Review: Tierra del Fuego wine bar in Austin, TX

313 East 2nd St.
(512) 469-7988
Website: Tierra del Fuego
Hours: Monday thru Saturday, 4pm-1am
Happy Hour: 4-7pm, half-price bruschetta

Our rating:

One of the newest wine bars in Austin is Tierra del Fuego, located near the convention center on east 2nd. Fuego opened for business about 6 weeks ago, but they are still preparing for their official grand opening. We stopped by on a Monday evening to see how things are shaping up.

Tierra del Fuego is another venture for the owner of Sampaio’s Brazilian restaurant on Burnet Rd. Like Sampaio’s, the décor at Tierra del Fuego is stylishly casual and inviting.

We sat at the bar and looked over the list of flights and wines by the glass. The day we went, 7 flights were offered: three white, three red, and a daily flight special that has not really been defined yet. I ordered a flight consisting of a Viognier, an Albarino, and a Verdeho. Michael ordered a flight of Chardonnay. The wine was served in large well shaped glasses, and the pours were 2+ ounces.

All of the wines were poured from bottles that were previously opened. The bar is closed on Sunday, so all of the wines that were being poured had been open for at least 48 hours. The white wines were stored in the refrigerator, but were not showing their best.

For our second flight we both selected red wines, all of which were very oxidized after having been opened for some time. When we pointed out the problem with the wine, our server was quick to try and correct the problem and was very helpful.

Storage of red wine that is served by the glass seems to be a problem all over the city. Wine bars seem reluctant to invest in temperature controlled storage and bottled Argon to preserve the freshness of their wines. The problem is made worse if bars are closed one or two days a week. I am sure that the good folks at Tierra del Fuego will work out this little problem as they ramp-up for their grand opening.

We are going to give Tierra del Fuego a little time to get settled and then we are definitely going back. We see lots of potential and are happy to see another wine bar in our town.