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In November 2016, Total Wine opened its first Wisconsin store, in Brookfield. Now, a second Milwaukee-area location opens March 1 at the 84South development in Greenfield, 8400 W. Sura Lane.
Based in Bethesda, Maryland, Total Wine was started in 1991 in Delaware by brothers David and Robert Trone. Now, the company – which says it's the country's largest independent retailer of fine wine – has more than 170 stores in 21 states.
The new store is 25,000 square feet – about 5,000 square feet smaller than the Brookfield location. But it still carries 8,000 wines from around the world, an expansive selection of spirits – 3,000, including an impressive array of bourbons – and 2,500 beers, plus accessories, tons of miniature bottles and more.
There is also a section that focuses on Milwaukee- and Wisconsin-made products, including from Great Lakes Distillery, Top Note Tonic, Soul Boxer, Milwaukee Brewing Co. and others.
Because of its licensing, the Brookfield location can only serve two small samples of wine or beer, or a half-ounce of liquor, to its customers, but the Greenfield store has more leeway thanks to its Class B license.
That means winemaker events and wine appreciation and other classes can include more samples of the vast selection offered in the store.
A weekend-long grand opening celebration kicks off at 9 a.m. Thursday and runs through Sunday with giveaways and samples of wine, beer and spirits. Ten percent of the celebration's wine sales will benefit Partners of Greenfield Parks & Recreation.
We stopped in for a peek earlier this week and here's what we found:
Wine
Tasting area
Local brands
Beer here, too, of course
All manner of spirits, including a long row of bourbon
Accessories
Cigar humidor
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
