by Andrew Chalk
The folks at Duro Hospitality are human dynamos. With El Carlos Elegante just a few months old they are already into their next venture - Duro Wine Shop and Wine club. Open in the premises next to Duro Hospitality's restaurant Sister, Café Duro serves good coffee and food, as any self-respecting café should, but its gem is the carefully chosen wine selection that makes it truly different from other wine shops in town. Dallasites in the Lower Greenville, M Streets, Lakewood, East Dallas area should check in for guided tour by Beverage Director Nicole Nowlin and maybe sit, as I did at a media event, at the counter for an hour for a tasting. This is concierge-level service. In the future they plan to hold tastings so this is one list worth getting on.
DURO WINE CLUB
In fact, you don't even need to leave your home. Sign up for the Café Duro Wine Club and receive a selection of wines each month at one of three pre-selected levels.
Duro Explorer – $145
The Duro Explorer features a monthly selection of our “drink now” wines. Each box is hand-selected by our team of avid drinkers. You’ll receive a mix of our personal favorites, new releases, and seasonal staples. Build your personal collection, expand your palate, and take a trip. Your four-bottle box will include tasting notes on each bottle, as well as information on the relevant grapes, regions, and producers.
Duro Collector – $275
The Duro Collector brings you a monthly selection of small production, highly sought-after wines. We make it our goal to provide hidden gems, and limited production bottles- and wines otherwise hard to find in the market. This is the perfect club for both the avid collector and new enthusiast trying to build a collection! Your four-bottle box will include tasting notes on each bottle, as well as information on the relevant grapes, regions, and producers.
Trust US – $499
Finding cool wines is an ongoing treasure hunt! Sometimes we get really lucky and find extremely rare, unicorn wines. Let us create the ultimate Duro experience for the true adventurer, including rare wines, small production and hard to find vintages! Your four-bottle box will include tasting notes on each bottle, as well as information on the relevant grapes, regions, and producers.
TASTING INDIVIDUAL WINES
Nicolle took me through a tasting of some wines from the club shipments. They are also available in the store if you want to get a second bottle. I have put an asterisk to the left of the ones that really spoke to me. For more information on them, including food pairings, put the full name into Google. There are no bad wines here, these are just my favorites.
Troupis 'Thunder' Rose $17.00 Laherte Freres 'Cuvee Crayeres' Champagne $68 * Bordelet Poire Cider $28 750ml
Las Espinas 'Piquette' $20
* Clos de Roilette Vendage Tardives 2021 $27
Lagier Meredith Syrah 2016 $56.00
* Raul Perez 'Ulteira' Mencia Blend $26.00
* Las Espinas Red Blend $17.00
* Luis Seabra 'Xisto' White Blend, Portugal $31
Enfield 'Citrine' Chardonnay 2018 $35.00
* Fekete BelaHárslevelű, 2013 $32
* Pepiere 'Briord' Muscadet-Sevre-et-Maine $28.00
DESSERT (SWEET) WINES
* Javier San Francisco Sherry (Peter Sisseck project) $62
Quintos Dos Pesos Carcavelos 1999 $56
* Los Bermejos Malvesia Dolce $44
Café Duro is a great addition to the increasingly richly served Lower Greenville retail scene. I recommend a visit!