In The News, Berkshire Brewing, Valdicava Brunello, Esperance, Belle Pente, Barahonda HC, Trapiche Fausto Orellana

Greetings from all of us in New London, The list of wines for the Friday tasting is just below these words of interest. ** New London In The News** *** If you missed it - the Boston Globe mentioned us in their recent story about New London. There are additional photos of our stores in the photo gallery that goes with the story. Check It Out HERE: Boston Globe The Big City papers are discovering what we have known all along - New London is the place to be.

NEWS & UPCOMING EVENTS

Movies In The Park - The Hygienic Art Park - Across From Our Store This Wednesday night - July 16 @ 8 p.m. - NO CHARGE Wednesday night - July 16 @ 8 p.m - 1962 The Manchurian Candidate - Starring Frank Sinatra, Janet Leigh, Lawrence Harvey. Have dinner at Brie & Bleu or order up a beautiful picnic basket, and then stroll across the street to the park and watch the movie. Or just grab your favorite blanket and a bottle of wine from our cellar for a great summer night. NEW MOVIE EVERY WEDNESDAY. Order your basket now. 860.437.2474 ···

Dave's Fave The Monday Tasting Click on the photo to order it now The movie on Wednesday 8pm Hygienic Art Park is "The Manchurian Candidate" 1962 with Frank Sinatra. The perfect movie companion: Berkshire Brewing 22oz Bombers $4 Sailfest is over, the streets are strewn with the ash of a quarter-million dollars of fireworks, the flotsam of one million fried-doughs, and the skewers of one billion kabobs - Whooey! Let's get back to basics and kick it with some great local product - I've poured Berkshire Brewing beers before, and the stuff has just caught on here in New London. Chris and Gary's fresh, unfiltered, unpasteurized brews from Deerfield, Massachusetts now occupy a whole quadrant of our 1957 Peerless fridge. So I'm very proud to announce that Berkshire Brewing is now the number one selling beer brand in our store!! To celebrate I'm pouring a Berkshire spectrum on Monday: original Berkshire Ale, Steel Rail Pale Ale, summery Heffeweizen, Shabadoo Black & Tan, and Coffeehouse Porter. Please stop in after work.

Wine Tasting Please Join Us Friday July 18 - 6-9 p.m. - No Charge Can't Make It To The Tasting? - Order it now - click on the photos This Just In - Valdicava Brunello 1999 $145, Very hard to come by and only a few bottles in stock. This is what Robert Parker's wine Advocate had to say on the subject "The 1999 Brunello di Montalcino is the best regular bottling the house has yet released, a full, blackish ruby-garnet with a lovely tarry, mineral, plummy nose endowed with intriguing notes of leather, solid, dense, and long on the palate with complex flavors of plums, tobacco, and underbrush on its sweet, voluptuous finish. Drink: 2005-2016. Score: 93 1 - Esperance Vin de pays des Landes 2007 $12 This little number from Gascony is 100% Colombard, which is fairly unusual, but true to wines of this region it is fresh and light, with floral notes and low alcohol, making it another perfect summer wine for a picnic at Harkness or Lobster rolls at Captain Scott's. The wine received a Gold Medal at the Concours General Agricole in Paris this year. As I was reminded by Importer Fred Seggerman , "Not everyone gets a Gold Medal in Paris, You Know! " 2 - Belle Pente Cuvee Contraire rose 2006 $23. Belle Pente (bell-pont) means beautiful slope, describing the hillside vineyards in Willamette Valley Oregon where this wine is produced. The Cuvee Contraire is a proprietary blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay Noir that are fermented separately and blended just prior to bottling. Only 109 cases produced, that's like 5 barrels. 3 -Barahonda HC Heradad Candela Monastrell 2006 $26 Barahonda vineyards are composed of limestone and chalk topsoil with clay and gravel subsoil, containing only 1/2% of organic matter. They are deep and well drained and the beneficial water retaining clay subsoil is essential for the health of vine in such an arid climate. Due to poor fertility, yields are naturally low - 4lbs. (2 kg) per vine, producing smaller berries with higher skin to juice ratio. Both limestone and chalk have a high pH content, decreasing acidity mitigated by these older vine root systems that penetrate deeply into the lower pH subsoil hence the wines have a balanced acidity. These are some of the oldest Monastrell vines in all of Spain. The winery produced only 1500 cases of this wine in 2006, all with estate fruit, making this a great example of artisanal old vine Monastrell at a very reasonable price. 4 - Trapiche Vina Fausto Orellana Malbec 2005 $50 From the great Trapiche Single Vineyard Malbec Project. Each year Trapiche makes dozens of single vineyard wines, each representing a specific vineyard and expressing a specific terroir. After what must be round after round of brutal tasting and hairsplitting, they choose and release the three finest Malbecs in the world. The goal of Trapiche and Daniel Pi the wine maker, is to take Malbec to it's logical extreme of quality and varietal expression. The wine more closely resembles Classified Bordeaux (after all Malbec is a Bordeaux Grape), than it does your average Malbec. All the grapes for this wine were harvested from a single vineyard, tended by, you guessed it Fausto Orellano. His vineyard sit at 990 meters in the flats just below the Andes. Constant sun, tempered by cool mountain winds have created a wine of opaque color, massive fruit, and firm tannins. Please Call Us Anytime With Questions - 8 6 0 - 4 4 3 - 9 4 6 3

Thanks so much for all of your support and the regular stream of comments and suggestions - We could not do it with out you. Please Join us in New London. It's fun, informal, and a great way to start your weekend. AAA.

Wal-Mart Striper Series,Berkshire Brewing,Bedell First Crush,Rose des Tourelles,Michel Torino,Rust en Vrede Estate

Greetings from all of us in New London, We have a sweet selection of wines for this Friday night - including something special from South Africa. The list is just below our news and information. Hey - for those of you that still think that nothing goes on in New London - take a look at all of the upcoming events and openings. Some of them are Big Deal national events. New London, it's not just for sailors anymore.

NEWS & UPCOMING EVENTS

Brie & Bleu Something Special Every Week Reservations: 8 6 0 - 4 3 7 - 2 4 7 4 ··· NATIONAL EVENT: The Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series Saturday June 21st - New London City Pier Big Kick-Off Party & Boat Show & Music Friday June 20 5-9 p.m. New London City Pier in New London, Conn., June 21 for an $85,000 catch-and-release striped bass tournament that will award the winning team as much as $30,000. Join the excitement, see the action - Learn More Here ··· Whaling City Cyclone Bike Race - Sunday, June 22nd 2008, from 8am to 4pm 500 licensed competitive cyclists with friends & families will come to the area for a day of racing on a closed circuit of roads on Fort Trumbull. $7,000 in Prizes. The Whaling City Cyclone races will take place on a 1 km course closed to traffic on Fort Trumbull in New London. The circuit will include 6 turns per lap and great viewing with the waterfront and Bank Street as a back drop. The race distances will range from 10 miles to 50 miles. See The Course HERE Bill Humphreys, BikeGuy LLC. 5 Devitt Loop Old Lyme, CT 06371. Bikeguys@sbcglobal.net www.bikeguy.biz 860 227-8280 ··· Grand Opening of The TSETSE Gallery located at the historical Crocker House,190 State St., New London CT Saturday, June 21th 2008 Starting at 3PM. Ribbon Cutting at 4:30 pm. Although new to Connecticut ,The TSETSE Gallery with headquarters in RI has been in operation since 1995. 'Building Community Through Art' is at the pinnacle of their goals and serves as the mission of The TSETSE Gallery. If you would like to know more about the Gallery or how you can be involved before the opening, feel free to call Founder and President, Therese M. Lavallee at their corporate office: 401.453.3337 ···

Dave's Fave Special Monday Tasting Click on the photo to order it now Berkshire Brewing Hefeweizen Ale 22oz Bomber $4 Last week's Chiaretto Rose was so lovely and surprising and yummy I felt like the cleverest guy in the world bringing $12 pink wine to a dinner party of enthusiasts... so I just wanted to re-trumpet the glories of last week's find! But it's a new week of Tropical heat in Conecticut. Summer's here and the time is right for dancing in the beer! Let's open the citrusy, very German-inspired wheat seasonal offering from our favorite cool cats in Deerfield, Mass. -- Berkshire Brewing. Tried and true, come on down and have a sip after work!

Wine Tasting Please Join Us Friday June 20 - 6-9 p.m. - No Charge Can't Make It To The Tasting? - Order it now - click on the photos 1 - Bedell First Crush white 2007 $15 From the North Forth of Long Island. This is the debut vintage of the First Crush White. It is produced of 82% Chardonnay and 18% Viognier, entirely in stainless steel-free from oak aging. The nose is primary and full of bright, green apple-y aromas. as well as a floral, lightly spicy, and fresh citrus notes. The wine tastes of fresh citrus and melon fruit, white peach, lychee and orchid flowers. 2 - Rose des Tourelles Bordeaux Rose 2007 $21 From 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. 3 - Michel Torino Tannat 2005 $17 Tannat is the new Black. All of the Michel Torino wines are hand-harvested in the estate's own vineyards. Additionally, Andrés Höy, Torino's production manager, practices sustainable, environmentally- friendly farming by minimizing the use of fertilizers and chemicals in the vineyard. The unique Cafayete climate manifests itself in the elegant, focused profile of Michel Torino's wines. These are wines with an indelible sense of place, wines which complement food rather than overpower, wines which are true to their origin. The wine has intense aromas of minerals, cloves and white chocolate, with vanilla notes. On the palate, there is a full fruit with Italian "amaro" chocolate flavors with a long finish. 4 - Rust en Vrede Estate 2003 $45 Specializing in the production of red wine only, Rust en Vrede has established itself as one of South Africa 's premium red wine estates. Full-bodied and complex, Rust en Vrede wines reflect the uniqueness of the Stellenbosch terroir. Rust en Vrede is proud to be part of a remarkable three hundred years old wine tradition and continues to persue the excellence synonymous with wines produced by Stellenbosch's private estates. Acclaimed as one of the top 100 wines of the world four years in a row. Please Call Us Anytime With Questions - 8 6 0 - 4 4 3 - 9 4 6 3

It has been a great week - even a suprise visit from the owner of Toad Hollow Vineyards. There has been a lot of feedback about the dinner specials at Brie & Bleu - thank you so much for your support - we have much more planned for you. We love to hear from you, and we appreciate all of your comments. Please join us. It's fun, informal, and a great way to start your weekend. We hope to see you this week. AAA.