Aardvark Wine & Beer

We've had a number of friends visiting the region in New York recently and they've asked for recommendations. We've made a number of short stops there in recent years but haven't actually visited any of the wineries since I was there in 2005. But there are some great producers that we can get in Ohio.

I recently tasted through the lineup available to us from and they're all stunning wines with typicity, flavor, and clarity. We've brought in their dry riesling and their Field white blend.

Friends came over for dinner this weekend and brought these two gems from the winery. A zippy, delicious riesling and a single vineyard cabernet franc that was so, so good.

We think it's time for a visit.

Looking for a $10 hot weather patio pounder? Come grab a couple bottles of and give them a chill. Fresh and delicious!

Speaking of patios... Coming soon. :)

It's Friday and a beautiful weekend ahead. We'd love to be a part of yours! Come hang out for our weekly tasting, grab a pint or glass, or find some bottles or cans to take home. Pair us up with or and you're all set.

Our tasting this week includes a couple summery whites and reds for the grill. .wine "Kitz" is a white blend from Northern Italy. Blanc de Noirs is a white pinot noir that's a joyful sip. We're excited to have Matteo Correggia back in Ohio so we're sharing their nebbiolo from Roero. L'Orangerie from Southern France offers value wines including this syrah and viognier blend.

We hope to see you soon!

You want a good deal on some rosé that's perfect this time of the year? First let us tell you about it.

Chateau des Annibals was founded in 1772 and is a benchmark producer in Provence. The winery is today owned by Nathalie Coquelle. She makes the wine and brought a focus on sustainability. The 75 acres of vines are certified organic and the property is powered fully by renewable solar and wind energy. The wine is generous with fruit and texture, a blend of cinsault, grenache, and syrah.

The distributor wanted to bring in the 2023 vintage so we bought the rest of the 2022 inventory in the state. Regularly $21.99, you can only get this at Aardvark for $9.99 while it lasts. No holds please.

After last night's aawesome turnout with , we're excited to share that we another special event next Wednesday. We'll welcome John Burke (aka on IG) of John Michael Wines. He visited us last year and we turned some of you on to his Two Vessels wines. He reached out about visiting the shop again so he can share his wines and story with you.

John is a U.S. Navy veteran and the Two Vessels is an homage to the two ships he served on. The tasting will be taste at your own pace from 6pm to 8pm for only $15. We're donating 20% of the tasting fee to Buckeye Military Moms, the local chapter for Blue Star Mothers here in Worthington.

Tonight! We welcome Rose Rafferty and Angie DiSabato of for a tasting of their estate wines. You get to try their five wines available in Ohio for only $15. The tasting will begin at 6pm and end at 8pm. Taste at your own pace. Keir's having a big birthday. We'll all be here. Come hang out, taste, and shop with us.

We're regularly getting special wines and beers from preorders and allocations and some deserve their own post to alert you to them (even if Double Boat Show arrived today).

From a recent Piedmont order, we just got a six-pack of .agr.sottimano "Basarin" Barbaresco. Andrea Sottimano, along with his two sisters, has a reputation for producing some of the most sought-after nebbiolo in Piedmont, especially their cru Barbaresco bottlings. With a less is more approach, a lot of the efforts take place in the vineyards and the goal is to let the fruit shine without overdoing it.

"Basarin" is one of the five crus they produce, which rests on a hillside of the edge of Neive. Only 120 cases were imported. This retails for $82.99. If you care about scores, many critics gave it many points (we don't like to get hung up on scores). If you're drinking within a few years, give it a decant. Otherwise this will be a joy to drink over the next 10-15 years.

Aardvark takes flight!

We're on vacation in Outer Banks and my son and I headed down to Kill Devil Hills to see the site and museum for the original Wright Brothers flights at . I didn't know that Wilbur was born in Indiana like myself while Orville was born in Ohio like the rest of my family.

It's amazing what you can do when you dream, plan, and go for it. This was how aviation was born. There are parallels with opening a small business but on a different scale. The same for pretty much anything one wants to do or achieve.

Do it. No regrets.

You want to taste some wines with us? Here's the lineup for today and tomorrow. A couple refreshing whites for the warm weather and reds fit for anything you're throwing on the grill. Only $15, today and tomorrow, open to close.

Next Wednesday, we'll welcome Rose Rafferty of to the shop. It's only $15 to taste through their lineup of estate wines. Taste at your own pace between 6pm and 8pm. We hope you can join us!

Wine and beer that pair with the sea? Nortico Alvarinho via tastes like the sea and pairs with shellfish and the Italian pilsner from is appropriate for any summer gathering.

Happy 4th of July! We're open for retail only today 11:30am to 5pm before returning to normal hours tomorrow.

Don't be like Kid Rock. Leave the fireworks to the pros.

We hope you're in good company. Stay safe.

The Aardvark road show is pouring wine at Miranova downtown tonight. We brought the red, white, and rosé for Red, White & Boom. The hot and muggy weather is calling for .

A friendly reminder that we're open tomorrow for retail only until 5pm. And then we're back to normal hours on Friday just in time for our weekly wine tasting. All from the West Coast this week. Because it's the first weekend of the month, we're donating 20% of our $15 tasting fees to a local nonprofit.

This month, we're supporting . This organization was founded by (former owner of Bodega and The Table), (former owner of Ambrose & Eve and co-owner of ), and (co-owner of and Preston's) in 2020 after the restaurant shutdown to find support in various ways for restaurant and hospitality industry workers. This also led to the founding of at the Franklin County Courthhouse, "to advocate for service-industry workers, working to eliminate financial insecurity, strengthen the workforce, and improve opportunities for advancement in the restaurant industry, with a goal of building a sustainable restaurant community in Central Ohio."

Check out their website to donate directly and learn more about all of the positive work they're doing for the Central Ohio restaurant and hospitality industry. And if you're a fan of the grilled cheese Mondays at Bodega, they're hosting a Service! fundraiser at on Monday.

Come taste some wine, shop, enjoy our Dive Baar, and support a wonderful cause in our community.

We got into a little summer cooking over the weekend. I saw a gnocchi and tomato salad recipe via last week and wanted it in my life. Easy and we all loved it. We tasted a range of wines from Hermann Wiener and plan to bring some in soon. They were all wonderful. Our annual bottle of Bandol rosé with a kale Caesar and sazon seared shrimp. My first bottle from the last vintage for syrah delivered as always with wagyu tri-tip and roasted salmon. We're going to savor the rest of our bottles at home in the years to come.

It's a big holiday week! We're reloading as we speak after a busy weekend if you want to shop and score some American wine, craft beer, and cider.

We'll be open 11:30am to 5pm on Thursday, July 4th, for retail only. The Dive Baar will be closed. No special hours before or after the holiday.

There might not be gold here but we're pretty lucky and thankful for all of you. What a weekend and first half of the year.

Photo credit and thanks to Dani Robinette.

We're honored and elated to share that we're repeat winners for Best Wine Shop for 2024. We aappreciate all of you who voted for us! Big thanks to our team as we strive to be the best wine shop and more for not only the Worthington community, but Central Ohio.

Cheers to our friends at and who are awesome people and friends and offer worthy wines as well. A bonus shoutout to our friends in the parking lot, , voted Best Food Truck. Well deserved all around.

We look forward to seeing you soon. Onward and upward!

Our annual allocation of Bandol rosé has arrived from importer . This historic producer within the Bandol region of Provence produces one of the most sought-after rosés in the world. We have bottles available for $49.99 while it lasts. So much pleasure in this bottle. It's worth every dollar, especially considering how much mediocre bulk wine is produced at this price point. To Lulu!

There's a lot of chatter this morning and we hear you. You want to know what we're pouring for our weekly tasting today and tomorrow, right?

Here's the lineup for you. We have an Alsatian pinot gris from OG producer that brings lovely fruit and aromatics for warm weather days. We have the Camp chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon via if you're into more naturally-made wine that tastes like the varietal. Elegant and delicious. And we realized that we haven't been offering the Cotes-du-Rhone rouge from .lancon Domaine de la Solitude and that changed today. We were able to score a few cases in a stunning wood crate with really cool graphics inside. We also have a couple of their Chateauneuf-du-Pape offerings.

Open to close, today and tomorrow, only $15. Come for the tasting, hang out in the Dive Baar, shop, or all of the above! Grab some or to fill your bellies. We look forward to seeing you at Aardvark.

For all of you and zinfandel fans, we received an allocation and it's first come, first get. Juvenile ($30) is from the younger vine plantings across almost 30 of the vineyards that end up in single vineyard bottlings. Kirschenmann Vineyard ($48) in Lodi is owned and farmed by their winemaker, Tegan Passalacqua. The vines were planted in 1915 and the wine includes dollops of mondeuse, cinsault, and carignane. The Cedarman ($45) is high elevation, volcanic soil atop Howell Mountain in Napa Valley with some petite sirah for a more intense wine.

Thaanks to the ladies from for joining us last night for their book club! We don't know what you read and don't see any books but hope you all had a fun time at our shop.

loves her workouts at Burn if you ever want to join them. Owned and operated by a Worthington mom as an added bonus.

I was under the weather yesterday so I missed both at (when I finally scored a pit ticket) and our event last night. After I realized that it was Day, I wanted to least cook dinner for my family.

Spaghetti with red sauce and real Parm, grilled herby chicken thighs, roasted broccoli, and sauteed peppers, creminis, and red onion. Our kids ate some iteration of these components, because you know...kids. I paired my dinner with a lot of Columbus's finest tap water.

Tonight! We welcome Drew and Emily from for a casual tasting event at the shop. Pouring from 6pm to 8pm and it's only $20. Pair us up with one of the spots nearby for dinner before or after the tasting and your evening is set. Drew and Emily are in town to celebrate our wholesale partner 40th anniversary and this is one of the signature events. We hope you can join us.

It's a cold wine and cold beer kind of day. Beat the heat inside our shop or your home along with some or . We're open until 9pm.

The weather is going to suck through the weekend so stay inside with us and enjoy some wine. Our weekly tasting lineup is ready to go for tomorrow and Saturday, open to close.

Ever had white Beaujolais? This charming chardonnay sees no oak and brings pure joy from . A fruit-forward but dry rose from Ferrandiere in Southern France. A crushable, chillable red made with brachetto and fermented dry from one of Piedmont's best, .agr.sottimano will delight all of the wine nerds and novices. The last of the Barlume from is a blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot.

We hope to see you, whether you're shopping for home or stopping by to enjoy some wine and beer.

You like wine, right? You'll want to join us this upcoming Tuesday when we welcome Drew and Emily, the husband-and-wife team behind . We're sharing five wines from them that are authentic, balanced, and beautiful. You only have to pay $20 for the lineup. We're keeping the price tag low on this one so more people can taste and enjoy the wines. Head to our website to RSVP that you're joining us. The tasting is 6-8pm and taste at your own pace during that timeframe.