I left Asheville last Tuesday afternoon, the rain was just starting…
Todays been kinda rough, started with an early morning dental appointment and then proceeded to taste 21 different wines!
Kind of wished I could have switched that order…
Hours of Operation
Monday - Tuesday, 10am to 6pm
Wednesday - Saturday, 10am to 8pm
The bar will be closed this evening for a private event, sorry for the inconvenience.
Calendar 🗓
October 3rd - Bar CLOSED for a private event.
October 4 & 5 (Friday & Saturday) we’ll be serving up our own soon to be famous, Buffalo Chicken Dip and Buffalo Chicken Pizzas!
October 12 (Saturday) - Second Saturday, details TBD.
November 1 (Friday) - Fall Art Walk, which means extended hours and a Friday Night Wine Tasting!
November 5 (Tuesday) - The annual Alternative Dinner, 6-8pm. I know it’s election day… The last thing anyone should want to do this night is sit at home and watch the election returns, so make some plans and have a wonderful Alternative to spending the night in front of the TV. Reservations required.
“This is without doubt our favorite event of the year, menu selection, test kitchens, recipes we’ve enjoyed or want to recreate are in abundance. This is our chance to test ourselves in a whole different way, elegant foods paired appropriately with fine wines that we wish to share with special people”
November 21 (Thursday) - Beaujolais Nouveau! Beef bourguignon, Brie and Baguettes and Nouveau flights, all day long.
November 28 (Thursday) - CLOSED for Thanksgiving.
December 7 (Saturday) - The annual Champagne Tasting, 6-8pm. Reservations required. (SOLD OUT)
*We’ve still got some available dates for holiday gatherings, give us a call so we can get your event in the books.
News 🗞
Just may have gotten carried away today…I played let’s make a deal with one of our distributors, they brought in a close-out list that spoke to me. Ridiculously, good maybe even great, all across the board they were wonderful wines, soooo… I made offers and if accepted will bring in some of the best bargains of this year. While none of them will appear this week they may just be available for next week. There are days that I really enjoy this job… On another newsworthy note we had a representative from Dry Creek Vineyards this morning and we’re quickly reminded why we originally enjoyed their wines. So you’ll see a couple new reds in house and maybe even one as our feature for this week.
Wine Feature ⭐️
Dry Creek Vineyards 2021 Heritage “The Mariner” $44.99
Mariner is my feature for this week, having spent the morning with their regional sales manager I learned a little more about this long standing privately owned operation. Mariner has a wonderful sense of depth and complexity. This is partially due to how the blend was put together. “First, individual lots in our vineyards were harvested separately and put in French oak barrels for aging. After nine months, a base blend of Cabernet and Merlot was established. Then, small percentages of Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot were added to enhance the final blend. The wine was then put back into French oak for an additional 18 months. This process, coupled with our enhanced vineyard sources, has created a wine with incredible personality and structure. Certainly, it is a wine that will age for 10 years or more. The name The Mariner seemed appropriate given our love of the sea. Like a mariner, a winemaker has to navigate his or her way through a given vintage. The poem on the front of the Mariner label by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, mirrors the plight of a mariner and a winemaker.”
Wine Pick 🥂
La Perdrix 2023 Costieres De Nimes Rose’ is my pick for this week.
Alright settle down…I know it’s not Spring in Ohio any more but this Rose’ is more white than Rose’. This Southern French Rose’ is a blend of both Grenache and Syrah with skin contact only having a brief moment on this wine. Pretty pink, pale clear and bright, made from a blend of a bleeding and a pressing. On the nose it displays aromas of red fruit and cassis. The fruit in the mouth, is supported by the elegant freshness with notes of passion fruit. This is a classic rosé that will bring freshness and elegance to anything on the table. Would I enjoy a bottle of this $13.99 wine along the fish that I’ve brought in this week, you bet. Be it the Faroe Island Salmon, Pacific Pumpkin Swordfish or the Buttery and decadent Sable fish, it would be a delight. Red to white is always winning combination for wonderfully prepared fish dish. We won’t have these forever so pick some up while you can…and since it was an import that came to us from Asheville, NC you’ll be helping out in a small way…
Food Feature 🐖
Black Cod (Sable Fish) and a new addition, Pumpkin Swordfish! Black Cod will go for $29.99lb and the Pumpkin Swordfish at $21.99. Let us begin with the Black Cod which comes to us from Seremoni. Seremoni is a seasonal Alaskan wild caught American fish caught by American fisherman and is always Fresh and never frozen! Quite the prized cut and if you’ve never had this delicate and delectable fish you may want to get in on this weeks delivery. It’s always been one of my favorites and could soon come to be yours as well. Seremoni is a new supplier we’re dealing with that has delivered this fish to some of the finest restaurants in this country. Next is a fish that I’ve never carried and most likely never eaten, Fresh Pumpkin Swordfish, this fish is a rarity and had our distributor not texted me last evening we wouldn’t be seeing any of it. One hundred pounds came in to our purveyor which covers both the Michigan and the Ohio market, we brought in 10% of “the catch” to share with you. As you may know, the flesh of swordfish is typically a whitish-gray color. However, there are times when some swordfish consume a diet primarily of shrimp and krill. This turns their flesh into a darker orange-colored hue. Thus, the name pumpkin. Pumpkin swordfish are not just available in the Fall. But they are quite rare. Fishermen won’t know they’ve caught a pumpkin swordfish until they cut it open. It’s estimated that 1 in every 3000 swordfish is a pumpkin swordfish. Pretty cool, don’t you think? Who wouldn’t buy in, its dark hue color from a crustacean-rich diet which means it has a higher fat content which results in a rich, buttery flavor. For this reason, pumpkin swordfish is considered a delicacy and fetches a higher price than regular swordfish. We have 10lbs available at $21.99, I’m assuming this won’t last long so give us a call and we’ll put some back. That’s it, two absolutely stunning fish to choose from and of course we always have steaks and chops that never disappoint.
Market Items 🛒
*Fresh Hand-Cut Choice Ribeyes - $18.99/lb
*Fresh North Atlantic Salmon - $18.99/lb
*Fresh Pumpkin Swordfish - $21.99/lb
*Fresh Sablefish (Black Cod) - $29.99/lb
*Fresh Prime Black Angus Chuck Burgers, 4pk - $12.99
*Fresh Oysters - $24/dozen
Chicken of the Sea Lump Blue Crab, 1lb - $26.99
Frozen Michigan Family Farms Whole Chicken - $22.99
Frozen 6oz Center Cut Filet Mignon, 2pk - $18.99 Frozen Dry-Aged Prime Strip Steak - $25.99/lb
Frozen Whole Beef Tenderlion, 6-7lb - $76.99ea
Frozen Chuck Prime Burgers, 5pk - $14.99
Frozen Choice Whole Tenderloin - $25.99/lb
Frozen Cooked Osso Bucco Demi-Glace Pork Shanks, 1.5lb - $14.99
Frozen Center Cut Beef Tenderloin Filets, 8oz - $16.99
Frozen Sakura Bone-In French 10-Bone Pork Racks - $8.99/lb
Frozen Duroc Dry Aged Bone-In Pork Chops, 14oz - $16.9
Frozen Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin - $12.99
Frozen Pre-Cooked St. Louis Ribs - $29.99
Frozen Lamb Rack, 2lbs - $49.99
Frozen Black Pepper Bacon - $14.99
Frozen Wagyu Dogs, 5pk - $13.99
Frozen Rinaldi Italian Sausage, 5pk - $8.99
Frozen Ahi Saku Block Tuna AAA Sushi Grade, avg. 16oz - $19.99
Frozen U-13/15 Raw Jumbo Shrimp Deveined (2lb package) - $39.99
Frozen U-10 Scallops - $29.99/lb
Frozen Lobster Tails, 2pk - $35.99
Frozen Buddy’s Detroit Style Pizzas (Cheese) - $17.99
Frozen Massa Sicilian Style Pizza (Italian Sausage or Roasted Vegetable) - $14.99
Frozen Oven-Roasted Potato Wedges - $8.99
Frozen Au Gratin Potatoes, 4pk - $9.99
Fresh/Frozen Shrimp & Roasted Garlic Ravioli - $10.99 (serving for 2)
Fresh/Frozen Drake’s Pasta Ravioli (Veal or Butternut Squash) - $12.99/lb (serving for 2)
Tribeca Oven Bread (Sourdough) - $5.50
Brioche Hamburger Buns - $3.99
Brioche Hot Dog Buns - $3.99
French Macarons, 12pk - $8.99
Oyster News
West Island Oysters from Nasketucket, Massachusetts are this weeks selection. Varying in size from 2.5 - 3.5 inches these beauties are super easy to shuck and leads to creamy, delicious meats with intense table salt brine and a sweet vegetal finish. I’ll have a dozen on the half shell please… Brought in two new fish I might as well continue to shake things up and bring in these new oysters as well. They came in super clean and fresh just waiting for us to take the knife to them.
New Wine🍷
Dry Creek Vineyards 2019 Mariner Meritage $44.99
Dry Creek Heritage Vines 2021 Zinfandel $24.99
New Beer & More 🍺
New Holland Reserve Cookies and Cream 4 pack bottles $23.99
Fat Heads Fresh Hopped Head Hunter IPA 4 pack cans $13.99
Kegs - 1/6 Barrel 🛢
Outerbelt 270 IPA - $114.99
Duck Rabbit Amber - $135.99
Homesteade Snake Oil IPA - $109.99
A big thanks to everyone who joined us for our Oktoberfest Dinner last Saturday.
We had a great time and hope you did too.
Final Thoughts 💬
Apparently coming back from Asheville was a good idea. I’ve been to Asheville a few times and have always enjoyed this funky little mountain town. Be it’s unique nature in the people who inhabit, their culinary expertise or the enormous number of breweries that dot this community it’s a great place to visit. What I’ve seen on the news is absolutely tragic, mother nature has no favorites. I’m glad I got to experience this quirky little town again before the storm that washed most of it away. Always enjoy what you have when you’ve got it and take nothing for granted.
Cheers from all of us here at the Wine Merchant!
📞 419-424-0391
I heard you were taking orders for free range turkeys for TG