Review: Thief Wine Shop and Bar

A little bit of California right here in the Midwest.
Milwaukee has the best downtown market- The Milwaukee Public Market. It's full of satellite stores from local businesses all under one roof. It's been a favorite spot of ours for some time now. It can be a bit sticky to negotiate on the weekends because the touristas flock so since I started working the 9-5 and the weekends are the only good time to get down there, my patronization has slacked off. I know, I digress.

One day about six months ago I was shocked to see my once favorite organic salad bar and veggies vendor gutted, poof. I prayed for a re-model, a new-and-improved, a something. And while I thought it couldn't be possible, much to my surprise we got something better. A wine bar.

Thief Wine Shop and Bar is a wine bar/vendor out of California. The owners have recently re-located to the great state of Wisconsin to live out their dream of opening a wine bar and it's off to a great start. If you've ever been to California wine country you know how fabulous it is to go in, sit down and taste taste taste. Thief offers a diverse selection of wines by the 2 oz taste, 5 oz glass and the carafe (our favorite). They offer flights of tastes, pre-picked or create your own, and incentives to keep you coming back. Buy 12 flights of wine, # 13 is free AND 10% off any bottles that you taste in house AND nightly specials AND you can bring food from any of the vendors in the market and eat at the wine bar AND the wine list is constantly rotating. The extremely helpful woman pouring for us yesterday (I have got to place a priority on learning people's names) said that they have been open a little shy of three months and they are on their fourth wine list.

The owners, Phil and Aimee hand pick taste everything on the shelves, and are always at the store ready to answer any questions you might have. I enjoy that. Dedicated owners breed dedicated customers. It's a reversion to the way businesses used to be run and it makes me feel special dammit.

Collin and I got our first flights under our belts (tasting notes to come) and snagged a delicious central coast pinot- Folk Machine and Triebaumer, an Austrian Rosé. We plan to check out some of the mid-week specials too. For instance, Thursday nights they have specials on wines that go well with oysters, because Thursday nights are the St. Paul Fish Company's (another of the fabulous vendors in the Public Market) oyster night. The possibilities are endless.