LoDo doesn’t spring to mind as a place to go for peace and quiet. The concentration of bars, restaurants and assorted party places can make it hard to hear your own brain on a busy weekend.
Every few blocks though, there’s a section where you can stretch out and relax a little. Take Wazee Street between 15th and 16th streets — it’s like an oasis. And right in the middle of the block is The Wine Loft (1527 Wazee St.; 888-576-4555), a new place to savor the good life in style.
Brian Borowski, The Wine Loft’s general manager, thinks the bar’s out-of-the-way location is an asset.
“It makes us more a destination-type place,” he says. “It’s been a challenge getting the word out, but we really wanted to focus on the neighborhood, the people who were down here first.”
The Wine Loft’s vibe is surely a natural fit with LoDo’s tony lofts and condos. Designed like a martini lounge, the loft is all black couches, flickering candles and down-tempo electronica.
But instead of DJs and dance parties, The Wine Loft’s focus is strictly on the vino. There are 65 — count ’em — wines by the glass, from sparkling splits of G.H. Mumm to tawny port. The bottle list tops 90 selections, including all the by-the-glass entries, with a wide range of prices.
Sure, there’s the requisite $500 bottle of Cristal, but there are also plenty of wines in the very reasonable $30-$40 range.
There’s a short list of beers and full bar, too.
Despite wine’s rarefied reputation, Borowski and owner Aaron Anderson want The Wine Loft to be a friendly place, not an enclave of snootiness.
“The whole idea of this place is to be really accessible,” says Borowski. “It’s not pretentious.”
The nightly after-work happy hour generously runs until 7 p.m., with special glasses available on the cheap. On Tuesdays, bottles from $40 to $140 are half-price — quite a bargain.
Then, on Wednesdays, The Wine Loft throws open its doors for a free wine tasting. “Wine Down Wednesday” starts right at quitting time, 5:30 p.m., and goes until 7:30 p.m.
Though it’s nicely tucked away, Borowski says business is just getting better since the bar’s Aug. 9 opening.
“Business has considerably picked up,” he says. “Every week we get more people finding us. The feedback has been outstanding.”
Borowski says he expects The Wine Loft to host an official grand opening celebration later this fall.
He and Anderson are already working on a second Wine Loft location, this time in the new Landmark development in Greenwood Village. (The Wine Loft is a franchise of a larger, Louisiana-based company — though Borowski points out that the Denver location is all locally owned.)
Now that the weather’s cooling, The Wine Loft is likely to become the neighborhood’s go-to place for red wine and conviviality.
“This place is cozy,” says Borowski. “I feel really good about the experience customers are getting. . . . We really want to build a core, build a foundation down here.”
Having it all.
It has to be one of the best DJ names ever: Fred Everything.
The name fits, too. As a producer, Everything creates soulful, funky house music that’s surprisingly eclectic. Best of all, it’s light, fun and has a keen sense of humor — something often lacking in electronic music.
A native of Quebec, Canada, Everything now lives in San Francisco and just released his latest album, “Lost Together,” in July. He’s touring in support of the album, and makes a stop in Denver at Bar Standard (1037 Broadway; 303-832-8628) on Saturday.
The show is the first of Bar Standard’s new House Saturdays series. Doors open at 9 p.m.
