It Takes a Village

Wine and Cheese

By now, most everyone has had the chance to see Whole Foods' new wine department, a vast expansion from the former store's. In the past, you had to suffice with a mere 400 wine choices. Today, the store boasts more than 1,800 different wines with the aim of being the most impressive collection in the city. To give you a frame of reference, Central Market north has about 3,600 and Grape Vine Market has about 4,000. Given that disparity, they have to take a different approach to achieve their goal.

Their strategy is to concentrate on wines under $15, wines they call "whimsical, drink every day wines." While they will have a few high-end wines for customers who want them, they are staking their claim on the consumer who drinks a bottle of wine every night. Their concept is wine as food, and the staff is intent on making sure that every slot is filled with a wine that is a sound value in its price category. And, of course, for people looking for more acclaimed wines, two of Austin's finest premium wine shops – the Austin Wine Merchant and Wiggy's – are just blocks away on Sixth Street.

My only disappointment about the wine shop was the dismally small selection of Texas wines. For a store that prides itself on emphasizing Texas produce and artisanal food items, this is a major letdown. I was also surprised to see the press release and a couple of local articles stating they have 800 beers. There are only about 400 available in Texas. I called to check with the department manager, and she confirmed the number at just short of 400.

The cheese shop looks to be a stunner, and if you are a real cheese head, it is potentially the best in the city. While it remains to be seen whether the shop can provide the kind of personal attention or broad knowledge you get from someone like Ike Johnson at Grape Vine Market, I can tell you that all of the pieces are in place. Casual cheese lovers will find a wall of more than 300 precut or prepackaged cheeses from around the world, with a huge number of rare and fascinating possibilities. Real cheese-o-philes will turn and face the opposite direction, where the real treasure trove lies.

Vince Maniaci is the lord of the living cheese – the cheese that is breathing, growing in flavor, and maturing. He's the man to talk to at the open cheese counter. There, 280 or so premium cheeses from all over the world await. Instead of wrapping the cheeses in cellophane and strangling them, they have committed to just putting a bit of paper on the cut edge to prevent drying. They understand that a person who asks for a center cut is a connoisseur, not a pain in the ass. They'll wrap your cheese in paper so it can keep breathing on the way home. If all this sounds like too much silly trouble, there's the other counter, with precut cheeses. But for those of us who are nuts about cheese, this premium counter could be nirvana.