Sometimes it feels like you need a Blackberry and a J. Crew label to be seen in downtown Bellevue. A strict dress code keeps blokes in baggy jeans out of the billiards hall, the Parlor. At the new hair salon, Seven, you can lay down $100 for a simple hair cut.

So we're glad the new wine shop in Lincoln Square caters to both the wine snob and the passerby on a budget. Vino 100 offers 100 wines priced at less than $25, and its staff focuses on making wine shopping a stress-free experience.

Each selection is labeled with a "wine barometer" that measures flavor and body, and suggests which foods the wine could be paired with. Once you've been rung up at the cash register, staffers will log your purchases so they'll know what you like the next time you come in.

"Often, if you walk into a wine shop or grocery store, you have hundreds and thousands of choices, but they don't have any explanation as to what it should taste like and what food it would be best paired with," said owner Elizabeth Lee.

To further distance itself from the grocery store selection, Lee's shop sticks to limited production artisan wines. That means they're from family-owned estates, where they're made with hand-picked grapes and bottled the old-fashioned way, Lee said.

"The smaller producers, they put in the passion and care," she said. "They're hand-making wine as art, not as business."

Some wines at Vino 100 have price tags that exceed $25. The most expensive is $120. It's a Dominus, a brand that some people covet just like Louis Vuitton or Mercedes. But the cheapest bottle, an $8 Spanish wine, might be just as pleasing to the palate.

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