Oklahoma!, Samuel Smith, Hygienic Art, Midnight Moon, Pichot Vouvray, Marques De Casa Concha

Greetings from New London,
Thames River Wine & Spirits - 860-443-9463
Brie & Bleu - 860-437-2474
Thames River Greenery - 860-443-6817

Calendar of Events: http://thamesriver.com/wine/calendar.html

Featured & Favorites: http://thamesriver.com/wine/instock.html

Featured items Greenery: http://www.thamesriver.com/trg/featured.html

Blog: http://newlondonwine.blogspot.com/

Podcast: coming in February


Thanks to everyone that attended our theme dinners at Brie & Bleu this week -
Tuesday night Comfort Food was like being at your favorite friend's house for a great party.
Wednesday night was a Pan Asian extravaganza - I'm not sure how - But the food just gets better and better -
Thanks to Anne Haviland, and our team: Melissa, Don, Andrea, Erica, Jim & George.
If you are interested in joining us be sure to check the calendar of events and call to reserve if something strikes your fancy.
Seating is always limited - 860-443-9463

We have great wines for our tasting this week - they are highlighted in RED just below the news.

Who says that theres nothing going on in New London?
The place was hopping all weekend long.

The Garde Arts Center kicked off Saturday with "Oklahoma!" - Go ahead, sing it baby - you know you want to.
Couples were strolling around town on a beautiful day on their way to the afternoon show.
Brie & Bleu was a perfect spot for a bite to eat and maybe a glass of wine before or after the show.
The Garde is a New London landmark - and it's a great way to support a New London tradition.
Learn more at: http://gardearts.org/

The lines for the Hygienic Art Show stretched around the block -
If you can believe IT! - This is the 27th year of the annual Hygienic Art Show - Twenty-Seven Years!
Remember when the El 'n' Gee was the center of the event? - yikes, that was a long time ago.
I would love to know where the original El n Gee neon sign wound up - someone was smart enough to grab it. But I digress.
Now the show is presented at The Hygienic Art Galleries & Art Park, 79 Bank Street, New London, CT.
The main art event “Salon des Independants” is just across the street from our store. And the show has grown into a multi-media art extravaganza including film, theatre, poetry, music, performance art and an exhibition of work by young artists.
The show runs through February 11. Learn more at: http://www.hygienic.org/sched23.asp

Right here in our own cellar we had an amazing crowd step up to try some of the best wines from - Chalk Hill, B.R.Cohn, Bernardus, and Nickel & Nickel. It was lots of fun. Thank you all for stopping by.

GOT BEER?

Beer Tasting This Thursday - February 2nd - 5-8 p.m. - No Charge
Senior Beer Analyst George Whitehouse never stops in his relentless pursuit of the perfect beer.
He drinks beer whether he wants to or not - It's his job. And if we can sober him up and pull him out of those internet chat rooms long enough on Thursday - here is the line up:

1 - Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale
The Old Brewery at Tadcaster was founded in 1758 and is Yorkshire’s oldest brewery. Samuel Smith is one of the few remaining independent breweries in England, and further is the last to utilize the classic Yorkshire Square system of fermentation solely in stone squares.
Often called “mild” if it is on draft, brown ale is a walnut-colored specialty of the North of England. A festive-occasion beer, brown ale is one of the oldest English brewing styles, mentioned in literature in the 16th century.
Beers brewed at the old brewery have a round, nutty flavor because of the Yorkshire square system of fermentation.
Walnut-like color and palate of hazelnuts. Wonderful balance of roasted crystal malt and aromatic hops.
Long clean finish. We like to serve it with Stilton cheese, roasted fowl, barbecue, spicy foods, stir-fry, Thai food, Chinese food, and curry.
Stop serving all your beers ice cold - you are missing the flavors - Best Temperature - Serve at 55 degrees.

2 - Samuel Smith Taddy Porter - "One of the world's five great beers" - says famed beer expert Michael Jackson.
Porter was the first commercially brewed beer. It was named for the train porters who were its original servers and consumers.
Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery, Yorkshire’s oldest, reintroduced authentic porter to the British beer scene in 1979 after an absence of more than 50 years. Very dark, fairly full in body and packed with flavor. Intense, dry tangy character of roasted barley. This stuff is awesome with oysters on the half shell, Rockefeller or Cajun style, clams, mussels, crab cocktail, lobster bisque and other shellfish, smoked pâté, porterhouse steak and of course chocolate. Serve at 55 degrees.

3 - Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout
Originally a drink for lactating mothers - I am not kidding - oatmeal stout was described as nutritional on early labels.
Oats are in the same family as barley, and a small addition yields great flavor. Popular in the late 1800’s, the last oatmeal stout was brewed before the First World War until Samuel Smith reintroduced this style in 1980. Great with pizza and salad, Italian foods, steamed clams, grilled tuna, lobster with drawn butter, steak, shish kebabs, and eggs Florentine, dark flavorful bread and aged Stilton. Serve at 55 degrees.

4 - Three Philosophers - Ommegang Brewing - http://www.ommegang.com/
This is a big favorite here. This luscious blend of rich malty ale and cherry lambic is so delightful it is hard to sip it. It is "Glug-able"
Great with food and a real treat if you have not tried it before now.

BRIE & BLEU - Featured Cheese This Week -

1 - Midnight Moon - Goats Milk - $23 lb.
Made for Cypress Grove by a Dutch cheese company, Midnight Moon is a gouda-style goat's-milk cheese.
It's dense and tangy, but not too goaty. The wheels are 8 to 9 pounds, finished in black wax, and aged a minimum of one year.

2 - Rosemary Manchego - $20 lb.
For your pleasure we have found a small wheel of aged Manchego cheese made from whole milk of the Manchega sheep that graze near the village of La Alberca de Záncara in the high plateau region of Cuenca. Prior to the cheese's aging, the fresh wheel is hand-rubbed with oil, covered with fresh rosemary and aged in caves for eight months. The result is a remarkably full-bodied and complex cheese with a long finish that highlights the rosemary. 

It is quite the treat with a "copa" of sherry, gordal olives - or, if you prefer, salted marcona almonds, thin slices of jamón serrano and a cool beer - yeah baby, its that good.

WINE TASTING - This Friday February 3 - 6-9 p.m. - No Charge

1 - Pichot Vouvray - IT'S BAAACK. - First Come First Served - $12
This wine goes so fast that your heads will spin. Highly sought after - we are able to get limited amounts and
This wine is a light yellow gold in the glass and has a wonderfully different bouquet of aromas, which include old parchment, banana, flint, and some tropical fruits that are hard to pin down. In the mouth it is sweet yet balanced nicely with some acidity, and shows primary flavors of pineapple, quince, and fresh rainwater that fade into a nice finish.

2 - Guy Bossard Muscadet - First Come First Served - $14
Guy Bossard produces this wine in the town of Le Landreau, the heart of the Sèvre et Maine district, known for the finest Muscadet. His family has made this wine for generations. It is estate bottled from his own organically grown grapes. Guy fertilizes and protects the vines with natural treatments, using no additives in the winemaking except for the minimal necessary use of sulphur dioxide. He believes that his wines will maintain the highest quality if the soil is naturally rich and the vines are healthy and strong. His vineyard is certified organic by Nature and Progress, a French farmers organization. This is a great, dry white table wine with a full fruity nose and a taste hinting of citrus. The Nantes area, at the mouth of the Loire River in France, is known for its seafoods and the local wines complement this cuisine.

3 - Kiona Lemberger - $16 - http://www.kionawine.com/
Rich red wine aromas with nuances of Cabernet or Merlot, perhaps a hint of Syrah or Pinot, but with a spicy intriguing background not easy to identify at first tastings. Wonderful and well defined aromas of blackberries and cloves characteristic of the grape. The wine is mildly tannic, has great structure, with a velvet mouth feel. American and French Oak are evident in the long smooth finish.

4 - Marques De Casa Concha - 91 points - $18
We are one of the VERY few places that offer this wine. This wine was named after the title bestowed upon the founder of the vineyard by the Spanish monarchy. Due to its exceptional quality, its distinct personality and its extraordinary ability to display all the virtues of each Chilean valley, Marqués de Casa Concha has earned its rank among the nobility of the world's finest wines. Marqués de Casa Concha shows the great recent progress in the viticultural and vinicultural art in Chile . If you have not tried it - you must. One of the best values around - period.

Thanks for your support, comments, phone calls and email. We appreciate it.
Please join us. It's fun, informal and a great way to start your weekend.
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