A Day in the Life of Twin Liquors Marketplace at Hancock Center
This is the biggest store, by far, in the locally-owned Twin Liquors chain, and it opened last November over at Hancock Center off IH-35 in the space formerly occupied by Old Navy. The shopping center was opened the same year that David Jabour was born.
Tasting Area at Twin Liquors
This is a special store for the Jabour family because it affords them the opportunity to give back to the community of wine and spirits lovers that has supported all the Twin Liquors around Austin for years.
The store boasts over 7,000 bottles of wine, many of which are available for tasting on a daily basis. And it’s those tastings that allow the Jabours to educate their customers, thus making their choices more efficient.
So how does a bottle of wine get on the shelf at the Hancock Store? Well it begins with wine master Brenda Audino. She heads the tasting committee (tough job) that ultimately tastes all the new wines and makes recommendations. The wines are grouped by how they’re labeled. European wines are organized by region: California and west coast wines are grouped by varietals. And special attention is afforded to the hot, hot Chilean, Argentinean, South African and of course Texas wines.
According to Sandra Spalding of Twin, the customers range from college students to high end collectors. There are some very knowledgeable collectors who come into the store and buy high end wines like Harlan Estates. Caymus Special Selection or even DRC and Petrus. But the majority of the buyers are looking for value wines in the $10-$20 range. Malbecs are particularly popular right now. Twin makes some very attractive offers in this area with their “Twin Deals.”
The store has a wide array of spirits as well ranging from local to national favorites.. Danny DeVito was in several months ago selling his own brand of Lemoncello. Al Jabour, cousin to David, runs the store and the sales people are very knowledgeable. Tastings usually begin after 4pm and the 3rd Saturday of the month features the popular Grand Tasting. Check out their calendar of events.
