I like white wine with my steak.» At that point I left, deciding this was a store for morons. Of course, you can drink anything you want with food. This is a free country. You can drink root beer with soufflé and orange juice with lasagna. But there are reasons why wines are paired with certain foods and people running stores like this should know them– or the stores should close.

I went with Jaye J. and Janet C. on Halloween night to WineStyles. I’ve been wanting to try it out since it opened and we were avoiding handing candy out to kids.
The first (and likely biggest) strike on this place is the huge blinking OPEN sign in the front window. It flashes. Brightly.
WineStyles is unfortunately located in a strip mall, and although there are plans to put in playgrounds and park-​like settings, Arbor Trails is still a strip mall. There isn’t much charm in a «wine bar» with retail glass frontage.
The owners were very nice, but as Jaye said, they seemed to be preoccupied this night with entertaining friends or regular customers and we ended up feeling a little neglected once we had chosen our wine.
This place has another big flaw. It’s set up to look like a curio shop that’s been built into a French wine cave with retail glass frontage and wedged into a strip mall. Maybe it’s not fair to harp on all the paraphernalia for sale. I mean, you’ve got to buy that crap somewhere, right? And if you’re buying a bottle of wine for your Aunt’s 3^rd liver transplant, you might as well pick up a welded SCUBA diver figure/​holder to put it in. Why not?
If you’re just looking for a bottle of wine to take away or sit and drink and don’t want to spend $ 40 or $ 50 for it, WineStyles is a fine choice for those of us in the 7874*. Just don’t sit outside in front of the OPEN sign.

Stopping in here on Halloween night might have been a mistake. (And the flashing «Open» neon sign might have been a mistake in décor.) The place was filled with friends of the proprietors, all in costume and seeming to be having a very good time.
Of course, this meant that we got wine glasses that were kind of dinky and had «Wine Styles» emblazoned on them. Tres chic!
The selection of wine was not very interesting compared to Vino Vino or pretty much any other place north of the river. Wines are classified by things like Mellow, Bold, Fruity, etc. which is fine, but honestly, I’d rather see them by region.
The proprietors were unbelievably kind and welcoming, so I’m giving them an extra star for that. But this shop seems to possess some sort of schizophrenia about what it wants to be. Is it a wine store? Is it a wine accessories store with a few bottles for sale? Is it a wine bar? Pick a lane… that’s all I’m saying.
Actually, I’m saying exactly what Chris B. is saying. He nailed it.

If Wal-​Mart decided to get into the wine bar business, WineStyles is what the store would look like. I thought the people running the shop were perfectly nice and welcoming, but the rest of the experience left me feeling lucky that I don’t live in suburbia. Everything seemed like it was selected and organized by some corporate marketing manager whose only exposure to wine is Gallo or Mondavi.

I love wine bars, and I love wine tastings. There are plenty of new wine bars shooting up all over the downtown area of Austin, which is great for the city, but I typically like to imbibe a bit closer to home, which is why I frequent Winestyles on William Cannon about once every couple of weeks. The owners and staff are personable and give you the feeling that you are welcome to just hang out as long as you like. They continue to add new weekly specials as well, such as new wine tastings, dinners, game nights, etc.

I’m a sucker for wine-​tasting. A friend and I wandered in one evening, looking for some wine to try, wanting something quiet. That’s exactly what we got.
We first looked at all the fun gadgets and toys and wine charms. Like Randall R said, the wines are set up by their flavor and characteristics.
We asked about the crowd and the gentleman told us sometimes it’s very packed, but other times it’s quiet. That’s the night we got — perfect. We tried several different wines and I finally decided on something I really enjoyed, which of course I can’t remember now.
We also got the goat cheese sampler plate. The cheeses on it were fabulous. There is nothing wrong with Manchego.
I really enjoyed it for the quiet night – and honestly for all the attention we got. I’d like to go back for one of their bigger samplings. Seems there was food to sample, too.

Very, very interesting place.
The distinguishing feature about this compared to other wine stores is how they break their wines down. Instead of by varietal or by region, they break all their wines down by distinct characteristics, such as Crisp, Bold, Fruity, Silky, Rich, Mellow, and so on. This means you might find different labels of the same varietal in totally different categories. It definitely makes you think of what you’re buying and tasting in a unique way.
I also really like the fact that they do a lot of events and give special deals, discounts and tastings to members who sign up for their wine club.
Their selection is much more limited than most wine shops, but this is supposedly because a) they are both picking out wines that they want to feature, and b) they are getting some wines exclusively from wineries they are dealing with.
This might get updated over the next few visits, but my first impression is really positive. The biggest downside is that it’s a chain, and frankly I’ve become more than a little sensitive to that. However, I met the franchisees and they are extremely involved. Plus, they feature a couple of Texas wines (from Brennan and from Flat Creek Estates) so they must be making at least some of the selections themselves.