Commonwealth Tap

First of all, thanks to Robin for clearing me to post this.

Second, I am a part of the ownership group of Commonwealth Tap.

That said, has anyone had a chance to stop by and try it out? It is located in Norton Commons, on the main drag - 9411 Norton Commons Boulevard. It's only been open for a week, so any feedback you have would be appreciated.

Commonwealth Tap is a reincarnation of the former 4 Flights Wine Shop, with a move to a new space just down the street. There is now a much wider selection of wine for sale as well as some bourbons and other spirits. The largest change is that drinks by the glass, carafe or opening of a bottle off of the rack is available (with corkage fee). There are eight wines on tap, twelve wines under gas on a cuvinet, a handful of wines available for bottle pours as well and lastly eight beers on tap.

While there is not really a food program, bar snacks are available and work is being done on expanding munchie options.

The Grand Opening is this Friday, so stop by and say hello!

Regards,

Doug W

Just in case you were wondering, here's our current list of offerings...

Draft Beer
Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter 16oz $6
Ommegang Abbey Ale 12oz $7
Country Boy Bumpkin 16oz $6
Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils 16oz $6
Stone IPA 16oz $6
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 16oz $6
Sterling Pils (brewed by Upland) 16oz $6
Miller Lite (pronounced with a French accent) 16oz $4

Keg Wine (available by taste, half glass or glass)
"The Finger" Riesling, Finger Lakes New York
Acrobat Pinot Gris, Oregon
Walnut City Chardonnay, Oregon
LIOCO Chardonny, Sonoma CA
Vinum Pinot Noir, CA
Lou Ven Tou Rouge, Provence, France
Terra Rosa Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina

On the cuvinet-
Brocard Chablis, Chablis, France
ACHA Albarino, Lodi, CA
Kenefick Ranch Picket Road White, Napa, CA
Martinelli Charles Ranch Chardonnay, Sonoma, CA
LIOCO Hirsch Pinot Noir, Sonoma, CA
La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904, Rioja, Spain
Le Cupole Rosso, Tuscany, Italy
Bramare Malbec, Lujan de Cuyo, Argentina
Elio Altare Barolo, Piedmont, Italy
K Vinters MCK Syrah, Columbia Valley, WA
Enchanted Path Shiraz, McLaren Valley, Australia
Kamen Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma, CA

Bottle pours vary from day to day, but there are usually 5 or 6 on hand.

Cheers,

Doug

Just an observation, and I swear with no intent to be confrontational.

The closest origins to Louisville of any listed product here, beer or wine, is Lexington. After that, it's probably Bloomington. After that ... much, much further away.

I ask in perfect seriousness, no raised eyebrows, no eyes rolling: If an alien were to descend and analyze this, would it be fair for him or her to conclude that for beer or wine to be any good, it cannot be produced locally?

I'd call that a -reasonable- beer list....although I personally would rather not drink than to put anything "Oskar Blues" in my mouth...That and I'm not sure if I ever want to be caught slamming suds with the wine tipping crowd...but hey, that's just me. Otherwise, good on ya...hope it's a success.

[Robin Garr]

Just an observation, and I swear with no intent to be confrontational.

I was a little disappointed, too, with such richness and diversity of local beer around. Okay, I understand, local wines aren't world-class, and never will be. But local beers are, and I wonder if the wine orientation of the place led management to a knee-jerk decision on the beer list.

No confrontation here, either. Commonwealth Tap sounds like a worthy addition, and I'm looking forward to checking it out. But Roger's question is legit, and I echo it.

Thank goodness- I was afraid no one would comment!

Very fair observations- thank you!

I'm pretty much "the beer guy". As you could imagine, it was hit or miss as to when we'd get our license. Also, the emphasis is on wine, but we don't want to neglect beer or bourbon. We had to scramble a bit when our license finally came through. We will get local brews on tap- Roger, I stopped by your area at the recent River City event at Papa Johns and spoke with your marketing guy. NABC, Cumberland, BBC and other local brews will be regulars at Tap. While Sterling isn't quite local yet, (brewed by Upland), it has been very popular.

We'll have to explore some of the local wine options- suggestions are welcome!

The Grand Opening is tomorrow- please stop by. We will have drink specials and some give-always. The ribbon cutting will be at 4pm.

Please give us feedback, good and bad.

Thanks and regards,

Doug W

I'd call that a -reasonable- beer list....although I personally would rather not drink than to put anything "Oskar Blues" in my mouth...That and I'm not sure if I ever want to be caught slamming suds with the wine tipping crowd...but hey, that's just me. Otherwise, good on ya...hope it's a success.

What's wrong with Oscar Blues? I love their beers and their company as a whole. They pioneered the craft beer in a can revolution.

I'd call that a -reasonable- beer list....although I personally would rather not drink than to put anything "Oskar Blues" in my mouth...That and I'm not sure if I ever want to be caught slamming suds with the wine tipping crowd...but hey, that's just me. Otherwise, good on ya...hope it's a success.

What's wrong with Oscar Blues? I love their beers and their company as a whole. They pioneered the craft beer in a can revolution.

And TenFidy is available locally this week.

Not a bad beer list. I am sure it will get better and more local. The wine on tap is something fairly new that we might see explode soon.

I sometimes enjoyed some of the offerings from the late Felice Winery on Market, but other than that, I have never had a local wine that I've liked even one bit. Is there any such thing as a great local wine? If so, please steer me there. Otherwise, I don't want Doug to feel undue pressure to put local wine on the menu just for the sake of having it.

[Robin Garr]

I sometimes enjoyed some of the offerings from the late Felice Winery on Market, but other than that, I have never had a local wine that I've liked even one bit. Is there any such thing as a great local wine? If so, please steer me there. Otherwise, I don't want Doug to feel undue pressure to put local wine on the menu just for the sake of having it.

No, I tried to say that gently in my original post about world-class original beer being available, but local wine being no threat to Napa.

That said, if I wanted to show off local wine I would probably look to Smith-Berry in New Castle (the family connection to Wendell Berry doesn't hurt their image), or Lovers Leap or Wight-Meyer, both of which are run by guys who excelled long-term at the Kentucky State Fair home wine competition; and, perhaps surprisingly, Huber's in Southern Indiana for its high-end grape wines.

I'd call that a -reasonable- beer list....although I personally would rather not drink than to put anything "Oskar Blues" in my mouth...That and I'm not sure if I ever want to be caught slamming suds with the wine tipping crowd...but hey, that's just me. Otherwise, good on ya...hope it's a success.

What's wrong with Oscar Blues? I love their beers and their company as a whole. They pioneered the craft beer in a can revolution.

It's a relatively free country and I encourage you to drink what you enjoy. Personally, having just returned from a trip to Asheville where over the course of 7 days we visited 15 different brewery's (including Oscar Blues) and sampled 110 different "local" beers...I wouldn't put any of Oscar Blues beers in my "top 100"....Dales Pale and "Yella Pils" are (at least in my mind) weak impersonations of their respective styles and while I've never tasted real "ass" I'm guessing it tastes remarkably similar to O.B.s "Old Chub".

Maybe I don't get out enough, but the local beers I enjoy tend to be seasonals that I rarely see outside of their respective brewpubs. Do you have specific world-class beers in mind or are you just referring to the area breweries in general?

oh, and you can count me as one not offended by the absence of local wine.

[Robin Garr]

Do you have specific world-class beers in mind or are you just referring to the area breweries in general?

I'm just saying in general that I've had a lot of local beers - seasonals and others - that I don't think take second-place to micro/brewpub beers in other American cities. Of course there are landmark beers around the world - particularly in Belgium - that I wouldn't credibly claim have local equivalents.

But as a longtime beverages geek, I'm pretty much convinced that it's easier for a local brewery to hit a high, consistent standard than it is for a local winery, and there are a couple of good reasons for this. World-class wine requires world-class grapes, and they grow in a few favored places, are available fresh only once a year, and are generally all spoken for. (I'd also argue that a world-class wine maker requires a higher order of skill than a world-class brewer, only because there are a lot more variables and a lot more challenges. But I'll bet Mr. Baylor and others could make a good argument to the contrary on that, perhaps in a separate discussion.)

It's a relatively free country and I encourage you to drink what you enjoy.

Or, in this case, what's obviously better owing to the distance it had to travel from where they make better beer, to where they don't, but if that doesn't work, we can check RateAdvocate.com to be sure we'll all be seen drinking what's (ahem) best according to someone's else's subjective standards.

Did I write that out loud?

Roger, I stopped by your area at the recent River City event at Papa Johns and spoke with your marketing guy. NABC, Cumberland, BBC and other local brews will be regulars at Tap. While Sterling isn't quite local yet, (brewed by Upland), it has been very popular. Doug W

I remember speaking with you; sorry I couldn't make it over. But I will at some point. Thanks for the give and take.