Twine Urban Winery
1319 Portage StreetI’ve lived in Michigan for almost 15 years and I still don’t understand why Spring Break is such a huge deal here. Growing up in East Central Illinois, we didn’t even get a Spring Break. We got Good Friday and the Monday after Easter off and that was it. The whole, “we have to go to Florida at the same time everyone else is going to Florida which makes prices insanely high” just seems stupid to me.
Our kids are one of the unlucky few who don’t get to bask in the sunshine at the beach. They joined some of those other unlucky kids for a a theater camp at The Civic instead. Both of our kids are little performers. L has done this camp a few times in the past but it was a first for B and oh, boy did he love it.
Theater camp ends with a performance on Friday afternoon. In the past, this performance was at 5:30 but this year, they decided to make it at 4:00. There’s absolutely no way I can be off work by 4:00 so I took the day off.
J’s got a little bit more flexibility at work but her birthday was on Thursday so she decided to take Thursday and Friday off. That means, we were both home without the kids.
We went to a late lunch at Bird Dog in Mattawan. We didn’t want to go back home after lunch but we still had about an hour and a half until doors opened at The Civic. I suggested Bell’s, but J had a different idea.
She had been wanting to try Twine Urban Winery on Portage Street for quite some time. We had the time so we decided to stop in to check the place out.
Twine Urban Winery is in on Portage Street near Washington Avenue in a spot of time known as Washington Square in Kalamazoo Edison Neighborhood. The tasting room for the Roche Collection wines is on the south side of this multi unit building. The last time I was in this space it was a Jersey Giant Subs.
We walked in to the shop around 2:00. The space is pretty wide open with a counter in the same spot it was when Jersey Giant was there but it’s been fancied up a bit removing the sneeze guard and wrapping it with stamped tin. There are bottles of wine on racks along a wall for purchase alongside information about the owner of the Roche Collection who became the first African American woman to get a winemaking license in the State of Michigan.
A lady working the counter asked if we had reservations. We didn’t and didn’t realize we needed them. We figured at 2:00 on a Friday afternoon we could just walk in. The woman went to the back for a second then came back out and told us to take a seat at any of the open tables.
Twine is a tasting room for the Roche wines but they do have a few fun cocktails and even some light snacking options on the menu.
J knew what she wanted before she even sat down. She picked the Slush Explosion. I had actually stopped by a few months ago to pick one of these up to-go for her and she loved it. She wasn’t interested in trying anything else. She wanted this drink again.
The Slush Explosion uses the wine slushies made with Roche wine. The drink is then topped off with an explosion of fruit and candy and served in a Mason Jar. If we weren’t going to see our kids in a show after this, she might have ordered two.
I’m not a wine drinker…like at all. I’ve done a few tasting rooms with J in the past but it’s not really my thing. I’m always happy when wine places have a small beer selection.
I just kinda of eeny-meeny-miny-moed it and landed on the Very Berry Spritzer. This glass came with muddled berries in a Sweet Riesling with an orange popsicle used to garnish. Obviously, I ate the popsicle first. It’s like they knew orange is my favorite popsicle color. The rest of the drink was good even for my untrained palate.
We only had time for the one drink before we had to get downtown so we flagged the waitress over to get our check. The two drinks cost a little under $25 before tip.
Twine Urban Winery is a cool place. J’s looking forward to spending more time there with some of her girlfriends…they’re probably better company at a wine bar than I am. I still enjoyed the place. We didn’t realize it but the website does say they are “open by reservation” so it’s probably best to make a reservation before just showing up like we did.
SW Michigan Dining 