Living La Vino Loco
In 2004 the movie Sideways made wine tasting a go-to option for bachelor parties and gave Merlot a really (REALLY) bad name. It’s incredible to note that even a fictional expert can have such a huge impact on tastes that they can sink sales of an entire varietal with some grouchy rhetoric. Around the same time, Lisa Carpenter moved from Baltimore, MD, to Englewood, FL. Twenty years later, Merlot is making a comeback and Lisa’s boutique wine shop and tapas restaurant is giving tastemakers in Napa a run for their money.
Lisa Carpenter is the proprietor of Vino Loco Wine & Tapas on Dearborn Street. Lisa has built a solid reputation as Englewood’s wine expert precisely because she rejects the pedantic approach often adopted by vintners and critics alike. Lisa won’t try to tell you that you shouldn’t like Merlot. She won’t try to tell you that you should like Merlot either. Lisa’s goal is to help you figure out what you like.
“If a wine purveyor makes you feel dumb, they’re dumb,” she says. “You’re never going to know everything about wine… nobody is. It can be intimidating, so I’m trying to demystify the process.”
Lisa loves to curate cases of wine for her customers. She takes the time to listen to guests and understand their palates so that she can guide them to the best choices. It’s a relationship based on trust that takes time to develop. Conversely, she also enjoys the unexpected.
“I have $5 pours. It’s a chance to introduce people to different varietals. I look for cool, unique wines. I’ll taste a bunch of crappy wines to find a good one. The fun part is that people are more willing to be adventurous because of the price point—even if they don’t enjoy it, they can say ‘Well, it was only five bucks.’”
The team at Vino Loco is a family, mostly Lisa’s family. Her husband, Tom, is the operations man (she calls him “The Fixer”). One of her "bonus sons," Jonas, is working behind the bar. Lisa has two children of her own, Grayce and Brody, and two bonus sons by way of Tom, Jonas and Jackson. Jonas started working in January and he claims to love working for his parents. “Growing up in my house you had to learn about wine whether you were interested in it or not,” he says. “It was like an education by osmosis. I learned a lot.”
Chef Bobby Holt puts out an impressive array of hot and cold tapas as well as the marinated olives, charcuterie, hummus, and pâté available for sale in the shop. The front patio is a perfect spot to spend a lazy evening eating and drinking your way around the world. Try the Warm Double Cream Brie with local honey and toasted baguettes or the Bocadillo Serrano—hand-rubbed garlic bread topped with fresh tomato, Serrano ham, and Manchego cheese. Save room for a homemade dessert from Katrina Manchester. The Cheese Flan and Gluten Free Carrot Cake are both worth the calories.
Lisa and her team are passionate about procuring and curating the best of the best. The best wine, the best ingredients, the best practices. “We aim for zero waste,” she says. “The soup comes from stocks made with peels and stems from that week’s produce. The chef butchers his own meats so that he can use the scraps himself. Nothing is prepack-aged or mass produced. We don’t have a freezer.”
I asked Lisa to pick a favorite wine and she laughed. “Oh, jeez, it’s like picking a favorite child.” How about the right wine to pair with this moment? “Let’s see… it’s a Tuesday, it’s hot. I’m not eating, I’m being interviewed… I’d go with a rosé. Crisp and mineral. A little frizzante. Light and cold. Vinho Verde.”
She’s right, it’s the perfect choice. I decide that I trust her to recommend the right bottle of Merlot, for someone who’s willing to give it another try.
Vino Loco Wine Bar: 420 Dearborn St, Englewood; 941-473-8466;
vinolocowine.com
