Tasting room brings a Regal return
By Lisa Snider 01/17/2008
With 12 gorgeous taps taunting us, who could resist. As I licked the foam off my lips, Yobe told me that beer has come back into fashion. This $100 billion industry is getting noticed, and not just by frat boys looking to have a raging kegger. Yobe, a third generation liquor man, knows the trend is shifting and has 600 imported and American craft brews in stock to prove it. Among them, you may or may not find the elusive Sam Adams Utopias. Billed as the world's strongest and most expensive beer, at 27 percent alcohol (a can of Coors Light is 4 percent), it retails for more than $200 (if you can find it) and double that on eBay.
Along with his cousin and co-owner, Jorge Alem, who acquired Regal's in 2006, Yobe has transformed what was once a simple wine and cheese shop, and built an attractive tasting room in the back. In addition to carrying a large inventory of beer, Alem and Yobe enhanced the wine offerings with lesser-known international collections, including French, Spanish and Italian - they even have a nice Chinese high-altitude Cabernet.
Their work ethic does not call for simply putting a familiar label on the wine rack and letting the name recognition sell itself.
"Now it's more about hand selling," Yobe said. "We take the time to show someone the bottle and give them a little more information about it."
I recently eyed a $1,200 bottle of a 1955 Chateau Latour, securely tied down. Alem delights in asking with a smile, "Would you like me to cut the rope for you?" While Yobe would love it if someone opened up their wallet for one of those bottles, he admits, "Those are just kind of for fun."
Regal's two owners grew up together in the family business in the Los Angeles area, giving them an edge at an early age.
"I was practically born in a liquor store," said Alem, 28.
Yobe, 31, became a mixologist long before he was getting carded.
"I was bartending at 10 years old at my grandfather's parties," he said.
"We really like what we are doing. This isn't even work for us, we really enjoy it."
With the recent opening of the tasting room, Alem and Yobe have finally realized their vision of having a liquor business that is all-encompassing.
"We always wanted this place to be interactive," Yobe said. "We always wanted it to be about tasting and education. It's about the product. It's about what we're pouring."
If you are going to break your New Year's resolution, here are a few worthy brews:
From the cooler:
Speedway Stout - coffee beans are added to the San Diego brew, giving it a deep, rich, roasted flavor, $13.99 for a 750 ml bottle, 12 percent alcohol
Avery Brewing Company's The Beast - a Colorado brew made in a Belgian Grand Cru style, "Pour it in a snifter and enjoy it after dinner," advises Yobe. $11 for a 12-ounce bottle, 16.42 percent alcohol
From the tap:
Delirium - a full-bodied sweet and spicy Belgian ale - $5, 10 percent alcohol
Koningshoeven - an amber-colored Trappist ale from the Netherlands - $6, 9 percent alcohol
A small menu of cheeses and pizzas will satisfying your hunger while sipping wine or beer in the tasting room. And look for an outdoor patio to open by summer.
Regal's Wine & Spirits, 655 E. Ojai Avenue, 646-1700. Store hours: Daily 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tasting hours: Tuesday through Sunday 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.www.regalswine.com
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