Would you like to have wine tonight at Planet Grapes ?
That’s me and my blogger girl friend Rhea who went out for a wine and dine date at Planet Grapes. But we are not here to tell you about how you should drink your wine or tell you about the health benefits of drinking wine. You can Google all that shitniz and you will learn so much more than what I can tell you from what I learned that night.
We were there for a casual dinner, I was invited by a PR friend and brought along Rhea who is one of my favorite blogger girl friend in the world, she blogs at Shades of Style.
It was not a date night, it was all about catching up, trying new things, learning something new, making new friends and bond with long time one. The wine night was far from drama or expectation of a ring following the dessert (hehe!). There was no pressure or tension at all. That is what Planet Grapes is all about Wine Without The Drama.
Their wine resto showcase enjoyable, affordable wines and street food pairings. Which is what we did. Paul had his balut, Rhea had her quail eggs / kwek-kwek in street food terms, I had my Chicharon and it was perfect.
This no-nonsense approach to wine enjoyment provides a refreshing twist for budding wine drinkers both young and old. You can find the wines you love, one grape at a time with flexible options to different serving sizes of wine.
Did I piqued your interest?
If you have noticed their logo, Planet Grapes have three branches in Manila (Mandaluyong, BGC and Alabang) it will remind you of Starwars! They might be mistaken for joining the bandwagon of the Starwars fever but the truth is they made their logo that way so that the younger crowd / yuppies, can identify with their wine store. That they are not intimidating as the usual wine bars which are very stiff, strict and with expensive wines which the young bloods would not dare frequent like their favorite bar or Cafe.
They want to encourage the younger crowd to to enjoy wine as much as they enjoy their beer and not get intimidated. They want Planet Grapes to be the “Starbucks of Wine” and the perfect place to be for budding wine drinkers.
Here you don’t need to know the 5 S’s of wine drinking, and the proper way to hold your wine. And the rule of thumb that once you have your dessert wine and you can never go back to red wine! Oh, yes there’s such rules! But if you want to learn more about them you can ask their friendly and accommodating servers who incidentally wears uniform inspired by Star Trek! (yes I noticed that ,but I kinda mindless that night that I was not able to take a good full body photo ugh, must be the wine! haha)
At Planet Grapes, you can wine without the drama. No need to pretend to order a wine you can’t even pronounce. No need to get stuck in a bottle of wine that you dislike the taste. No need to worry if you are pairing your red or white or sparkly with the right dish. Or go red then white and white and red.
You can try as many wine as you can and explore the world of wine. Find the wine flavor that suits your taste one wine glass after another. That is possible here especially if you have the Planet Grapes wine tasting card. The card that let’s you select any of the wines from the first wine dispensing machine I’ve seen in the country. Fill your own wine glass and have a sip and go to the next one to find your perfect match.
Presenting the wine vendo/ wine enigmatic machine
The wine vendo is divided in two, the reds and the whites. The rule to follow is the wine flavors goes from the bitter to the sweetest flavor.
So, if you are a sweet wine drinker, dispense wine from the one on your right.
Someone’s haply dispensing wines at the wine vendo!
The wine tasting card can be purchased at the store for Php900.00 and it is pre-loaded with Php1,000.00that you can use in any of their stores’ enomatic machines (I prefer to call it wine vendo, enomatic is so highfalutin) to dispense your own wine at whatever size you choose. We tried it ourselves and was delighted with the experience that I plan to buy them cards as gift and have a wine party with friends here.
Watch us dispensing wine in this video:
For me the cheese Platter that comes with some bread and nuts is enough to last me the night or a bottle of wine whichever comes first. 
And as if the appetizers were not filling enough, we had their melt-in-your mouth steak (matches well with our Red Wine for our main course) and Pork Barbecue Ribs with very tender meat that separates easily from the bone.
But that’s not all, we also had desserts. This Turon trilogy with three different flavors and thr creme brulee sampler at Php180.00 a serving is really good paired with that super sweet white wine.
And yes, a molten chocolate lava cake
We had so much fun here learning about wines, enjoying the great meal they served and the stories we told, that our dinner ended at almost 12 midnight ! We started at around 7PM. Can you imagine the fun we had wine and dining!
We had 3 kinds of wine aside from the coulpe wine glasses we had from the wine vendo , thank you!
Btw, here’s a treat for those who want to hold their Holiday parties at Planet Grapes ook your parties on their mezzanine and you’ll get 3 free bottles of wine to celebrate witbh. Not enough wine for you? Wethey can give youan entire case of wine (12 bottles), completely free, when you reserve any of their stores for your parties. Reserve now to claim your gift! This promotion is valid for reservations until January 15, 2016.
For more information, please email info@planetgrapes.com.ph or visit http://planetgrapes.com.ph. Planet Grapes is located at Tuscany at McKinley Hill (551-3713), the New Wing of Ayala Center Cebu (032-266-0526 or 032-262-0515), Shangri-La Mall (531-8207 or 532-2950) and River Park, Alabang (831-9438 or 831-9439).
So, wine tonight? Wine not at Planet Grapes right?
Stay gorgeous eveyrone!
