Branch by Bellangelo

My husband and I stopped in here on a whim after seeing the wine tasting sign outside the store. I was having a bad day, and when we lived in CA wine tasting always made my day better. This experience was no different — I left in a much better mood. We had such a pleasant experience here and will definitely be back.
This is a store that is owned by Bellangelo Winery that sells wines from their own plus many other NY Wineries. They also sell some NY beers, spirits, and other items such as candles and other farm made products. I love the concept and thought that the store décor was beautiful and the selection great.
In the back of the store they do their wine tasting. You can do a wine tasting that includes 5 wines of your choice from a list that consists of whites, reds, and sweet wines. The tasting is $ 8 and includes the glass for you to keep. They also have reserve wines to taste for a small additional fee.
On this visit, my husband and I each did a tasting, opting to each choose different wines so that we could share, so in total I tried10 different wines — 4 white and 6 red. Overall, I’d say the wines are average for Finger Lakes wines. We liked the Bellangelo Dry Reisling and the Silver Thread Blackbird (red blend) enough to purchase. I also liked the Bellangelo Seyval Blanc but felt it was a tad too sweet for me to buy a whole bottle. The person that helped us, Alton (hope I spelled his name right) was great. He was able to tell us a good bit about the wines we were tasting, which I always appreciate. It helps make the wine tasting experience more complete I think. He was also very friendly and personable.
I think this is a great addition to the Destiny Mall and hope to be back again. It is so nice not only to see a business in the mall that promotes a lot of local products, but one that is unique and fits a certain niche. I think that for some people, it can appear a bit intimidating from the outside, but the staff are really friendly and welcoming. I hope to be back again soon.