Lights, Camera, Action!

Director Jim Collins gets us ready for our close up.
A crew of 25 and 8 actors moved into Brie & Bleu last Friday night.



New London selected for
Connecticut Light & Power's new promotional campaign.
Begins airing on Labor Day.

860-443-6817
Greetings from New London,

Lots of excitement last week - many of you saw the film crew setup in the street as you arrived for the tasting. "Whats this all about?" people were asking.

New London was selected by Connecticut Light & Power for part of its new promotional campaign.

The producers liked what they saw and included us in all of the action.

Thanks to all of you that had to work around them, we appreciate it.

Please join us at the weekly tasting - the list of wine is below these words of interest.

*****

SUMMER MOVIES
Get your wine & cheese from us and then walk across the street to the Art Park for
free summer movies

MUPPET MOVIE TRAILER

Hygienic Art Park
Across From The Wine Store
Summer Flickers
Wednesday nights June 24 - September 9 at 8pm.

August 12: The Muppet Movie (1979)
August 19: Coffee & Cigarettes (2003)
August 26: Faire Harbour Film Fest
September 2: Double Indemnity (1944)
September 9: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

For more info, visit hygienic.org

Wine Tasting
Please Join Us
Friday August 14 - 6-9 p.m. - No Charge

1 - Arboleda Sauvignon Blanc 2005 August sale price $10 a bottle

The fruit for this wine comes from the Leyda Valley, located just south of the prestigious Casablanca Valley. Leyda is quickly building a reputation for producing some of the best Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir fruit in Chile.

Unlike Casablanca, which is protected from the Pacific by a mountain range, Leyda enjoys a maritime influenced, cool climate throughout the growing season, with morning fog and afternoon breezes.

The low-yielding vines are picked early in the morning by hand to keep the fruit cool before pressing. The vineyard is farmed with sustainable practices, and the care taken in the fields is echoed in the meticulous winemaking in the cellar. The wine displays fresh gooseberry and citrus aromas, with distinctive notes of green Serrano pepper and freshly cut grass.




2 - Crios Rose of Malbec $12

A very big Rosé, done in the tradition of big Argentine wines. The wine maker Susana Balbo bleeds the Rosé off as she makes her old vine Malbec.

And as you might imagine, the Rosé mirrors the Malbec, bone dry with lots of fruit and exotic spices. The wine is so big and dry, that it's closer to a light bodied red than any other Rosé I know.

Remember, only mad dogs and Englishmen drink red wine in the noonday sun, and summer will come, and you will need a good, dry Rosé to serve at your backyard barbeque.

















3 - Mas de Gourgonnier Les Baux de Provence 2006 $16

(Pronounced:
"Mmm, yum")

I've always been charmed by this spicy red in the tubby bottle. I've poured it Monday before, but the new 2006 vintage has arrived and needs to be sampled!

From a small, beautiful vineyard of grape vines and olive trees in Provence, Gourgonnier produces even-handed wines of Rhone varietals and Cabernet Sauvignon, and some of the most prized olive oil in France.

And they are the modern model of a fully organic and biodynamic agricultural producer. Wild rasberry tones with touches of smoke, nutmeg and black pepper, defined by ripe round tannins (translation: "Mmm, yum"). Get It Now.



4 - Beryna Tinto Alicante $18

60% Monastrell, 10% Syrah, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 5% Tempranillo

Rafael Bernabe and Olga Navarro own 40 hectares of vineyard, planted predominantly with the Monastrell variety.

They also cultivate Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah, with different clones, root-stocks and age of vines. The vineyards are near the town of Villena, in the western portion of Alicante which is relatively cool and offers lower humidity which reduces disease pressure and leads to sound grapes.

Perhaps most importantly, be tween veraison (grape coloring) and harvest there is slightly higher air humidity which burns off by the afternoon leading to reduced water stress on the vines.

Water stress is controlled through the use of leaf pressure chambers and measurements of leaf temperature and has proved to be important for increasing aromatic characters in all of their different red varieties.

Winemaker Joaquin Galvez, one of the most respected Spanish professors in wine tasting, is the first Spaniard to take the prestigious Institute of Masters of Wine courses. In 1996 he released his first wine, made in Jumilla. Finally in 2003 he obtained not only a Gold medalat the prestigious International Wine Chal lenge in London, but also the Red Wine Trophy for the best Spanish Red Wine in the UK, for the Altos de Luzon 2002. He explains his goal as "something that in the late 90's seemed to be unthinkable for Spanish southern Mediterranean wines; my intention is to produce elegant wines, seeking for finesse, aromatic fruit expression and freshness."

The wine is harvested in small boxes of 20 kg. In the vineyard only the best bunches are harvested. At the winery all the bunches are sorted again eliminating leaves and all inferior bunches. Given the careful farming, dis carded material is significantly below 1% of total mass. Varietals are fermented separately with only free run juice proceeding to aging for 12 months in 1/3 new and 2/3 1 and 2 year old oak. The wine is fined with egg whites and bottled unfiltered. The wine is an expression of the vineyard, aiming to make it more and more delicate, balanced and with intense fruity aromas.

"Inky purple. Explosively aromatic nose offers a seductive bouquet of blackberry, pungent flowers, oak spices and minerals. Red and dark berry flavors display impressive depth and purity, building in sweetness with aeration. Supple tannins add gentle support but don't dis tract from the deep berry flavors. Finishes silky and persistent." - IWC

As always - thanks very much for your support - we appreciate it.

Please Join Us.
It's fun, informal and a great way to start your weekend.


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