Taste Select Wines

What a great concept! Wine by the glasses and HALF glasses. Don’t let the location fool you. It is very quiet and calming inside. The food is moderately priced and is good, but nothing spectacular. My favorite thing about this restaurant is the fact that you can pair a different wine with each appetizer. Also, the wait staff was knowledgeable and helpful with the wine pairings.

You’re in your car listening to the radio. A new song, one that you’ve never heard before, but one that you swear you’ve heard in your best dreams starts to play. By the first chorus, you’re trying to sing along, even though there’s no way you could possibly know the words. You listen breathlessly as the final notes fade and the DJ announces the band’s name, which you memorize instantly. You endanger your life and that of others by texting (while still driving) four of your closest friends to tell them that they MUST look up this new uberband immediately, if not sooner. You have discovered the Sound of the future, and you get to be the first to tell all your friends about it!
Now substitute Taste for Sound, and you’ve got the idea of how I feel about the food and wine at Taste Select Wines.
Last weekend, my husband and I went to our previously favorite restaurant (which apparently is everyone else’s) UCHI. Now don’t get me wrong, I still love UCHI. It’s amazing. The thing is, that it’s like that amazing song that has started to get overplayed to the point that it’s on one out of every three person’s ring tones. You think, «This is MY favorite song/​restaurant! Why does everybody else have to play it so much that it starts to lose its beauty?» We waited for 2 ½ hours on a Sunday night to finally be shuffled to the two most crowded seats where the sushi bar meets the cocktail bar. Our chef, though professional and charming as always, was obviously exhausted to the point of near collapse. We felt guilty for asking him to make us a few rolls.
If there is a bar and restaurant paradise, this is it.
At eight o’clock last night (Friday), my husband and I parked in the Austin City Hall garage and strolled the pleasant lakeside block to Taste. The patio chairs looked inviting, but since the motorcycle rally was heating up on the street, we opted for one of the posh black booths right inside the front window.
No wait required! We were seated right away!!!
Kristen, our lovely and knowledgeable server answered all of our queries and guided us through the exquisite menu and special options for the evening.
My hungry husband chose on the five course tasting menu. I decided on the three course option with wine pairings (only $ 35).
First course: Exquisite Ahi Tuna Sashimi with an in house lemon preserve and a drizzle of olive oil for each of us. Paired with a New Mexico sparkling for me and a Spanish Albarino for him. (All pairings served as half glasses, unless you want more…).
Second course: Crisp savory veal sweetbreads served over creamy cheese grits with a mushroom sauce. Wine pairing — something lovely and red, though I can’t remember where from.
Third (Main course): For the hubby — Grilled top sirloin, perfectly seasoned and cooked to juicy, tender, medium rare sublimity. Add to that a bouquet of asparagus tips and bleu cheese enhanced mashed potatoes. Paired with Italian Cab.
For me — eight mouthwatering pork loin medallions fanned out over Texas grown greens and cranberry beans with an light chipotle (?) sauce. Paired with an inspiring little Zin called «Writer’s Block.»
Fourth course: Cheese plate — divine samples of the best cheddar I’ve ever popped in my mouth with a naturally sweet Heirloom tomato preserve. Also paired with some fantastic wine, but I would be remiss in trying to report on what it was.
Fifth Course: California Muscatel for both of us to go with a molten chocolate cake/​muffin set off by cool coffee gelatto for him. And for me, one of my old favorites — blackberry crisp, updated to artistic wonder topped with a thyme infused whipped cream dollop! How does the chef come up with this stuff?
OK, one last rave before I sign off. My husband if from South Brazil, which as you’ve probably heard, is the land of the Gauchos who pride themselves in raising and preparing perhaps the best beef barbecue (called «churrasco») in all of the world. He is ALWAYS complaining about the lack of good beef or about the poor preparation of expensive meat here in the U. S. Every now and then he’ll eat a steak he’ll call, «acceptable.» But at Taste, he enjoyed his sirloin so much, I was afraid he might lie down in the booth and start physically writhing in pleasure.
The movie with Bill Murray, What About Bob — you know, the scene where Bob stays over for dinner and can’t stop moaning about how delicious the corn is? Yeah. It’s like that.

Our 3^rd stop on our ladies wine crawl. Taste is a very open and bright restaurant located right off of Cesar Chavez. They have some outdoor seating but it is right off of Cesar Chavez and can get loud from the cars whizzing by. Taste was the one establishment that did not have any specials for Sunday. This was a bummer because the other 3 wine bars had specials on Sunday. Taste was unique because they have an area where you can pay to tastes various wines. I believe that a customer can give the waiter/​waitress a credit card, and then they are given a card that they can use to taste the wines (You slide it in the machine that gives you the wine pour). Wine tastings ranged from $ 2 up to around $ 8 (I didn’t look at all of the prices, so there could have been more and less expensive tastings). We ordered our glasses of wine and enjoyed our time with each other while at Taste.
We all had one complaint about Taste, and it was our waiter. He did a good job of recommending wines based on what we liked, but he had a bit of an attitude. When he found out that our next stop was House Wine he made a comment that we all thought was slightly inappropriate. He said that «why go to House Wine? They aren’t a true wine bar; they get their wine from HEB». Most of us have worked in a retail environment and we know it is unprofessional to talk bad about your competition. Excuse the pun, but it left a bad taste in our mouth. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a wine connoisseur but I do buy some of my wine from HEB and I don’t think that makes me any less a «true wine» fan.
As we were paying our bill another waiter came up and asked what we were up to and chatted with us. We all wish he was our waiter because he was more personable and fun to talk to.

It was a simple request– «Give yourself over to absolute pleasure»
So that is what we did. It was the «Unctuous Experience» and along the way we enjoyed an array of wines from natural and rustic — to manhandled and indulgent all the while feasting on dish after dish of pure unvarnished decadence.
The service was friendly while the food and wine were subversive. Our server and the kitchen worked on both our taste buds and perspective; shifting us from positions of comfort (sushi grade ahi and txakoli) to positions of anxiety (sweet breads and napa cabernet). This is the definition of a «dining EXPERIENCE» rather than a «dinner out».
Each item of food is an expression of its main ingredient rather than sauces and spices. Each wine is a reflection of the varietal and the region. The result is interesting, local, interactive and educational, turning the focus on your plate and palate rather than the scene. Bravo!
«And that is how I discovered the secret. That elusive ingredient, that… spark that is the breath of life… yes I have that knowledge! I hold the key to life… ITSELF!»

One thing I love about Austin is all the places that have big open areas. Taste is one of these. It is a cavernous room with tables, a bar and a wine section inside. They have a menu that is fairly reflective of what I’d expect — cheese and salumi plates, mini burgers, seafood, and so on in this traditional American vein.
We enjoyed everything we tried here from the cheese plate to the dinner salad to the scallops and the beef. Our server was also delightful — showing up when we needed more wine or water and timing the delivery of our sporadically ordered food quite well.
They also have a patio, which was full when we showed up, but seemed like a nice place to dine if you can get a seat out there.

I hate chicken. I grew up eating chicken nearly every day of my life and swore off of that vile little bird as I peeled out of my mother’s driveway and on to college.
But I loved it here. I even sucked its little bones. (Thank you to my company for not judging me for that!)
I even loved it *before* DYL night really got started. And the sugar snap peas that I’m guessing were blanched then grilled plus the farro added to the experience.
Additionally, the wine selection is expansive and is competitively priced with SPEC’s. You can order a bottle at basically a SPEC’s price and for a $ 10 corking fee they will gladly serve you here. No 120% + markup here.
I was disappointed Taste Select wasn’t busier than it was. It really deserves to be considering its dark and cozy ambiance, beautiful dishes at reasonable prices, and unpretentious but terribly knowlegeable and welcoming staff.
Disclaimer: Due to the place basically needing to serve as both a restaurant and a wine cellar, it can be cold. Servers do provide ladies complimentary shawls upon request, but you might want to consider your seating carefully so as not to ruin a night of freshly-​shaven legs due to goosebumps.

I was planning to spend under $ 10 on Thursday. Drink one glass of house wine and split one appetizer – both Unilocal SXSW specials. Really, that was the plan.
Well, three glasses of sparkling wine later, I ordered the three course meal ($ 30). Wow! Seriously delicious. The three courses consisted of ahi tuna, chicken confit with sugar snap peas, little onions, and farro, and a molten chocolate cake for dessert. I loved every bite of every item. The chicken was particularly tender, juicy, and flavorful, and the sides really complimented the dish. I’m still having dreams about that cake. While I spent more than I planned to, I didn’t really mind. I’m happy to support businesses who value excellence and try to do something a little different.
In addition to the exemplary cuisine, Taste boasts an extensive wine selection. If you’re not sure what you want, that’s okay. They have a little testing area where an automated dispenser can provide you with samples of wines in many price ranges. Not being an expert on wine, I appreciate this concept. Not only is it a novelty, but it would prevent me from wasting money on a bottle of wine I’m not fond of. I can try a few ounces of a few different wines, then make my decision accordingly.
The atmosphere at Taste is upscale but not «fancy.» The walls are brick, the ceilings high, the light fixtures unique, and the décor dark, rich woods. I wore a nice dress, as did my friend and quite a few other patrons. Men mostly wore jeans and button down shirts. Actually, the attire was a bit Dallas-​esque, which I actually enjoy from time to time. :)
Also of note–
Holly P. and I shared the meal but incurred no split plate charge even though they split everything in the kitchen.
And Taste does take reservations.

We went to Taste a few weeks back to indulge in one of their special dinners. Hands down, amazing. Amazing!
I ran back there last week for Austin Restaurant Week. Again the food was excellent — although I would have to argue that the ‘light’ three course meal I selected was not terribly light. Not to worry, it was all very good.
We’ll be going again for a special occasion soon and will again put some serious foodies in front of Taste. I’m confident they’ll not let us down. And I can’t wait to try the tasting machines!

I stopped in to Taste on my birthday with some friends and had a really fun time. The tasting machines are great fun but I found the wine that really did it for me they had by the glass behind the bar. The staff was superb in keeping the wine flowing with my group and the food looked tasty as well. The other nice thing here is that if you find a wine you like, there’s a chance they’ll have it in their retail store and you can take a bottle home at a not very inflated price!
The pricing here was a bit for me to wrap my head around. I was able to get a very full glass of Premier Cru Burgundy for $ 8, when a taste (1.5oz) of Chatenauf du Pape was $ 8.40. This was kind of the case across the board. If you know what you like, ordering from behind the bar seems to be the way to go, but tasting 8 wines in a single evening is great too.
I think Taste is a welcome addition to Austin’s now extensive wine bar scene. Check it out!

I stopped by here with a couple of the Ginger Women tonight. I drank a glass of Inwood «Cornelious», which is a 100% Tempranillo wine (the grapes were grown in far west Texas). It was very, very nice. We shared a large cheese plate and some ahi tuna. Both appetizers were very tasty. I don’t remember what wines my companions drank, but they were both happy with their selections.
We wandered around a bit on the inside, since none of us had been there berfore, and the servers/​manager were very glad to answer questions for us. We sat outside; the seating is comfortable (at least in February) and the view pleasant.
I’ll be back, but this was a very nice first visit.

Went on Sunday night (my girlfriend and I celebrated Valentine’s Day post-​marathon!) and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Spent about 30 minutes sampling wines prior to dinner; I must admit although I do enjoy drinking wines I don’t know much about them except what I like! The choices they offered were amazing but it would have been helpful to have a little synopsis about each wine under the bottle; it’s almost a little like Russian roulette and I would have enjoyed reading a little about each wine prior to drinking it. Also, if I’m about to pay $ 8 for a taste I would like a little read on it! I know that they have folks who work there who are «experts» but not much to offer us on Sunday evening.
The dinners we had were great! My girlfriend and I split an appetizer of sweetbreads; she had the chicken sandwich and I the pork skirt for dinner. The sweetbreads were fried and were complemented by cheese grits (not your regular cheese grits!!); I forgot to ask what kind of cheese they used in the grits but they were delicious. Not a big fan of soggy sweetbreads and these were fried, crispy and the crust held the sweetbreads together just right. The chicken sandwich was large and accompanied by a salad of spinach with a homemade vinaigrette; both very tasty. The pork skirt was grilled to a medium and served on a bed of risotto and sweet caramelized (?) onions with spinach. The sweetness of the risotto was a little overpowering at first but mellowed. All in all a delicious meal that wasn’t «out of this world» expensive.
If you went strictly for dinner and had a glass of wine with dinner, a couple could get out of there under $ 60. The fun was in tasting the wines (they don’t mind if you keep going back and tasting others during dinner vs. ordering a glass of wine off the menu) and that did drive up the price to about $ 90 for a couple.
A question… should you tip on the price of dinner if no wine is served by the server? Our dinner was about $ 50 and we spent about $ 35 on the wine tasting (which is «do it yourself»); do I tip based just on dinner service or on the total bill? What do y’all think?
One drawback– Taste’s website mentions a live Jazz band and Cabernet specials Sunday night; saw neither one that night and no one mentioned anything about a Cab special. A little thing but need proof in advertising…
Overall, great experience and would definitely go back as there are a lot of appetizers that I want to try!

So, let me mention two disclaimers right off the bat:
1. I don’t claim to be a wine connoisseur. I just know what tastes good to me and I generally can’t tell the difference between cheap and expensive wines.
2. I won a free dinner for two here during Austin restaurant week.
With that being said, I thought this was a very nice place to go for a good dinner. I like the fact that they offer the option of ordering a half a glass of wine which is exactly what my husband and I did.
For appetizers we chose the ahi tuna and the smoked ostrich wrapped around buffalo mozzarella. The tuna was good but the ostrich was fabulous. For our main course we both got the strip steak served with a sauteed mushroom and caramelized onion sauce and little round purple potatoes. The flavor of the steak was AMAZING and the portion size was big. Much larger than I expected. For dessert I got the apple crisp and my husband tried the black pepper pana cotta with pomegranate gelee. My apple crisp was fine but nothing spectacular. We both felt that the pana cotta was a little heavy on the black pepper which had all sunk to the bottom so you got a really heavy dose of it when you got to the bottom of the dish.
I would like to go back here to try their small plates but I was glad our meals were free because I felt it would have been pretty pricey otherwise.
Oh, and there was a great jazz trio playing just outside the door the night we were there. The music added a nice touch to the dinner.

My plan was to take advantage of the half-​glass option here and drink my way around the world. Ahhh… What drunken, wine-​fueled adventures we would have! Catering to my preference for smoldering Latinos I started in Spain with a tasty Cava.
However, only minutes later I was waylaid in France by a Lucien Albrecht Rose. Now, I’m no wine connoisseur but this stuff made sweet, sweet love to my mouth. Imagine your taste buds shooting an explicit porn scene. With a thousand orgasmic peaches. With Serge Gainsbourg directing. «Take it all, Mon Cherie! Oui! Swallow eet ALL!»
I could have sipped this stuff all night, and I did, much to the dismay of the bartender that interrupted my porn reverie right in the middle of the money shot. See, I had committed the grave offense of pairing it with VEAL. «But I like it» I said.
Instantly the restaurant went silent, save for the plaintive strings of the dueling banjos in my head and Momma frying trailer-​squirrel on the hot plate. Am I showing my white trash by assuming wine «rules» are really only guidelines? And are rules not meant to be broken? And do you find it strange that I relate to food on sexual terms?
I digress, after I refused his suggestion of a red he threw up his hands in a jazz-​style paroxysm of horror. Madam is not exaggerating when she tells you that a small shriek of horror actually escaped his lips. Fuck off, wine monkey. You’re standing in my scene.

I just might have a new favourite.
Aesthetics — tops. They have a chandelier made of a swirl of glass bubbles in the corner, perfect lighting (not too dim, certainly not too bright), large windows, a few booths, an elegant bar, and a non-​intrusive retail area (filled with bottles, and even machines where you can taste by the glass — like schmancy wine fountain drink)
Servers — amazing. I had Kelly. Will go back just to see him again.
Wine — they carry Lucien Albrecht! It’s a favorite (brut rose) of mine, so that automatically endears me. The wine list itself was huge, I sampled an earthy pinot and LOVE LOVE LOVE that you can buy half glasses for about half the price.
Food menu looked tasty, didn’t partake but like their wines, has the option of half portions on most.
There was a large table of VERY content-​looking people enjoying an Italian dinner paired with wine, and apparently they have some dynamite dinners? I have to go back.

Went for a Girls Night Out on a Friday night. Place was DEAD. Maybe three other tables. I now know why.
The «retail» side of Taste is completely separate from the «restaurant» side even though they are in the same room, 10 feet apart. If you sit on the restaurant side, you have a selection of maybe 25 wines either by the half-​glass or glass. No bottles, no flights, no «TASTES!» Cheapest half-​glass was $ 4.
If you want to try a variety of wines, you get up from your table, walk to the other side of the room, and get a debit card to use on the mechanical taste machines on the retail side. Here’s the bizarre thing: find a wine you like from the tasters? Think you might get a glass of it at your table? NOPE. Can’t get glasses of those wines. Only tastes. How weird is that? Find a bottle of wine on the retail side you want to have at your table? Pay for it on the retail side, walk it back over to the restaurant side, then pay your waitress $ 10 to open it for you. Ugh. What a rip-​off.
Food was surprisingly good, however. I had the Cheese plate (large was $ 16, though) and shared a bacon panini with a friend. Both were good.
Think I’ll try Vino Vino next time.

Well, wine bars do not often impress me (Cru didn’t), but this one did. I was heartily and thoroughly impressed with TASTE.
The wine dispensers were amusing — round metallic things you insert a card (provided) into that then dispense wine. The wine selection was fantastic — there were even reds I like (and I don’t like reds).
The tuna appetizer was fantastic, and the menu looked very appealing. I didn’t get much of a chance to sample it, though, since I was on a timetable.
The bartender was very knowledgeable about her product. She mentioned that she tastes the varietals regularly, and was able to accurately recommend wines and beers that I liked, based on a (thoroughly bumbling) description by me of the flavors and tastes I prefer.
The experience was novel, the selection good, and the food tasty. I would note that it is not cheap (I ran up a $ 40 tab in about an hour and a half).
As to Lisa’s comments on the cards, they’re not for you to keep. They’re a method to allow self-​service on tastings when every bottle has a different price. When you close out your tab, you return the card, which they use to calculate the total (and probably track inventory).
Prices are a bit steep on the appetizers, and I would like a larger beer selection — while they have Chimay, they don’t have a lot else. You’d think there’s room in the back for a few other good beers!

TM 1: I need a drink. Can you get out of work?
TM 2: Sure. Call me when you’re close.
After a long meeting at work, a friend obliged and met me for a drink. I was wanting something smoove like wine. I had seen Taste before it opened at was anxious to finally try it.
We sat at the bar. Although it still smelled a bit like fresh paint, the excitement of the newness soon took over. The bartender gave us a food menu to look at (holy expensiveness, Batman), but they were printing more wine menus.
He explained to us how the Taste-​ing worked (see? Get it? You get to TASTE wines?!). You get a card and get to look at the bottles and push a button to get a TASTE of wine. Although that sounded like fun, we went for a glass each. You can also buy a bottle there (lots of great options) and have them cork it, for a fee.
We shared a cheese plate, which came with stuff to match the cheese like candied fennel and figs. Yum!
Another plus is the half-​glass of wine you can order. Especially handy for those expensive wines you still want to try.
The bartender and sommelier were both very friendly. They made us feel comfortable and welcome.
The atmosphere is really cool; the music isn’t too loud. The people are cool.
I’m not in this area of downtown much, but I do see myself coming back.

So it’s not particularly often that you saunter into a wine bar and are surprised: sure, sometimes maybe it’s nicer than you thought it might be, sometimes you find that flight or bottle that really knocks your socks, but by and large it’s really a known animal. You head to a wine bar with a set of expectations that are usually met or not met, but are seldom terribly surprising.
Enter Taste, which has done an extra nice job of turning the convention of the wine bar flat on its ear, and in the process kept all of the cool stuff (and even added some) while junking the clunky parts of the business model in favor of a newer, cooler, more experimental (and let’s be honest, more fun) incarnation. The wine bar has been reborn, people, and there’s a damn fine chance that it will and should be this.
Deferring to Allison P’s review, I’ll save a star based on the idea that I’ve not had a meal here yet, but I absolutely adore what I’ve seen. The name is derivative of the fact that you essentially get a card, pay for wine by (appropriately) the «taste» (a somewhat mini-​pour, or, in parlance I know, less than my father would turn the bottle over but still good), and you go about your way.
I didn’t try to mix, was tempted to try a really expensive taste of something I likely wouldn’t buy by the bottle just cause. And that’s a level of accessibility that I’ve not always been afforded. This taste wasn’t acquired. It just opened two days ago. And here’s hoping that the strong start leads to a silky finish.

My wife and I are both certified winos, and no matter where we go, we’ll always seek out a wine bar (or three) for our drinking pleasure. Last night we decided to give Taste a shot after driving by it earlier in the day, and let me just say that I’m glad we did!
The space itself was sleek and well-​laid out into different sections — wine shop, wine bar, and tables for dinner. We opted for a table and ended up having a very delicious meal. The ahi tuna was good but not great, but everything else was top notch, particularly the arugula salad, braised short rib, wild boar meatballs, and the cilantro panna cotta (YUM!).
To complement the tasty food, Taste offers a great by-​the-​glass (and by the taste) wine menu. We sampled a variety of wines, all of which were really good. And more importantly, all of the staff were top-​notch and knew their wines. Definitely a must for a good wine bar.
We’ll definitely be coming back here… and often!

You know how when you were a kid and you loved the Slurpee machine at 7 – 11? Imagine that, but you are in your mid-30’s and it’s wine at a cool new wine bar downtown.
Taste is around the corner from III Forks and offers a variety of tastings, hence the name. You can order wine tastings (1.5 ounces to be exact) from their bar menu, as well as glasses. Or you can buy a pre-​paid card and serve yourself up some tastings from their self-​service machine near the retail portion of the store.
According to the owner, the chef is quite amazing and has concocted a nice, moderately priced menu to accompany their wine selection. On this evening, however, I had already eaten dinner, so I opted for the cheese plate with the full intention of coming back for dinner.
This is a 4 star review, with the full hope and intention of it becoming a 5 star, once I have experienced the food menu and the staff has worked out a few of those opening day kinks. They have only been open for 2 days, so I expected a few hiccups, but the staff and owners were so friendly and accommodating that we barely noticed.
Bravo, Taste, Bravo!
*Note: I do agree with Lisa A regarding corking fee to drink a bottle of wine that you purchased from their market.