New Bottle Shop Will Help You Go Beyond Pinot And Chardonnay
She’s already a well-known sommelier, TV spokesperson, educator and owner of a wine club with 600+ members from coast to coast. And now Leslee Miller is taking on one more project to help us learn more about the wine we drink. She’s opened the Sip Better bottle shop in the North Loop.
It’s a bit tucked away at the side of a building on 3rd Street North near 7th Avenue. But after you work your way through a winding hallway to her new shop, you’ll find wines from around the world, helpfully categorized from light to full-bodied.
“There are 10,000 grape varietals in the world and most Americans are still only drinking three,” Miller said.
She has a passion for small family-owned international wine growers, committed to farming via sustainable, organic and biodynamic practices. Most of the wines in her shop are at the $15 or $16 price point. And they come from as far away as Turkey, Armenia and Croatia.
“It’s just a fun educational experience,” she said, “so if you wanted to learn more about, ‘Hey I really love Sauvignon Blanc but how can I find other grapes?’ I’m gonna take you right over to this section here and show you other grape profiles. We’ll ask you a few questions about ‘How are you entertaining with this? What do you like to eat? What do you like to drink,’ to help steer you into new directions and kind of push your boundaries a little bit with wine.”
The shop also has cold beer and several types of spirits.
Miller, a North Loop resident, has led wine education sessions around the globe as part of her company, Amusée Wine. She’s a regular contributor on local TV shows. And her wine club, Sip Better, has been serving clients for five years now.
“These wines come from farmers that actually make wine, grow the grapes, and all the wines are devoid of all the additional sugars, concentrates, additives that a lot of the really big billion case wineries out there do,” she said.
The grand opening for Sip Better bottle shop will be in November, but for now it’s doing a soft opening Wednesdays-Saturdays 11a-6p.
By Mike Binkley, North Loop volunteer
