The Wine Fairy

If you crave the surreal experience of getting tipsy in the meat department of a grocery store, then have I got the recommendation for you: The Whole Foods Market taproom.

Grocery store taprooms are not a new idea. Whole Foods opened their first in-store bar in 2009 and have them in many of their roughly 500 North American stores. One (in Houston) even brews its own beer on-site.

Less rareified grocery chains including Wegmans and Kroger have also experimented with the concept. Kroger spawned the delightfully named Kro-BAR. At its peak, Kro-BAR had multiple locations in the Atlanta metro area, as well as in Savannah, Georgia and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Serving booze to shoppers is a savvy business move, I would think. Anything a retailer can do to get you to stay in the store for longer is smart.

Plus, the inhibition-lowering properties of alcohol are well-known to stores and consumers alike. You go inside for bread and milk, stop for a beer…and 30 minutes later, that $14 wedge of Gruyère is coyly winking at you before hitching a ride in your basket.

Even so, Whole Foods appears to be scaling back their in-store food and beverage offerings. Grab-and-go hot bars and salad bars have lost some of their luster since the pandemic, and craft beer has taken a historic nosedive. Staffing cuts and the arrival of supermarket giant H-E-B to North Texas has put a further squeeze on the gourmet grocery experience.

In Dallas-Fort Worth, the grocery-store bar was always something of a rarity and is now in serious decline. There are around 15 Whole Foods Markets in the Metroplex–but only coffee and pizza are still going strong at the majority of these stores’ sit-down outlets.

A Love Letter to The Spirit of ’76

Of the DFW Whole Foods locations that still have in-store beer and wine bars, I’ve been to three. They all have drastically different configurations and vibes. The Park Lane store is yoga-mom central, and the Richardson taproom basically turns into a rowdy sports bar anytime the Cowboys or Rangers (or any game, really) is on TV.

Which brings me to the Addison location, and the in-store bar dubbed “The Spirit of ’76.” (No, not that ’76. It’s a reference to 1976, the year that the city of Addison repealed its dry law.) The bar poured its first pint in 2013.

This Whole Foods location sits just north of the Galleria, on a large lot that once housed a three-story Bed, Bath, & Beyond. The taproom is in the heart of the store between the wine aisle and the seafood department. There’s about eight seats at the bar, and another eight seats at a long counter in front of the wine shelves.

The TV is on mute (or on Food Network), and the conversation flows along with the IPAs. The diverse bar crowd is a mix of locals and international visitors, often business travelers. There are several large hotels nearby which run shuttles to the nearby mall and to Addison’s shopping district.

I love stopping in here for a pint or a glass, especially around the holidays. The grocery store–and the wine section in particular–are full of shoppers grabbing things on their way to events and parties. There’s something very serene about pausing to sip a seasonal ale and talk to a stranger while the world rushes all around you. On a black plastic barstool in the chilly butchers’ aisle, I peer at the shrimp and ribeyes and fantasize about what I’m going to make for dinner. (I don’t actually buy my regular groceries at Whole Foods, by the way–I didn’t win the lottery.)

The Whole Foods bar is nothing like the in-store wine tastings of the 90s and aughts. If you remember drinking Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay from a tiny plastic cup while shifting back and forth in front of a bored demo person…well, you’re in for a treat.

Here, there’s no sales pressure. It’s all about gourmet drankin’. The tap list is all craft beer, cider, and mead–including many local brewing superstars like Manhattan Project and Lakewood Brewing. Beer and wine are available by the glass and flight.

The wines tend to be quaffable global selections, and the crew is knowledgeable. Free from the tyranny of having to mix cocktails or stock every brand of canned hard seltzer, they will gently guide your taste toward the unexpected and of-the-moment.

You’re allowed to buy a bottle off the shelf and have it uncorked at the bar. Another plus: If you get hungry or thirsty (for water)–good news, you’re already at the grocery store! You can purchase cheese, snacks, or bottled water from one of the front-end registers and bring it back to your seat. There’s a bakery and pizza shop, too. (As if I needed another reason to eat carbs and put off doing my errands.)

Blind Tasting at the Whole Foods Bar

Since registering for wine certification exams, I’ve been popping by Whole Foods for blind tasting practice. They’re open mid-afternoon and the staff are friendly and encouraging. (Hi Jordan! Hi David!) A selection of four small wine pours is only $10–a price unchanged since 2013. It’s less than the cost of a glass of house wine in many Dallas bars.

Blind tasting here is challenging. For one thing, the wines are served in tall narrow glasses, often at very cold temperatures. (They share a walk-in with the beer kegs.) A bunch of international and small wineries are represented–including many natural and organic producers who don’t always make their wines in a typical style. The entire wine list changes monthly, making it harder to simply memorize the menu and cheat that way.

It was the first week in May when I last stopped in. (New month, new wines!) I ask for a blind flight and the bartender indulges me. I walk away to browse the shelves for a couple of minutes and return to four glasses: One white, one rosé, one red, and one off-menu wildcard.

I’m new at blind tasting and sometimes I struggle. I try to get the grape and climate/region if I can. I’ll taste them first without the menu in front of me, and then try to match them to the menu if I get stuck. (This time I did good–and I’ll definitely be back later this month to try the June wines.)

The first wine was frosty-gray and without much aroma–but that turned out to be because of the chill. I first assumed it was Pinot Grigio, but when I tasted it was pear cider-like and lightly fizzy. An easy call as Vinho Verde.

The second wine was barely pink, like a rumor of an evening primrose. The strawberry-water smell of Grenache-based rosé, without much structure or tartness. Côtes de Provence?

The next wine smelled like good Cabernet, but it was all a ruse. It tasted blasted hot with cooked fruit, low-ish acidity and blown-out everything. Bulk central California Cab.

Spotting the joker was easy, but identifying it was a toughie. I set it aside and saved it for last. It was thick in body and vibrant cherry-red.

The fruit was extra-ripe, the alcohol was really high and I tasted chewy, raisiny flavors. It would have been pretty cool to call it as Amarone–but the color was too young, and I thought it unlikely that a would be slinging something that can cost upwards of $80 a bottle in stores.

Because there was so much toasty oak and sweet spice on it–and because the pourer described it as “odd”–I ventured that the wildcard might be some kind of novel rum- or bourbon-barrel aged California Zin concoction. (It was in fact a 2021 Masi Campofiorin, a Ripasso-style “Supervenetian” from Italy.)

The Atmosphere…and the Future

There are no upholstered stools here, no Edison bulbs, and no jazz tunes. Shopping carts squeak by, and sides of salmon gleam on ice. People lean over the counter for growler fills and Prosecco reccomendations.

I guess you could say the atmosphere leaves something to be desired–but you’d be missing the point. This is a pure tasting experience, without all the trappings of a wine bar. It’s a semi-secret urban oasis hiding in the liminal space between the retail and foodservice sectors.

As The Spirit of ’76 celebrates its 12th anniversary this July, I find myself hoping that it sticks around. It’s a really cool resource for students and wine explorers. Whether you call it a “superbarket” or “grocerbar” (a 2018 Vox article took both neologisms out for a spin), the Whole Foods taproom is an odd yet satisfying place for a quickie pour.

Wines tasted:

Orlana Vinho Verde (NV)

Chateau Gassier Côtes de Provence (2022)

Cannonball Cabernet Sauvignon (2021)

Masi Campofiorin (2021)

Further reading:

Vox: Grocery stores are bars now

Wall Street Journal: Supermarkets Invite Shoppers to Drink While They Shop

Dallas Morning News: Whole Foods Market Adopts Addison Character (paywall)

Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.