After years of visiting the Tahoe region, Kathleen and Rob Martens made a big leap from Maryland to Incline Village, Nev. They brought their wine fanaticism with them and opened Glasses Wine Bar in The Village Shopping Center.
For wine buffs or just those who enjoy wine exploration, it is a quantumly superior experience. Kudos to the Martens for going the extra mile.
Glasses is an unassuming but super-convenient location across from the post office. As a bonus, the shopping center clears out at night so the parking is abundant. The couple also wanted to focus on Kathleen’s desire to share her intellectual curiosity, as they state in their tagline: “A Taste for Wine; a Passion for Literacy.”
Read Lou’s column on Uncorked Tahoe
Glasses started out as a wine bar, game room and library, but has evolved into so much more. Today, you will find interactive wine exploration with the owners and other wine lovers, displays from top local artists, an excellent music venue and an inviting place to casually quaff vino and meet friends old and new.
They feature 30-plus selections by the glass and bottle and a dozen more in their Cruvinet where you can select tastes, half and full glasses. They also keep a variety of off-the-menu wines that seem to appear out of nowhere when a patron’s wine discussion takes an interesting twist.
The décor is part hipster library, part wine bar and part lounge and when the weather co-operates there is a dog-friendly outdoor deck.
On select evenings, Glasses Wine Bar morphs into the type of intimate music venue that reminds me of the small clubs I haunted when I was in the rock-n-roll business in the Bay Area back in the day — the kind of place where musicians can stretch out in both their musical repertoire and the expression of their personalities. On a recent raucous Saturday night, I witnessed Tahoe’s own Darren Talbot, fresh off a year-plus run in Costa Rica, play through an diverse set of covers and barely PG originals, which he created on the spot.
As for the vino, expect to find wines from the world over. This is also reflected in wines with some bottle ages that are at their peak, especially from regions and producers that craft age-worthy wines. This takes so much more time and energy than just ordering the latest releases, but for wine buffs or just those who enjoy wine exploration, it is a quantumly superior experience. Kudos to the Martens for going the extra mile.
All of that is great, but what really lights the fire here is that all of this comes with a genuine sense of warmth, many smiles and heartfelt hospitality. | glasseswinebar.com
