Going to the grocery store is getting interesting. Starting on October 1, 2008, a number of local grocery stores will be piloting a new program to allow wine and beer tastings on-site. A grand total of 30 stores were selected to participate in this program. Full listing of the stores and more details on the program after the jump.

The stores selected for the pilot program are:

• Dave’s Market Place 669 Lincoln Ave E, Tenino
• Tacoma Boys, 5602 6th Ave, Tacoma
• West Seattle Thriftway, 4201 SW Morgan Street, Seattle
• Stadium Thriftway, 618 N 1st Street, Tacoma
• Everett Grocery Outlet, 710 SE Everett Mall Way, Everett
• Matthew’s at Lakemont, 4989 Lakemont Blvd. SE, Bellevue
• Blaine Cost Cutter No 489, 1733 H St. #100, Bellevue
• Anacortes Food Pavilion #79, 1519 Commercial Ave., Anacortes
• Metropolitan Market, 1618 SW Dash Point Rd., Federal Way
• Metropolitan Market, 2420 N. Proctor, Tacoma
• Lynnwood Grocery Outlet, 19800 44th Ave W Ste. G, Lynwood
• Vashon Thriftway, 9740 SW Bank Rd., Vashon
• Denny’s Harvest Foods, 215 E SR 902, Medical Lake
• Cowiche Harvest Foods, 16850 Summitview Rd., Cowiche
• Dayton Mercantile, 516 W. Main St., Dayton

In addition to the independent grocery stores, a number of national stores will also be participating. Those stores include:

• Safeway (Bainbridge Island, Bellevue, Kirkland, Sammamish, Maple Valley, Wenatchee, and Spokane)
• QFC (U-dist, Bellevue, Broadway, and Redmond)
• Fred Meyer in Port Orchard

2 ounces of wine

In particular, there seems to be some (a lot of) complaint about the fact that samples need to be two ounces or less and a single person can’t drink more than four ounces in a single visit.

As a point of reference, here’s a 2 ounce wine pour. 4 ounces of wine isn’t a lot, but really… IT’S A TASTING! You’re not supposed to go to a wine tasting to get sloshed. You’re supposed to go to a wine tasting to TASTE WINE!

I won’t go on a rant about the WSLCB’s policies here, though feel free to do so in the comments. For now, I’m just disappointed that none of my local stores were selected for the pilot program.