Those Lakeway shops..

I had a chance to tool out to Lakeway this past weekend – which is just a short drive – and check out both Vino100 and the Wine Trader. Both opened earlier this fall. Turns out the Vino 100 place is a franchise opportunity. There are a couple here in the Austin area and the chain appears to be growing pretty rapidly. The number of wines (100 under $25 and then a few over $25) is somewhat limited relative to the likes of Grapevine Market, but I do like the concept and the layout is great. Each of the wines in the store has this little ‘wine barometer’ that includes a Flavor and Body scale. Plus it includes a little ‘talker’ about the wine. They also have a tasting bar. Even better, they skipped the typically big names and offered some new and interesting choices.

The Wine Trader was laid out more traditionally and seemed to have a larger overall selection. They had a great bar atmosphere as well – with little plates of food and even had the ball game going on the wide screen TV. Unfortunately there was no one else there even though it was late in the afternoon on a Saturday.

In both cases, definitely worth a repeat visit though.