Memorial Day is also known to be a weekend of gatherings of family and friends and to start off the summer season.

Grapes and Tastes is extending our hours for this holiday weekend.  Come in to pick out your wine, beer or gourmet foods to celebrate.  We have a large selection of Rose wines for the summer season.  We also have a large selection of beers to go with your favorites on the grill.

HOURS

Friday – 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM

Saturday – 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM

Sunday – 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Monday (Memorial Day) – 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Wine Club | Group Events | Daily Glass Specials | FREE Second Saturday Wine Tasting | Gift Baskets

Regular hours – Tuesday – Thursday, Noon until 8:00 pm; Friday & Saturday, Noon until 9:00 pm.

Wine Club | Group Events | Daily Glass Specials | FREE Second Saturday Wine Tasting | Gift Baskets

Copa Di Vino, or wine by the glass, is the brilliantly simple idea of bottling premium wine directly into a glass. Wine lovers can now drink delicious, quality wine from an attractive, eco-friendly, single-serving container. Just peel back the lid and enjoy!

Copa Di Vino has the look and feel of glass, but is made of 100% recyclable plastic. This makes it perfect for all occasions where carrying a bottle of wine, a corkscrew and an extra glass is not convenient like stadiums, golf courses, camping, the beach or picnics. Copa Di Vino is just as comfortable at home Copa allows you to enjoy a glass of fresh wine without having to open an entire bottle.

The company started with a vision: Founder and owner James Martin and his wife Molli, who own two other wineries, were traveling on the bullet train inFrancewhen they discovered wine bottled in a glass. They were both enamored with the concept: it created a simpler access to wine than what current wine bottles could provide. And it reduced the carbon waste created in the bottling of wine by offering a lower weight wine container.

Realizing that beer had enjoyed the luxury of a single-serving can or bottle for decades, James felt the same engineering applied to wine would be a huge success in stadiums and outdoor venues in theUS. He thought of little else for more than a year before deciding to develop the technology.  However, he quickly learned that bottling wine in the glass was not as easy as it seemed. Eventually he turned to the inventor/bottler of the wine he had originally seen in France, Pascal Carvin. Rather than reinventing the wheel, the two formed a partnership – Pascal would provide the technology and James would provide the determination and drive to make theUSlaunch a success.

Two years later, James and Pascal are proud to introduce Copa Di Vino.

Shark Tank Update:

In an unprecedented move,Copa di Vino is to appear on Shark Tank for a second time in an episode, which goes to air in April. The entrepreneur who walked away from a deal last season in 2011 is James Martin from The Dalles Oregon who is the owner of Copa di Vino a wine in a cup business. This is the first time an entrepreneur who walked away returns to Shark Tank and is given another chance at pitching a the product. The Sharks circled Martin closely in the water last time out but did not bite on the total business offering the entrepreneur lay on the table.

Last season Martin’s invention Copa Di Vino caused a media ripple and there was great interest in the back-story of this self-made entrepreneur. The process bottles wines directly into a wine glass sealed with a peel back top. This allows wine enthusiasts to open a single serving, instead of an entire bottle and drink straight from the glass, James has fostered an industry wide debate similar to screw cap versus cork, highlighting how wine bottles are cumbersome and inefficient.

The business was pitched to the Sharks for a $600,000 investment for 20% of his company. The total package included the Copa di Vino 

product, a bottling business and winery. The Sharks were very keen on the bottling invention but not so keen on the wine it contained or the bottling facility or winery.  All Sharks saw the potential of the Copa di Vino plastic container and saw scope for multiple applications and an opportunity to make money. Their interest was purely in the intellectual rights and patent to the process and packaging and they wanted to strip away the Copa di Vino container part from the other two parts (winery and bottling plant) from the deal and focus exclusively on the peel back container.

James Martin walked away from the Shark Tank last season, after turning down an offer for the Copa di Vino container, but he is back for more negotiation, which indicates he has had a change of heart perhaps or has restructured his offering.

The line up from last season has seen some changes of investors, Martin will be pitching to:

•    Robert Herjavec, – an immigrant factory worker’s son, now a technology mogul, who sold his first internet companies for over 350 million dollars.
•    Barbara Corcoran, – turned a thousand dollar loan into a real estate empire (The Corcoran Group) worth hundreds of millions in the city of Manhattan.
•    Kevin O’Leary – venture capitalist who started a software business in his  basement, which he eventually sold for 3.2 billion dollars
•    Daymond John – fashion and branding expert who grew his homemade hats and t-shirts into the globally recognized fashion brand FUBU which has grossed over $5 Billion in sales to date.
•    Kevin Harrington (Seasons 1 and 2), “is the King of infomercials. His genius marketing of products such as the Obama coin and the Rock n’ Roll Stepper has amassed billions of dollars in sales.
•    Mark Cuban – owner of Landmark Theatres and chairman of HDNet the HDTV network and the outspoken owner of the 2011 NBA Champions, The Dallas Mavericks.
•    Lori Greiner – Queen of QVC. She holds 108 patents and has launched over 300 products–grossing 500 million in worldwide retail sales.

It really will be exciting in the extreme to see if the new investors have a different view on the business to their colleagues from last season. The product is great and the Sharks and Martin came so close to a deal last time. This show will be a real cliffhanger to see what the pitch to the Sharks is and whether or not they bite this time.

Read more: http://wineaircorkballoon.com/copa-di-vino-shark-tank/second-time-lucky-copa-di-vino-returns-to-shark-tank/#ixzz1rydkcGn3

Wine Club | Group Events | Daily Glass Specials | FREE Second Saturday Wine Tasting | Gift Baskets

Queen Jennie is made from 100% Wisconsin sorghum.  It is aged in small charred oak barrels from Minnesota.  Less sour than a bourbon and less harsh than a rye, Queen Jennie Sorghum Whiskey has a unique character deserving of its name.

When the 18^th Amendment passed and the U.S. “dried up”, a few people kept Madison well supplied, though no one equal to the acclaimed “Queen of Bootleggers.”  Celebrating her spirit of ingenuity and audacity, we bring you the original Wisconsin Sorghum Whiskey.  Raise your glass, tip your hat, and toast to The Queen!

Please stop by our “new” tasting bar to have a sample of any of the Old Sugar Distillery products.

Wine Club | Group Events | Daily Glass Specials | FREE Second Saturday Wine Tasting | Gift Baskets

Wine Club | Group Events | Daily Glass Specials | FREE Second Saturday Wine Tasting | Gift Baskets

The Great Grapes Club!

Ever wanted to one of the cool kids and be in THE CLUB?  Here’s your chance to be the first on your block to be in THE CLUB!

For JUST $20 A MONTH (see you can be in THE CLUB)

Some highlights of being a Great Grapes member:

• FREE bottle of sparkling for just signing up!
• FREE wine bag for just signing up!
• Two new featured premium wines or one super-premium wine each month!
• Super special pricing on featured wines!
• Frequent buyer awards!
• Free glass of wine monthly!
• Discounts off Grapes and Tastes tasting events!
• Birthday treats!

For more details see the attached sign up sheet and get in THE GREAT GRAPES CLUB today for the super PRICE of JUST $20 a month!

Download the Great Grapes Wine Club sign-up form: HERE.