(did you really think that I was going to explain this here, you have to read the entire newsletter)
Thanks to everyone who came to our Alternative Wine Dinner Tuesday great wines, great foods were enjoyed by all!
Calendar of Events
November 7th – Thirsty Thursday! Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup!
November 21st – Beaujolais Nouveau!
Do I really need to say more…We’ll taste as many Nouveau’s as I can bring in, I’ll prepare as much Bourguignon as my kitchen can handle, bring in way too much Brie and Baguette and we’ll just have a party! Nobody really does this anymore, but…we do, and we do it right!
December 3rd – Champagne Tasting ***SOLD OUT
We’re bringing in all grower produced Champagnes this year, six of the best we found. We’ll have a special guest from the distributor (Jason) here to help explain each and every one of them. Of course we’ll choose some great heavy appetizers to accompany these beautiful new Champagnes. It’s bubbles all night long!
December 25th – Closed Christmas Day
January 1st – Closed New Years Day
New Wines
Ruinart Champagne Rose NV France $69.99
The Grateful Palate Good Lord Champagne NV France $159.99
The Grateful Palate Bless Your Heart Champagne NV France $159.99
Little J Red Blend South Africa 2017 $9.99
Barnard Griffin Rob’s Red Blend 2017 Washington $13.99
Uggiano Chianti Roccialta 2018 Italy $10.99
Audax Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 California $145.99
Saint Sulpice Bordeaux Blanc 2018 France $14.99
Kopke Vintage Port 2016 Portugal $96.99
*Restocked on Breitenbach!
Pol Roger Sir Winston $303.99
New Beers
Anchor Christmas 6pk Bottle $11.99
Dogfish Head 75 Minute 6pk Bottle $13.99
Dogfish Head American Beauty 6pk Bottle $13.99
Rhinegeist Kappa Flounder 6pk Can $13.99
Central Waters Extremely Unsettled 6pk Can $14.99
Central Waters Mud Puppy Porter 6pk Can $10.99
Central Waters Rift 6pk Can $10.99
Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Stout 4pk Can $15.99
Masthead Sleigh All Day IPA 4pk 16oz $10.99
Prairie Christmas Bomb 12oz Bottle $8.99
Founders CBS Bomber $20.99
Beer Tasting
Once again a new brewery for this week, Central Waters from Amherst, Wisconsin. We’ll start this Saturday’s tasting off with RIFT their classically styled IPA. Number two will be Extremely Unsettled their take on a Double New England style IPA. Mudpuppy Porter will be number three and to finish this week’s tasting off we’ll try the Brewers Reserve Stout. We’ve been waiting for these new beers to appear and guess what, they’re here! See you Saturday…
Feature Item
My feature this week is the 2017 Clio, this wine is produced by one of my all time favorite winemakers Chris Ringland. I literally will purchase any wine this man has had a hand in producing. This big beautiful Spanish red blend of 70% Monastrell and 30% Cabernet retails for $59.99 and is worth every penny. Tasting notes describe it as follows, “This wine exhibits a glass-coating opaque purple color. It has an expressive nose of pain grille, briar, minerality and blueberry and blackberry overtones. This plush, opulent wine has great density, savory flavors and a very lengthy finish that gets better with age”. Where this doesn’t mean a whole lot to me I do know that wines produced by this winemaker are always recognizable in that the fruit is always harvested late, producing unbelievable rich, decadent wines with distinctive notes and of course high alcohol. Chris Ringland was the other half of Dan Phillips who I had written about in last week’s newsletter. It was a Chris Ringland bottle that I removed from the store during the Argyle fire, trust me it was worth it. I don’t get many of these so stop in and pick one up, you can thank me later.
Dan’s Pick
Owen Roe’s Sinister hand is my pick for this week, we had this as a glass pour for 1 day last week and moments after Chelsea had painstakingly finished her chalkboard I had to ask her to chalk a new wine up because it was gone. This $24.99 bottle from the Yakima Valley will be a true delight, comprised of 56% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 20% Mourvedre, 4% Cinsaut, this a Rhone style red is lush and easy to drink. I truly appreciate this region and particularly this winemaker. Tasting notes describe it as a “young Grenache heavy blend erupts with perfumed aromas of bright raspberry and herbal tea while the Mourvèdre brings a savory note to the nose. The palate is plush and textural with the perfect amount of tannins, acidity, and an upbeat, bright, fruity finish that brings this wine together”. Perfect for any dinner or an empty glass, you may need a couple of these…
Friday/Saturday Special
Since everyone loved last week’s special we’re going to stick with the Cheeseburger meatball yet for another week.
Final Thought
I’ve been fortunate to have some of the best employees in the industry and, for certain, I’ve lost a few fantastic ones too. But this is one of the most difficult. Next week will be Jess’s last week and will be a loss that will be difficult to bear. She appeared as a surprise, looking for a job and was hired on the spot, because I knew from the beginning what she would bring to the store, and she did…Jess has given so much to me, her fellow employees and, you, the customer which makes it almost certain that she will be impossible to replace. So stop in and say goodbye, good luck and best wishes, I know what you’ll say when you see me “Dan’s been drinking, his eyes are red and watery” well that’s probably true…but those who know me will recognize my appearance for what it really is, tears…Fare thee well Jessica we love you and wish you only the best.
Cheers & Tears from all of us at the Wine Merchant!