Happy New Year!, Cape Town, Burgerspital Riesling, Delas cotes-du-ventoux, Lyeth Meritage, Meeker Merlot

Greetings from all of us in New London -

Thames River Wine & Spirits - 860-443-9463 - 84 Bank Street
Shop On Line: http://thamesriver.com/wine/instock.html
Calendar of Events: http://www.thamesriver.com/wine/calendar.html

Thames River Greenery - 860-443-6817 - 70 State Street - www.thamesriver.com
Brie & Bleu - 860-437-2474 - 84 Bank Street - : http://www.brieandbleu.com/
IMPORT - 860-443-6817 - 60 State Street - http://thamesriver.com/trg/featured.html


Happy New Year wishes to all of our readers and customers - Thank You for a great 2006.
We start the New Year off with a great lineup for Friday.
But this is a vacation week for some of us - so just a couple items of interest before the wines for Friday.

• Thames River Greenery will be enjoying it's annual winter break and will reopen on Monday January 15th.
The Beanery will be open as usual Monday through Friday offering all of it's specialties.

• Reserve Now - Dinners at Brie & Bleu start January 17th. We have TWO different nights to choose from. If our departure for Cape Town was not just a few hours away - I would list the menus right now - Trust me they are tasty. Full details will be posted soon.

• Oh, did I mention we will be on location inn Cape Town next week. We will be visiting the fine winemakers that make The Chocolate Block. We will have a full report with pictures, video, and more when we get back.


This week at Brie & Bleu:
The cheese for the first week of 2007 is Pleasant Cow Cheese

Happy New Year to all!! I am happy to present a new cheese carried at Brie & Blue for the first week of the new year 2007. The cheese is from Beaver Brook in Lyme, CT called Pleasant Cow Cheese at $18/lb. Pleasant Cow is an aged Jersey cow's milk cheese with a smooth, mild flavor and a creamy texture. The cheese is procuced locally at Beaver Brook Farm, a 175 acre sheep and cow farm located in the Pleasant Valley section of Lyme, CT. At Beaver Brook Farm, they are committed to preserving the environment and producing goods of the highest quality. Pair with a nice Pinot Noir purchased at Thames River Wine and Spirits for an additional 10% off the cheese.

Happy New Year,
Colleen


Wine Tasting Friday January 5th - 6-9 p.m. - No Charge
Please Join Us

1 - Burgerspital Riesling 2003 $10 www.buergerspital.com
With a wine-growing area of 110 hectares, Bürgerspital wine-growing estate, at home in a fantastically beautiful courtyard right in the middle of Würzburg, is one of the largest wine-growing estates in Germany and one of the most important.
Riesling wines are characterized by their distinguished raciness, their elegance and their incomparable bouquet reminiscent of apricot and peach. It is not a high alcoholic content that makes it a celebrity, but furthermore its fine, crisp and fruity characteristics that Riesling develop due to its late ripening and harvesting. As it ages, the wine develops its typical kerosene note, much sought-after by Riesling connoisseurs.


2 - Delas cotes-du-ventoux 2005 $9 New vintage the great '05 www.mmdusa.com
The appellation of Côtes-du-Ventoux sits on the East bank of the Rhône river at the foot of the Ventoux mountain range. The appellation extends for 18,000 acres and mirrors the climatic conditions and grape varieties of its neighbor, the Côtes-du-Rhone.The color is a dark ruby red. There is a dominance of red berries with a combination of power and freshness that carries over onto the palate.


3 - Lyeth Meritage 2004 $16 bordeaux blend
Dark ruby red. Lovely ripe fruit aroma full of plums, berries, notes of cedar and a hint of orange zest.
Palate: The inviting prelude leads to fully-developed flavors that linger on the palate in a long, silky finish. Scents of spice and vanilla are well-balanced against the assertive fruit characters. Food Pairing: A perfect match with beef, pork and game.


4 - Meeker Merlot 2003 "handprint" $40
Charles and Molly Meeker bought their first vineyard in Sonoma County's Dry Creek Valley in 1977, and thereafter, in 1984, established their winery -- The Meeker Vineyard -- with Charlie as the winemaker. In its early years, the winery specialized in Zinfandel, Cabernet and Chardonnay. All this while Charlie was working full time in Los Angeles in the motion picture business (first as an attorney, then as a film producer, and later as a studio executive), so his winemaking career was confined to weekend and holiday trips (many, many trips!) to Dry Creek Valley. Finally, in 1990 when Charlie became President of Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer, this two-career life became too much, and the Meekers hired a full time winemaker for the winery.

The winery's first red wine release, a 1984 Zinfandel, was an instant success, winning eight wine competition medals and becoming the third most awarded Zin in the country that year. Thereafter, among other awards, the 1985 Meeker Zin was a Wine Spectator "Best Buy", the 1986 Zin was a "Spectator Selection", and the 1990 Zin was included among the Wine Spectator's "100 Best Wines of the World". During this period Charlie was also honored to present a Meeker Zinfandel at one of the famous Windows on the World wine dinners in New York. And Zinfandel wasn't the winery's only success – for example, the Spectator gave a 91 to one of Charlie's early Chardonnays.

The Meekers have joined us for dinner at Brie & Bleu and it was a real hoot - you can still see the signed large format bottle on the "wall of shame" - Take a peek the next time you visit the store.


Thanks for your support - we have a great year lined up - full of surprises and excitement.

We hope to see you on Friday night.

Please Join Us - It Is Fun, Informal and a Great Way To Start Your Weekend.


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