Wine News
Try before you buy at high-tech new wine bar at Legacy Hall in Plano
A high-tech new wine bar and wine shop hybrid is opening at Plano's Legacy Hall that'll let you try pricey wines in small sips before you drop a bundle on a whole bottle.
Called Vinotopia, it's a new concept from FB Society, the company behind the food hall as well as restaurants such as Whiskey Cake, Sixty Vines, Velvet Taco, Ida Claire, and Haywire. According to a release, it'll open on April 30. It's located on the ground floor under the stairs, between Son of a Butcher and Buttercup Love Me Tenders.
Vinotopia lets you try any wine in their inventory of approximately 60 bottles in a variety of size sips. They're using the same wine dispensing technology used at their wine-centric Sixty Vines concept:
- Wine Station smart dispensers, which mete out tastes in one-, two and a half-, or five-ounce self-serve pours
- Coravin wine preservation system, which guarantees the wine is at the correct temperature and is not oxidized
Sommeliers will be onsite daily to offer advice.
Wine has become an increasingly meaningful category for the company, says FB Society founder and chairman Randy Dewitt.
"My wife, Michelle, is a sommelier and we"ve both been wine collectors for many years," Dewitt says. "We found ourselves seeking a concept that would allow us to sample wines before committing and spending hundreds on a bottle that we may not love. And so, Vinotopia was born."
He anticipates that some customers may come simply for the wine bar experience, but still wants to offer collectors an avenue to find coveted wines for their at-home cellar.
"We believe this concept is a precursor to how people will discover and purchase wine in the future," Dewitt says.
You'll be able to find the Vinotopia stall by its live art demonstration made from repurposed wine bottle capsules from local artist Ryan Sorrell. You buy a Vinotopia tasting card and use it to buy a glass of your favorite, or to sample a $400 bottle of wine for $20.
The release says that the Plano shop will be a preview of what is an eventual flagship location, whose address they do not divulge. What a tease.
