Mitch's Musings: The Annex

Evolution

I get bored easily. I'm always thinking up new "objectives" and then planning a path to try and meet those objectives. A few years back I had the idea of creating an educational tasting area in the Ridgefield store. The first hurdle was finding the space, the next was building it so the space could be used in many different configurations. It had to have the ability to be an educational area and then morph into usable retail area. Well, three years and over 100 events later I'm proud to say that we accomplished that goal. It's time for the initial idea to evolve a little further. Enter the "Annex".

History

This is a picture of my family well before I was a member of it. The picture was taken by my father and captures the essence of what I eventually grew to know as a family gathering. Note the important pieces: friends and family, food and of course a little vino. The location is my grandparents dining room, a spot that I warmly refer to now as the "Annex".

Today

Here's a picture that I took the other night at one of our "beta" Annex events. If you study this picture and compare it to the picture above you can see that it is the same room. If you can't see it, the maps are where the windows used to be.

Why?

Over time our tasting events have evolved from simple weekend tastings to full-blown educational seminars. Now I feel It's time for us to take another step in the evolution of our tasting events. A step that provides an engaging and interactive experience unlike anything we've done before. These new tastings are a bit more hands on. Kind of like a tasting workshop. Our next "annex" event is scheduled for Thursday October 30th. It's going to be an awesome night dedicated to one of our favorite Champagne houses: Lallier. Pierre-Jules Peyrat, from Champagne Lallier,  will be leading us through a side-by-side comparison tasting of 5 (perhaps 6 if you're all well behaved) of Lallier's offerings. We'll have cheeses to go with the bubbly and special pricing for the wines purchased that evening. There is a small fee of $20 per person for this event. The fee covers extra amenities that we do not offer at our regular in-store tastings. Space is limited (16 guests) so if you're interested in attending PLEASE sign up today by emailing Monique. (NOTE: the annex location is less than a football field away from our Ridgefield store. Monique will email you specifics when you sign up).

Gone Fishing

One of my favorite IPA's (which used to be considered a "unicorn" beer) is in much better supply. Ballast Point's "Sculpin" IPA is a traditional west coast IPA. It pours a rusty golden color and throws a sticky white head. Huge aromas of tropical fruit, citrus with a slight cookie note. Great mid-weight body with just enough spritz to keep it from being too dense. Flavors follow the nose with complex fruit flavors overlapping supportive malt. If you're a ratings person, it received a score of 98 points on BeerAdvocate and comes in at number 86 on their Top 250 Beer List (it has over 9000 ratings (more than HT). 

PS - I've been known to jinx myself -- remember Ballantine IPA? After I wrote about it in a previous e-mail I haven't been able to order more of it. So while the Sculpin is in good supply now, I cannot guarantee it will be next week. Stock up while you can! 

The Winners Are

Last week we held an in-store tasting event. We tasted through 6 wines and when all was said and done these two wines were the "favorite white" and "favorite red" of the night:

Chateau de Breze Samur Blanc 2012
"A wonderful expression of crisp, bright and lively Chenin from the Loire Valley."
Paolo Manzone Fiorenza Barbera d'Alba 2011
"A user friendly palate pleasing red from Piedmont that has plenty of Italian personality"

At the end of the evening we agreed that both of these wines had enough star power to take center stage. A little cheese, some charcuterie, a loaf of crusty bread and these two wines are all you need for a stellar evening. Did I mention cheese? We offer a wide variety of cheese for sale in our Ridgefield location. Check out the cheeses that we stock everyday.