(I know it seems like we live there, but we don’t. Honest.)

On Monday evening, during our lovely appetizer/dessert meal with a half-priced bottle of Evolution, Chef Sam stopped by and reminded us about the Chameleon Cellars wine tasting the following night. So, we found ourselves back at Starlu last night to sample some honestly good wines.

The $15 charge allowed us to try six wine varietals: Sauvignon Blanc, Barbera, Syrah, Zinfandel, Charbono, and a Petit Sirah. All were lovely in their own right, but we left with three bottles of the Barbera and one of the Sauvignon Blanc. The Barbera was both smokey and sweet and we both liked it—so we ordered three bottles for our collection. If a glass of red can make Eric happy, you know it’s good.

Besides the delicious food (smoked salmon rolls with caper dressing, black bean wraps, and smokey bbq), we also enjoyed speaking with the winemaker himself, Jeff Popick. Years of viticultural experience has helped this man develop a talent for picking out grapes from various growers in several counties to make some fantastic wine. Plus he’s a nice guy with an easy laugh. I think he was slightly surprised at how much we knew about wine because of how young we looked… we can be deceiving. :)

The good news is that it looks like we’ll be seeing these wines in some local area restaurants as his trip also included a stop at Nana’s in Durham. We haven’t been there yet but the mere fact that Chameleon Cellar’s Barbera is available by the glass now may be that extra push to get us in the door.