Wine Tasting 1/2/10 and January announcements
In case anyone is online today (New Year’s Day) we WILL BE OPEN JANUARY 2 for our regular Saturday tasting, usual hours from 1-5. Then note WE WILL BE CLOSED TILL JANUARY 23 to take inventory, clean up the shop, maybe rearrange the furniture, who knows? Or maybe will take a weekend off and go somewhere there are hot pools, ya never know .
I have to say I LOVE our East Coast New Year’s Eve party. Last night was the fifth in the series, and maybe the best so far. We asked you to bring a plate of finger food, and oh, my did you ever! Everything I tasted was absolutely yummy, so deep bows of gratitude to all of you for sharing your culinary talents. We put out an array of wines, some single bottles, some lonely bottles, some huddled bottles yearning to be free, and fortunately for us, the food was so good they all showed adequately for the occasion, especially of course tha bubblies for the New Year’s toast at 12pm EST, or 9pm our time, an hour that seems more and more appropriate every year.
One of the big challenges each year is appointing a Designated Timer, whose personal chronometer is in such “accord with the great sidereal movement with which time is generally reckoned” that we may be reasonably sure that we are celebrating at exactly the right time. Last night it was Jerry, sporting his new watch that continually checks in with the Great Vibrating Crystal kept at Greenwich or the Naval Observatory, or wherever, which keeps the Official Time of the World. So Jerry (an Alaska man taciturn enough to pass for a Maine Man) got the nod, and we all chanted JER-RY! JER-RY! JER-RY! JER-RY!, which might possibly have been the worst moment of his life, but we hope not. And speaking of Maine, a special welcome to our seldom-seen friend from Maine, Sarah here for the holidays with Bob and Marnie.
Said watch performed flawlessly, and our countdown 5!…4!…3!…2!…1!…ZERO!!!! and the crowd roared and soared and hugged and toasted and burst into a surprisingly Vigorous and Heartfelt rendition of Auld Lang Syne, two verses worth at the top of our collective lungs. AWESOME! or as Livvy would say “TOTES LEGIT!!” which we are not yet quite comfortable saying audibly, you know, in front of people.
Great food, wonderful people, plenty of wine, and all over at a decent hour…it just doesn’t get any better than this, so thanks and cheers to all who made it happen, and Best Wishes for 2010 and the coming decade.
Which leads me to one other point, which may or may not be discussed more fully on a separate “Rant” thread someday. For no particular reason, during the 80’s I was so dismayed by the way the country was headed I named the 80’s the Decade of the Bottom Line. In the 90’s I was so dismayed with the way the country was going I named them the Decade of Vapid Pragmatism. Through the 00’s I have CERTAINLY been dismayed (actually we are now way, way, way past merely “dismayed”) that I have sought to find the slogan that captured the decade for me, never quite feeling satisfied. I am happy to report that a flash of Inspiration brought the words to me yesterday afternoon while I was out walking the dogs. We have now officially completed the Decade of Bullet-Headed Hypocrisy.
Maybe the best we can hope for is that things are perhaps no longer, as Kevin once put it, “getting worse faster than we are getting older.” However you look at it, here’s wishing us all the best year of our lives in 2010!
Wines this week:
Kurt Angerer Gruner Veltliner Spies 07 (Austria) $20: WA 91 pts Sauvignon-like notes of lime, caraway, and honeydew melon on
the nose lead to a juicy, glossy, satisfying palate of
cooling melon fruit, with lingering finish of rich nut oils, caraway, white pepper, and
wet stone.
Stephen Vincent “Crimson” red blend 07 (California) $9: Firm and spicy, with appetizing blackberry, wild berry, pepper, spice
and chicory notes that firm up on the finish. Syrah and Cabernet
Sauvignon.
Marquis Philips Shiraz 07 (Australia) $14: WA 92 pts Fruit forward, with mouth-filling notes of crushed
strawberry, blackberry, and dark chocolate.
Townshend T3 red blend (Washington) $15: Full bodied, slightly jammy, non-vintage blend of cab, merlot, and cab franc
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2072 Granger Way
You said that so well I am going to link to your blog so everyone can enjoy YOUR writing!
Nice to have you back from the other end of the Earth, atomic watch and all!
Great party, cool post. Julia said, “Rich writes well.” I said, “He writes just the way he talks.” She said, “That’s a real talent.”
Happy New Year to you and Pat!
Great post, Mr Rich. I assume you’d been quaffing the bubbly? With posts like this I may just have to add you to my blogroll, if that is I ever emerge from my efforts to create a site (sorta) for islanders to discuss and share info about The Ferry. Colleen and I plan to launch it Jan 3, warts and all, and then leave town for 2+ weeks in a warm, sunny, undisclosed and internet-free location. Happy new year.