Last Friday my wife and I met up with some friends to check out a new wine shop in Cary called Sip …. a wine store. They were holding a free tasting event that night which offered us the perfect opportunity to explore this uique shop. Sip is special in that they are the only wine shop in the Triangle that only carries Organic and eco-friednly wines.
We are huge fans of wine but, whenever possible we try to buy organic, but most wine shops only have a handful of such offerings. Not so at Sip, where you can find a wide variety of certified organic wines and other wines created using biodynamic farming practices that incorporate more earth-friendly techniques. I appreciate the environmental aspect of organic agricultural practices while my wife is more interested in the fact that certified organic wines usually have no added sulfites.
The shop is located in Cary’s Preston Walk shopping center (map) and even though I live in N. Raleigh the trip over there was fast and easy. I just took I-540 to the Chapel Hill Road exit and was pulling up to the shop within a few minutes. When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to see that in addition to having several great wines to tast and light munchies (including gluten free chips) that there was live music! April, the owner of the shop, was very friendly and knowledgable about the wines and was happy to answer all of our questions.
In addition to the large variety of wines we were also excited to see that they offered wines from a wide range of price points with many great options in the $9 to $15 range. Several of the wines we tasted that night were less than $10 and we had a hard time deciding which we liked most.
The cool thing about Sip is that in addition to the tastings you can purchase a 1/2 glass or full glass of wine, which we did and ended up spending an hour just relaxing listening to the live guitar music and chatting with the owner. They also seel organic beers and ciders whcih you can buy by the six pack or by individual if you are looking to try something new. They even have some of them cold so you can enjoy a beer in the store. Hanging out there on Friday evening is easy enough since the shop has a warm country boutique vibe to right down to chalk board signs and the large rustic wooden “butcher-block” like tasting bar.
Another free tasting event is scheduled for tonight (7/30) where they will be tasting organic and biodynamic wines from Benziger from 4-8pm. Stop by if get the chance. You will be glad you did! For more information about Sip and to learn about future tasting events at their shop check out their website or join their facebook fanpage.
The Triangle Explorer 