Our first Live Broadcast Wine Tasting Dec 4

Coming December 4th you can watch and taste with us live on the internet.  We have three wines for you to purchase, take home, invite your friends to a wine tasting party and we'll taste together from our "living room" in the store to yours.

$3 Wal Mart Wine

In the Dallas news there is an article showing the results of an informal taste test for Walmart's $2.97 bottles of Oak Leaf wine.  I have not tasted the wine and don't intend to anytime soon.  If you do read the article, and I hope you do, be sure to read all the way through including the follow ups on who makes the wine, the other brands they make, and then the scores and comments.  The comment about the alcohol levels being moderate makes me think the wines could be a touch sweet, and that makes sense if you want to appeal to a large group.  Look at Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio and Kendall Jackson Chardonnay.  Both of these are very popular and on the sweet side.  Why do all these BLC (Big Liquor Company) brands come up with names using "leaf" in them? - Salamanzar

Blu Seafood Wine Dinner

On Wednesday, October 15th, we participated in a scary wine dinner with Chef/owner Tim and GM Eryk at Blu Seafood in Durham.  The event was supposed to be in costume with scary food and wine.  Actually most people showed up out of costume, but the food was outstanding and the wines were tasting great with Tim's menu.  Here's a slide show from the event.

WA in the news

We have been very fortunate to have a couple of mentions in local newsprint recently.  First, the Independent Weekly, had an article by Jane Hobson Snyder titled, "Planning the Perfect Fall Picnic."  Jane interviewed Chef John Toller of Bloomsbury Bistro, Chief Concierge Christopher Gould of Umstead Hotel and Salamanzar.  Second, the News & Observer featured our Enomatic self-serve wine tasting machine in an article by Amber Nimocks.  The article, "Expensive Tastes by the Glass," discusses our machine and mentions other wine shops with similar machines in the area.  The Enomatic is from Italy and is the original, but now there is a competing machine from CA called the Wine Station.   Also, we were interviewed on Thursday for Market Watch magazine for an upcoming issue.  Regular readers know that's my favorite magazine for beverage industry fodder.  -Salamanzar

Indy photo by DL Anderson; Enomatic photo by Larry Gottschalk   

Two Special Holiday Treats

A sneak peak for you -  We are currently working on two special projects just for the holidays this year.  1. With Giacomo of Giacomo's Salumi, we are currently working on another limited edition, hand numbered salami for November.  We did this last year and sold out in about 36 hours so we plan to double production.  Each salami will be made with a unique recipe and a wine we sell in the store.  You will be able to buy the wine and the salami at a special price as a set. 2. With Durham cheese maker Alessandra Trompeo, we will have a special square Italian style cheese with Grove Winery's Nebbiolo and Sangiovese grape skins.  This cheese is in Italy is called  Formaggio Ubriaco or drunken cheese.  It doesn't have alcohol, but the name comes from aging it in the skins from wine grape pressings.  Stay tuned for updates as we get closer to their releases.  -Salamanzar

Foxy Red - Buy in Now!

This week we got the news that "Durham's House Red" aka Kit Fox winery's, Foxy Red, is probably going up in price starting in October.  So we took extreme measures and bought all the remaining inventory at the old price, 28 cases.  If you are a Foxy Red fan, now's your chance to buy in at the old price.   These last cases qualify for the "Just-In-Case" 20% discount on solid 12 bottle boxes. - Salamanzar

Prost! Octoberfest/Oktoberfest is here

As I sit here enjoying my third bottle of Bell's Octoberfest beer (not in a row), I have to express my enthusiasm for this malty beer.  When I used to give beer tours, there were two points I tried to make clear.  First, beer is like milk in that it has to stay cold, doesn't like light, and freshness really counts.  Beer will expire.  Second, beer is like fresh bread.  It's made from wheat and at its best, malty style beers are like bread right out of the oven.  That's what I taste in Bell's.

Octoberfest beers or as the Germans would write, Oktoberfest, may be misunderstood.  The festival actually starts in September and finishes in October.  It was the celebration for a king's marriage or was it a horse race?  The details vary depending on your source.  It may have been a marriage ending with a horse race.  The festival runs 16 days or so.  The beers served at Oktoberfest are all lagers and therefore the fruity and hoppy flavors are not as prevalent.

While Oktoberfest is traditionally a lager, not an ale, many US craft breweries go with an ale style beer because they are set up to brew ales and not lagers. Lagered beers require more storage and time in tank.  

What I really dig about the Bell's is that unlike his other hoppy and fruity ales, this one really emphasizes the malt of a great lager and shies away from the fruity esters of some ale yeast strains.  Without getting too technical, the brewer can use different ale strains to emphasize or de-emphasize the fruity flavors of an ale.  A lager is brewed with a different yeast and typically does not show fruity flavors.  I think it's an excellent example of a German Lager from a brewery that mainly produces ales.  It is fresh bread in a glass.  

As I am a hop head, but enjoy all great beers, Bell's Octoberfest is a nice change of pace to the malty side of life.   Bell's is difficult to find this year, but other Octoberfest beers are around if you can't find this one.  

Remember to always drink your beer from a glass.  It really tastes better than from the bottle.

 - Salamanzar