Martin Wine Cellar: What’ll It Be?
When employees at Martin Wine Cellar ask if you need any help, take them up on their sincere offer. Carrying more than 3,000 wines from 16 countries, choice is standard at Martin Wine Cellar’s four locations in New Orleans, Metairie, Mandeville and Baton Rouge. That’s why the company sends its wine consultants across the world—Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Chile, Argentina—to sit down with wine makers and learn various wines inside and out. Also, in Metairie and Baton Rouge there are certified wine specialists and sommeliers on staff. From the novice taster to those with a distinguished palate, Martin Wine Cellar’s staff will make sure you go home with a bottle your taste buds will enjoy.
The bottle you go home with, however, doesn’t necessarily have to be wine. It could just as easily be a six-pack of beer or a liter of vodka. Since opening in 1946, Martin Wine Cellar has also stocked beer and spirits, now offering more than 200 varieties of beer and specialty brews from 28 countries and more than 800 spirits, liqueurs and cordials. Hard-to-find Trappist Ales and microbrews share shelf space with standard best sellers like Heineken and Abita Amber. As for the spirits, it’s hard to go wrong with a vintage Scotch whisky or rum. Whatever you or your guests’ drink of choice, Martin Wine Cellar has the tastiest key ingredients.
As for other ingredients necessary for a gathering like gourmet cheese and meats, those are available, too. Try a popular pairing of champagne with triple-crème Brie, syrah and bleu cheese or Rioja and sheep’s milk cheese. At the Metairie location, there’s a deli and bistro with chefs who create a different daily menu Monday through Saturday of entrées, salads, soups, quiches, sandwiches and burgers. Or have the Metairie staff take care of everything with their catering menu, which includes a mix of staples and unique dishes like party sandwiches, savory cheesecakes, jambalaya, orzo pasta salad, steak au poivre and more. Not hosting, but attending? Grab a pre-wrapped, ready-to-go gift basket of wine, gourmet food or specialty brews and you’re sure to be invited back.
With so many options, you won’t leave Martin Wine Cellar empty-handed. At the weekly educational wine tastings in Metairie, you can also leave with more knowledge, having swirled, sniffed, sipped and discussed your way through various wines. The annual Once Upon a Vine reception-style tasting in New Orleans City Park has grown so popular, a similar event is being held in Baton Rouge. Tour de Vin: An Affair of Exquisite Taste will be held Sunday, June 22, 2008 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center. Attendees to the $75 per person event will sample more than 100 fine wines, specialty meats, pates and artisan cheeses. Plus there’s a $10 coupon and complimentary wine glass to keep the wine flowing even after the tasty tour has ended.
Shakespeare may wonder what’s in a name, but as for Martin Wine Cellar, there’s more to the store than just what’s in their name. ✦
Martin Wine Cellar
3500 Magazine St.
New Orleans, LA 70115
(504) 894-7420
714 Elmeer Ave.
Metairie,
LA 70005
(504) 896-7300
2895 Highway 190
Mandeville,LA 70471
(985) 951-8081
7597 Jefferson Hwy.
Baton Rouge, LA 70806
(225) 926-4053
