Thursday, August 13, 2009

Lights, Camera, Action!

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

CL&P 1

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 poster

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


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



1 - Arboleda Sauvignon 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

crios rose
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


Mas De Gourgonnier(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
Bodegas Bernabé Navarro 4up
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.


AAA.

Monday, August 03, 2009

Sixty Dollars A Bottle - try it on us

Outside magazine cover
New London Mentioned in the Top 20
Outside Magazine Available At City News
860-443-6817
Greetings from New London,

Well what do you know - New London makes it to the pages of Outside magazine and listed in the Top 20.
But all of us already knew that - right?
Remember - you read it here first.

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

OPENING:
Saturday August 8 - September 7
Golden Street Gallery, 94 Golden Street, New London, CT 06320
Located in the ever so thriving Downtown District of New London and an easy line-of-site walk from Brie & Bleu & the Wine Store.
golden street poster

Serial Fiction: an exhibition of visual narratives by Christine Shank, Jake Saunders, John O'Donnell and Brad Guarino.

A little wine & food and then a walk to the gallery for the opening - nice.

*****


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



Blazing Saddles Poster

Hygienic Art Park

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

August 5: Blazing Saddles (1974)
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


Please Join Us red wine orange background
Wine Tasting
Please Join Us
Friday August 7 - 6-9 p.m. - No Charge


1 - Domaine La Hitaire Domaine La Hitaire sauvignon Blanc and
Semillion 2006 $12

Armin and Remy Grassa are brothers in life and in their work. Sons of Yves Grassa, the famous Gascon wine grower, they have naturally grasped and grown up with modern wine growing methods. Together they bought the Domaine La Hitaire in 1999 where they have transformed and restructured this 110 hectares wine estate.

Different grape varieties that are not so common in the region (Sémillon, Chardonnay, Chenin ...) have found their place alongside the precious Petits Manseng that grow opposite the terrace at the entrance of the Castle.
chateau hiltaire
The wines of character produced by Armin and Remy Grassa are created to provide a conviviality which is so close to their hearts.

Beside a magnificent lake surrounding this superb XVIIIth century Château, the Domaine La Hitaire vineyards spread out over the hills of Eauze, the capital of the Armagnac region.

Mainly planted with Ugni Blanc, Colombard, Sémillon, Chenin, Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Gros Manseng and Petit Manseng, our vineyards benefit from a very favourable sub soil (tawny coloured sands), for those who appreciate elegant, fresh and very aromatic white wines.

Our Domaine is situated in the "Côtes de Gascogne".

The meticulous upkeep of each vine, the careful monitoring of grape maturation and the great care taken during harvesting coupled with the sun and the oceanic climate of the South-West contribute to producing wines of the finest quality.



2 - Rose des Tourelles 2007 $21

Rose des TourellesFrom the vineyard of Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron, a second growth classified estate in Pauillac.

The wine is the exsanguination, or bleeding off of juice during the production of their estate wine.

Comprised of equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. This is Second Growth Rose.









Hopler Pinot cellars
3 - Hopler Pinot Noir 2005 $21


A Dark red burgundy with characteristically fine strains of marzipan and wild berries. A refined, velvet elegance defines this wine as an excellent representative of the variety.

Pinot Noir presents a unique test for the soil, climate and the winegrower. The wine ripens on the east slopes of the Leitha hills, the perfect environment to achieve the best quality.

Most pleasurable when enjoyed with lightly fried chanterelles or delicacies with duck.



4 - Alonso del Yerro
Ribera del Duero Maria 2005 $60
Rated 95 points - Robert Parker

Alonso del Yerro Maria
The 2005 Alonso del Yerro "Maria" was aged for 18 months sur-lie with batonnage. It is a bit layered,and immediately pleasurable.

Aged completely in new French oak, with malolactic in barrel and aging sur-lie for 18 months, with a bit of batonnage, this is Stephane Derenoncourt's 'La Mondotte treatment' in Ribera del Duero.

A super-heady, flamboyant, exuberant nose of sweet, peppery black cherries, plums, and espresso roast is followed by a voluptuously textured, full-bodied, pure wine with wonderful sweetness, definition, and vibrancy.

This is a stunning wine to drink now as well as over the next decade.

"There is plenty of ripe tannin and a long finish. Vinedos Alonso del Yerro was purchased in 2002 and Stephane Derenoncourt was hired on as consultant.


This will go quickly so start your evening early and please be sure to try this on Friday night.









Brie & Bleu
New London's

Bistro
Featured This Week:

Gazapacho

Classic Hot Lobster Roll
on a toasted bun, served with fresh cole-slaw and
Poore Brothers chips.
(great with a glass of
Sancerre or Rosé)

D'artagnon Duck Breast
with couscous

Dessert
Homemade Coconut Macaroons

Illy Coffee & Espresso

Please Reserve Early
8 6 0 - 4 3 7 - 2 4 7 4

It has been a busy week - lots going on, and some very cool things coming up - very juicy news in the next week or two - stay tuned.

And 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.


AAA.