One of our favorite Raleigh regulars said that over the weekend. They used to be content to drink so-so wine, until just over a year ago, when they started coming into a little place called “2 Wine Guys @ The Grind,” and started drinking really good wine on a consistent basis. From the Girls in the Vineyard to the Petite Petit, they are now very particular about the styles they like.

I would apologize, but I won’t. Not that we want to be wine snobs. Quite the contrary, we want to open the wonderful world of wine up to people, take out the mystique and any intimidation, so people can explore their own palates. And, well, if they become snobs in the process, is that really our fault? And, more importantly, if it is, do we care?

Anyway, it was another great week in the Treehouse. From food to wine (and, yes, coffee too), we plowed through some inventory, as people enjoyed the eat, perchance to drink. Tore through The Girls, two groups drank us out of Petite Petit, the Guggenheim and IP Merlots were big hit, and, from the high end spectrum, we have sold five bottles of the Robert Craig Affinity (which happens to be my personal favorite in the Cab Sauv varietal) in the last two weeks. So, apparently, we are attracting people who like good wine.

I guess that is what happens when you carry good wine!

I did the tasting last week, and featured a sweet line-up of in-stock wines, including a white and three reds. Well, when I say “in-stock,” I mean before the tasting. Because, now, two of those wines are no longer in-stock. Oops, as I look around the wine room, I need to revise that to three wines which are no longer in-stock. Yes, it was a good tasting, and if you weren’t here, well, I guess you will just have to take my word for it.

Res Ipsa Loquitor.

Dave and Jeremy played Friday, which is always a treat. Saturday, after an unexpected cancellation, a young lady from Charlotte named Amanda Crawford took The Treehouse stage, and played a couple acoustic sets to the delight of our eating/wine drinking crowd. She and her dad, Bob, were visiting, and had made our shop their daily stop…so, as they say, timing is everything.

As Sunday turned into Monday, our lunch crowd became somewhat steady, and the kitchen was open for business from 11 a.m. to close each day. We are down one in the kitchen, which accounts for my last two entries being somewhat tardy. Yes, here it is Wednesday, and I am still pounding this keyboard.

Our friend Jon, from Dionysus, brought in a rep from the Reynolds Family Winery, a Napa concern that makes small production family wines. Out of the 7 wines they produce, they only make a total of about 7,500 cases. Their Pinot Noir, which was actually delicious for a California Pinot (you know how spoiled I am by Willamette Valley Pinots), only comes in around 250 cases, and is apparently very difficult to get in this part of the world. Which, of course, would account for its price tag, which would probably come in around $60.

And speaking of wine, Amanda, from Juice, will be doing this week’s tasting. As soon as I am done writing this, I will try to select some good wines for her to pour. That shouldn’t be too hard, Juice has a nice book of good wines, as anyone who has attended one of her tastings knows (remember the Tin Barn wines? The Plungerhead Zin? The Domaine de la Solitude Cotes du Rhone? The Girls in the Vineyard?)

OK then.

Anyway, who knows what will happen after that, weekend, music, blah blah blah…just do it, stop thinking about it, and come on down to the Treehouse Bistro and let 2 Wine Guys @ The Grind pour you a glass and fix you a plate.

Shawn