Wines on Main is a wine shop and wine bar out in Chelsea, Michigan that I have heard about.  The day finally came, my birthday that is, and my Bride asked me what I would like to do.  I gave her a couple of options and you know they were all wine focused, but I know that she enjoys it as well.  Since she is what one would call a “road warrior” she opted for the choice that involved the least amount of driving and since she knows the area much better than I do, she did the driving, because she really knew her way around.  I mean before we even met, she was going to Chelsea because she had a customer that was originally Chelsea Roller Mill and then became Chelsea Milling Company, but I think all of America knows then as the originator of the first prepared baking mix in the blue box called Jiffy Mix.  So, I guess my original memories of Chelsea, Michigan is Jiffy Mix.

We went into downtown Chelsea and eventually found a parking spot, as a retired merchant, I truly enjoy visiting a community that is lively and has a mix of businesses, so I won’t grumble about a couple of extra minutes searching for a parking spot.  It also gives me more time to admire the architecture of the community.  Even if the numbering system for the addresses, of odd and even numbers change when one goes from South Main Street to North Main Street, we found our way to Wines on Main.  I never asked the proprietor and I should have, maybe the next time, but the shop reminded me of the old apothecary shops in my neighborhood, you know the drug stores, before they became grocery/department stores.  In the back half of the shop was an old-fashioned soda (?) fountain set-up and that is where the wine tastings occur.  For this old raconteur, it was a perfect setting for me and you know that I am such a wall flower, no one realized that I was even in the shop, let alone attempting to do some wine tasting. 

I actually learned of Wines on Main from the resident sommelier that I met at another wine bar that is now gone, and the great thing is, this sommelier is actually a retired pharmacist.  Alas, he only works a couple of days a week and the weekends were not on his schedule.  He does aid in the buying and the write-ups of the wines that are featured each week for the tastings.  We ended up doing seven tastings that afternoon and I will discuss the first two wines that we had.  The first wine that we tried was Reserve de Castelnau Entre-deux-Mers 2017 from Chateau de Castelnau.  Entre-deux-Mers translates to “between the two seas,” but here the two water ways are the Garonne and Dordogne Rivers of the Bordeaux region, and the area is one of the hardest to keep track of, because is has several small appellations, and the region grows red and wine, dry and sweet, and then some of the wines go under the generic listing of either Bordeaux or Bordeaux Superiore.  The appellation for Entre-deux-Mers is actually for white wines made from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Muscadelle and Ugni Blanc.  This particular wine was sixty percent Semillon, thirty percent Sauvignon Blanc and ten percent Muscadelle.  It was delicious and I could already see the wheels spinning in my Bride’s mind as to how many bottles did, she want to get.  The second wine that we tasted was a more familiar one to us; Gary Farrell Russian River Selection Chardonnay 2016.  Gary Farrell was one of the original winemakers of the Russian River Valley, way before there was an appellation and he is striving to produce Grand Cru quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines for over three decades. The Russian River Selection is a blending of different vineyards and blocks of land that are combined to just give a great balanced wine with enough buttery finish and acidity to be totally enjoyable.  I was already happy with the first two wines.