By Gary Nager
With all of the French food we’ve been talking about in our latest issue (I hope you’ve already read pages 43-44 and 50-51), the only thing missing is some good wine to go with that “cuisine Française.”
Well, Time for Wine owners Charles and Cheryl Visalli are Italian, not French, but whether you enjoy wines from France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Chile or California, Charles and Cheryl can help improve any party you host or provide you with perfect holiday gifts for yourself or your business with wines from around the world.
Although the Visallis live in Land O’Lakes, Time for Wine is a Temple Terrace-based service business started in 1980, but purchased by Charles and Cheryl in 2002. And, since they took over, the Visallis have brought a new focus to the business, which still provides wine tastings and “Teach & Taste” classes at your location with unique wines you won’t (in most cases) find at your local supermarket or wine store.
Charles and Cheryl both are popular folks, as they often provide lots of free samples and low-cost full glasses of very good wines (that they also sell by the bottle and case for very reasonable prices) at Greater Wesley Chapel (WCCC), Brandon and Central & West Pasco Chamber of Commerce and Carrollwood Area Business Association (CABA) events.
“Our philosophy with Time for Wine is to make everyone we come in contact with feel like a VIP, whether you ever buy wine from us or not,” says Charles, who doesn’t have a formal education in wine, but admits he and Cheryl have learned most of what they know about wines from traveling to many of the wine-producing regions mentioned in the second paragraph of this story to learn how the wines are made and, of course…to taste.
“All Cheryl and I try to do,” Charles says, “is be honest with people. Yes, we know a lot about the wines we choose to serve because we try every single wine before we buy it. But, like most people, we learned by sampling, so we want anyone who comes to an event to taste. The language of this business is in the tasting.”
Cheryl says the focus at Time for Wine used to be on cold-calling and visiting potential clients at their homes or offices, “but we’ve changed that to pitching corporate events to large companies (Charles says Raymond James Financial is by far Time for Wine’s biggest client) and by getting out to a lot of Chamber and other events ourselves. The only way to grow this business is to serve some wine, so that’s what we do.”
Private Label Wines For
Different Tastes
I’m no “connoisseur” either, but I am the kind of wine drinker that when I find a type of wine I like — champagnes and other sparkling wines from France, as well as cavas from Spain and prosecco from Italy; Argentinian malbec and Italian barolo and sangiovese (the chianti grape) and barbera from both Italy and California; and French white burgundies and California chardonnays made in the burgundy style — I usually stick with it, so I’m always a little excitable when Charles or Cheryl bring in any of my favorites for me to sample at an event.
Among the nice surprises I’ve sampled from Time for Wine recently were the Mont Marcal cava Cheryl served me (and a few of my now-closest friends) at a WCCC ribbon-cutting event last year and the barbera she served at the Sept. 24 WCCC event at New Leaf Chiropractic Wellness Center in Lutz.
I liked the barbera so much, I bought a bottle of it from Cheryl at the event and included a few bottles of it (and a few of that crisp, brut cava, too) when I ordered two cases of private-label wines from the Visallis.
I also included a few bottles of more traditional favorites (cabernet sauvignon, merlot and pinot grigio) because I know that not everyone likes the same kind of wine I do — and they’ll all have a cool label design featuring our New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News logo.
“We want you to be proud to serve our wines or give them as holiday or birthday gifts to your family, friends and business clients,” Cheryl says. “And with our prices, a great gift doesn’t have to be expensive.”
In fact, I don’t believe that any of the wines we chose cost more than $21 a bottle and most cost less than $20.
The Wine Passport Program
In addition to providing private label wines, Charles also conducts “Teach & Taste” classes and what he calls his “Wine Passport Program.” He puts on events at locations such as A Dash of Salt & Pepper on Cross Creek Blvd. and at Joe & Sons Olive Oil Co. in South Tampa.
“Our last class at Joe & Sons (on Sept. 24) sold out (28 people) in three hours,” Charles says. “It was a Passport to Spain where I served all Spanish wines (cava, tempranillo and garnacha) paired with Spanish cuisine. I really think the events encourage people about the fun and entertainment value of wine tasting at your home or office.” The classes at the two locations won’t start up again until January, but Charles says he has put on private wine tasting events recently at Wilderness Lake Preserve in Lutz and at Cory Lake Isles and Grand Hampton here in New Tampa.
“Private wine tasting events are perfect for insurance companies, CPA firms and Realtors,” Cheryl says. “We get a great response wherever we bring the wine.”
Speaking of private events, Charles adds, “We did a private Italian wine tasting at Cory Lake Isles in September. My favorite thing was when this guy tried something new for him — a primitivo (an Italian grape that often is called “like zinfandel,” but I believe is much better) — and I saw his eyes roll back in his head to where all he could say was, ‘Wow!’ That’s why Cheryl and I love this business!”
Time for Wine is located at 5462 56th Commerce Park Blvd. in Tampa. For info, call 664-1430 or visit TimeforWine.net. For $20 off a mixed case of wine, see the ad on page 45 of this issue.
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