tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54608413814556719362024-03-13T11:46:05.923-04:00THIRSTMERCHANTSMichael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-72311412653131246402014-11-13T16:11:00.002-05:002014-11-13T17:02:01.751-05:00New & Improved<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Please visit our exciting new <a href="http://thirstmerchants.com/" target="_blank">website</a>. This blog is no longer being maintained. Thank you for your continued support.</b></span><br />
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<br />Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-70492451790511243482014-02-28T12:38:00.002-05:002014-03-01T08:51:27.881-05:00Living Wines Week!<b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">LIVING WINES WEEK!
CELEBRATE & KEEP NATURAL WINE ALIVE! </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">We cordially invite you to a full week of free tastings that illustrate what we do here at Thirst. It starts tomorrow, <b>Saturday March 1st at 5pm</b>, with a class in which we'll pour pure, energetic wines that taste of the places they come from. We've also invited similar-minded friends in the wine world to pour wines they represent (see schedule below). </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;">What are Living Wines?</b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Come see and taste for yourself. They're wines made with care in the vineyard by individuals who farm organically and/or biodynamically and who naturally ferment their wines with nothing added or taken away except, perhaps, a homeopathic dose of sulfur. These are the opposite of mass-produced wines that are commonly made with potentially hundreds of different additives and chemicals and often engineered with lab yeasts. We want to demonstrate the difference. <b>Our goal is to bring you wines that are alive and give pleasure. </b></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THE SCHEDULE</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday, 3/1, 5-7pm: Launch with Staff and A Thirst Merchant Selection or few</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday, 3/2 5-7pm: Byron Bates, Goatboy Selections</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monday, 3/3, 6-8pm: Kreso Petrekovic, Zev Rovine Selections</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday, 3/4, 6-8pm: Maya Pedersen, Louis/Dressner Selections</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday, 3/5, 6-8pm: Steven Plant, David Bowler Wine</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday, 3/6, 6-8pm: Chris Terrell, Terrell Wines</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday, 3/7, 6-8pm: FINALE! (with a couple of surprises)</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Tyler on why he likes working
at our shop: </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We sell the type of wine I like to drink.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is no shortage of descriptors for the bottles which line our shelves, each suggesting a unifying theme for a wild, nuanced world of wine. At the end of the day, what matters is that the glass we fill contains a living, honest liquid which was extracted from the ground with both consideration and trust. I don't know if there's truly a word for that. To be honest, I'm not sure there needs to be. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The kinds of wine we sell - and, in turn, I drink - are the kinds of wine which interrupt a thought. They create a pause in conversation, they confront us, and we're forced to react. "<i>How</i> is this just grape juice?" We pour these wines, we take a sip, and then we look at the glass. "This is so freaking good."
Of course, there's a lot more to it. Through our tastings this week, I hope that we can create a discussion about what exactly that is. We can talk about soil and sulfur and governmental regulations and fermentation and packaging and grapes and all of that. That stuff is really important. Until then, we can keep things simple. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm proud to sell wine which aren't afraid to make a statement. There is an energy in these bottles, and I have yet to find the right word for it. For now, I'll settle with "ours."</span>Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-55055565761174482062014-02-25T22:56:00.000-05:002014-02-26T14:03:46.966-05:00A Thirst Merchants Selection<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">This month we highlight a few of the wines we bring in directly. These are hand-made wines from quite small, independent, artisanal winemakers we discovered and whose wines we're especially proud to represent </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">as <b>“A Thirst Merchants Selection.”</b> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The wines of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Camille & Mathias Marquet and Francois Saint-Lo are honest, limited, small-batch -- so if you find that you really like them, <b><a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" target="_blank">BUY MORE</a> before they disappear! This is the first time they are available in the US.</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mathias Marquet</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Chateau Lestignac, located in the Southwest of France in Bergerac, was almost sold when Camille and Mathias Marquet convinced their family to let them take it over. Their first vintage was 2008 and they immediately began by farming organically. They’re now certified organic by Ecocert and also apply biodynamic treatments.
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">After just one vintage of trying to listen to the advice of an oenologist, Camille and Matthias realized that they simply needed to trust their own instincts. The result: true Thirst wines with great purity and freshness but also deeply reflective of their terroir. As Mathias has eloquently put it: “Ce qui nous intéresse, c’est que le vin ait une personnalité.” [What interests us is wine that has a personality.] Their wines demonstrate that distinctive and profound wines can be made in lesser-known areas like Bergerac. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>LESTIGNAC Les Abeilles des Collinettes 2012</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Made from 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Semillon, this fantastic white wine is lively on the palate with a chalky limestone minerality, pleasing citrus notes, and mouthwatering crispness. $18/bottle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>LESTIGNAC Le Rouge et Le Noir 2012</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">This vivid natural smoky red is a true wine of pleasure. It’s composed of 95% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot from grapes grown on clay soil. $18/bottle.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RVK4mjihfso/Uw3QTf8KpHI/AAAAAAAAAso/QiSm-o7MKsg/s1600/Francois+Saint-Lo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RVK4mjihfso/Uw3QTf8KpHI/AAAAAAAAAso/QiSm-o7MKsg/s1600/Francois+Saint-Lo.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Francois Saint-Lo</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Francois Saint-Lo is a young winemaker whose first vintage was 2012. He was born in Normandy and his family was not involved with winemaking. However, he became passionately interested in working the vines and making wine and apprenticed with Olivier Cousin, among others. He has managed to buy a piece of land in the Anjou region of the Loire Valley with troglodyte caves, get a few hectares of vines, and immediately turn out stellar wines. Later this year we will also have his Chenin Blanc, Grolleau, Gamay as well as white and rose pet-nats.
Francois’ wines achieve an elegant balance and a taste of place that gives us a feeling of deja vu. Tasting his wines we are reminded why we fell in love with the Loire in the first place. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>FRANCOIS SAINT-LO On L’Aime Nature 2012 </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">We discovered Francois last year when we tasted samples of his wines at the Raw Wine Fair in London that had not yet finished fermenting and immediately committed to bringing in his wines. 2012 is his first vintage. His patience and gentleness is reflected in the stunning purity of his wines. His Cabernet Franc has a liveliness on the palate, there's a beautiful honesty to it, and gentle tannins. Aaron Ayscough in his excellent blog, <a href="http://notdrinkingpoison.blogspot.com/2014/02/loire-salons-2014-la-dive-bouteille-les.html" target="_blank">Not Drinking Poison in Paris</a>, describes it as "shimmeringly elegant, a real see-through dress of a red wine." $22/bottle.</span>Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-65154397324958674172014-01-10T10:10:00.001-05:002014-01-13T09:14:10.786-05:00Eruptions: Chiara Vigo and Frank Cornelissen<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">JANUARY WINE CLUB OFFERING! Sign up <a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" target="_blank">now</a> to get the following two wines for $50.</span></b><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Etna, Oh Etna, or Raw and Rawer</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">This month we take you to
Sicily by offering you two red wines that are informed by the eruptions of the
volcano that is Mount Etna. These distinctive wines, made from grapes grown in volcanic soil, are made with a deep respect for tradition by two strong
personalities who bring a fresh perspective to this ancient winegrowing region:
Frank Cornelissen, a Belgian who moved to Sicily to make wine, and Chiara Vigo
who returned from her studies, in Bologna, Venice and Paris, to make wine at home.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frank Cornelissen at The Raw Wine Fair in 2013</td></tr>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b>Frank Cornelissen</b> makes his wine high up on
the slopes of Mount Etna. He chose this location first and foremost because he
feels Etna is a great terroir for the indigenous Nerello Mascalese grape; that in this place he could make wine that rivals the best Burgundies and Barolos. Frank in
fact feels that Nerello possesses the fruit of Pinot Noir and the dry tannins
of Nebbiolo. A sort of Zen Master, Frank believes that we can never fully
understand nature and all of its complexities and paradoxes. He doesn't use any chemical additions or treatments. He practices polyculture on his
15-hectare estate, growing olives for oil, buckwheat and fruit in addition to
the grapes for his wine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Grapes are harvested by
hand, from mid-October to early November, in order to get the ripest fruit.
They then undergo meticulous selection and any unripe or damaged grapes are
discarded. In the cellar, the winemaking is completely natural, with no yeasts,
sulfites or chemicals added to the wines. The wines are then fermented with
their skins in small neutral tubs to insure stable temperatures. After
fermentation, the wines are pressed and stored in neutral vessels, big tanks
for the early-bottled wines and epoxy-lined anforas buried in volcanic rock for
the more tannic wines. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="apple-tab-span">FRANK CORNELISSEN MUNJABEL CONTADINO 10 2012</span></span></b></b><br />
Contadino is Frank’s homage to the farmer wines of the area. It’s
a field-blend of 70-80% Nerello Mascalese with all kinds of local varietals
from his old-vine vineyards: Alicante Bouschet, Minella Nera, Uva Francesa,
Sangiovese, Minella Bianco and Insolia. It’s a dangerously drinkable wine that has
the character of Etna: fragrant, profound, tannic but fruity.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chiara Vigo</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana;"><b>Chiara Vigo</b> is the
winemaker at her family’s estate, Fattorie Romeo del Castello. She was a small child in 1981 when Mount Etna erupted. Her
parents sent her away to safety but they stayed to monitor the situation. They
watched as the lava flow headed directly for their house; then it miraculously
shifted and went toward the river instead, destroying a substantial amount of
their property but not the full-on tragedy it could have been.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-variant: small-caps;">FATTORIE ROMEO DEL CASTELLO ALLEGRACORE ETNA ROSSO 2010</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Chemicals have never been
used here and Chiara continues to work in the manner of her ancestors. Salvo
Foti, an influential Sicilian winemaker, has been a mentor. He encouraged her
to take over winemaking duties from him, impressing upon her how special her
vineyards are, and reminding her that she was born to be the winemaker at Fattorie Romeo Del Castello. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Allegracore is the name of
the parcel the grapes come from and it means happy heart. The wine is primarily
Nerello Mascalese aged in stainless steel. It has depth and also a certain
elegance. The tannins are there but gentle on the palate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-280634339377020422013-11-24T12:17:00.002-05:002013-11-24T21:22:03.437-05:00Staff Picks for Thanksgiving!<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Eric Asimov rightly
points out in the New York Times this week that wines for Thanksgiving should
be versatile, full of energy, invigorating, lower in alcohol, zesty, fresh and
bright. He adds, and we couldn't agree more, that "nothing is worse than
running out of wine, except running out of food. Figure a bottle per
adult." (Also Julia Childs' rule of thumb.)</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The First Thanksgiving" by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris (Courtesy: Wikipedia)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We asked Tim and Tyler
to put together their dream six-packs. (5% off on them while they last. Supplies
are limited.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TIM'S PICKS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Domaine Valentin Zusslin Cremant d'Alsace Rose </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brut Zero NV</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With a long winemaking
history dating back to 1691, Domaine Valentin Zusslin knows a thing or two
about crafting some serious, and seriously delicious, wines. The brother and
sister duo of Marie and Jean-Paul Zusslin oversee the farming, which has been
certified biodynamic since 1997, and also the non-interventionist winemaking
that follows after the grapes have been painstakingly hand harvested. Their
rose Cremant d'Alsace is but one of their many amazing wines. Made from 100%
Pinot Noir sourced from their walled-in Clos Liebenberg vineyard, it is pretty
close to immaculate. Wild berry fruits abound and a hint of grapefruit lead
into an exquisitely delicate experience in the mouth. Would be perfect for a
holiday brunch with friends, an aperitif while cooking, or to pair with an
assortment of desserts. $32/bottle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Broc Cellars Valdiguie 2012</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Haven't heard of
Valdiguie? Don't worry, not many other people have either. After having been
mistakenly called Napa Gamay for decades, it took a young winemaker by the name
of Chris Brockway to set the record straight. Brockway opened the doors to his
winery located in Berkeley, CA in 2008 after having released vintages made
elsewhere. Since then he has proven that Valdiguie is a grape to be reckoned
with. He buys only biodynamically grown grapes from farmers in Solano County
and is ardent to employ minimal intervention in the winery. His 2012 Valdiguie
is incredibly precise and vivid with ripe red berry fruits and lovely buoyancy
that leads into a subtly earthy finish. This wine would feel right at home next
to your Thanksgiving feast or served slightly chilled and paired with cheeses
and charcuterie. $27/bottle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Remi and Laurence Dufaitre 'L'Air de Rien' 2011</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remi and Laurence have
been enthusiastically producing some incredibly pure wines in the Beaujolais
since 2001 when they founded their Domaine de Botheland. The domaine now
encompasses 12 acres in Saint-Etienne-des-Oullieres and is the only winery that
is embracing the natural way of making wines in that region. Their L'air de
Rien Beaujolais-Villages cuvee uses Gamay grapes sourced from low-yielding old
vines and they are harvested at the height of maturity resulting in a fuller,
riper Beaujolais that is tantalizing. Velvety fruit and an underlying
minerality make this wine a pleasure to drink with or without food and would
make a lovely addition to any occasion this holiday season. $22/bottle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Jean-Marie Berrux 'Le Petit Tetu' 2011</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leaving his job in Paris
behind, Jean-Marie Berrux began his journey in the world of wine in 1999.
However it wasn't until 2007 when he joined forces with Jean-Pascal Sarnin to
create Maison Sarnin-Berrux. For the wines they collaborate on they buy only
organically grown grapes and they have now produce nine cuvees labeled under
various appellations within Burgundy. In addition to those wines, Jean-Marie
makes a special cuvee from his very small plot of Chardonnay vines just outside
of Puligny-Montrachet that he maintains himself. Le Petit Tetu, or Little
Stubborn One, is incredible: unctuous with a blast of sea-like minerals
followed by pear, apple and apricots. It also has a ravishing acidity that
almost has this wine begging to be placed on your table this year. $30/bottle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Frank Cornilessen 'Susucaru 5'</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After having cultivated
a career as a wine merchant in his native Belgium, Cornilessen decided to take
the ultimate risk and relocated to the wild and beautiful slopes of Mt. Etna in
Sicily. His first vintage in 2001 was a scant 500 bottles of naturally made
wine: no additives, no sulphur--just pure juice. He now produces around 2500
cases, although he now has his organic certification and a new, almost
finished, winery that is being built on his property. The Susucaru rose is a
co-fermentation of red and white varietals, most native to the very slopes
Cornilessen farms. Rose petals, red berries, wet stones and hints of juniper
berry and orange rind coalesce into a wonderfully intense bouquet. It maintains
bright, fresh berries throughout and its freshness stays with you long after
you've finished your glass. Pop the stopper on this wine and enjoy it with
cheeses or various vegetable dishes. $27/bottle <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Domaine du Clos d'Elu 'Les Petites Gorgees' 2012</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many years of touring
and working in various wine regions around the world led Thomas Carsin to plant
himself in the heart of the Loire Valley in 2008. He has been working to
cultivate the land in harmony with nature and has been working to achieve
organic certification since 2010. Joined by longtime friend Greg du Bouexic and
a team of workers who have deep roots in the region, the domaine has set out to
craft some delicious, naturally made wines. Les Petites Gorgees is a red blend
of mostly Cabernet Franc with a few other varietals and is thirst quenching,
making it perfect for those long, sit-down holiday meals. Dusty berry fruits
and dark plums make this wine lush, mouth filling and pleasantly tart. Grab a
few bottles on your way to a friend's party or stock up to pair with a Thanksgiving
feast. $14/bottle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TYLER'S PICKS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Causse Marines Gaillac 'Peyrouzelles' 2011</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> If you've been in the
shop recently, you've probably heard me talk about an "in-law wine."
It's a bottle which is unapologetically unique but won't, in turn, scare away your
plonk-sipping relatives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hailing from Southwest
France, The Peyrouzelles is a 30/30/30 blend of Syrah, Duras, and Braucol.
Spicy aromas give way to deep fruit; the wine is lively with some
granite-tinged elements and a clean, almost-herbal finish. It's funky but
balanced and far more approachable than you'd think. Best served with something
spicy, and in great quantities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Switch out everybody at
the Thanksgiving table's Malbec for a glass of the Causse Marines and wait for
'em to start preaching the gospel. Tell your in-laws that we have a bottle
waiting for them. $19/bottle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Julie Balagny Fleurie 'Carioca' 2011</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I prescribe 750ml of Cru
Beaujolais to anyone who has ever had to drink bad wine on Thanksgiving. You
wouldn't be wrong to start with this bottle from Fleurie by young winemaker
Julie Balagny. This Gamay is about finesse. It's deceptively light; the deep
fruit fills the palette so wholly and yet seems so buoyant! It lingers and
deepens and tastes a little different with each sip, with a nice zip of acidity
to cut through the food. So sad a realization that the bottle is empty, yet
such a relief that you can ask for a case for Christmas! $28/bottle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Mas Coutelou 'Vin des Amis' 2012 </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our friend Camille
imports only enough wines to fill both sides of a piece of paper. She's got a
real knack for it, too, as I have yet to have a sub-delicious bottle of hers.
She brings in this little devil, a blend of three-quarters Grenache and a
quarter of Syrah. It's a little lighter at first, finishing off with a kiss of
spice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd like to pair it with
something in particular, but the truth is this: you should be drinking this
wine from the moment you read this wine until either Grandpa falls asleep,
football tears apart the entire family, or Mom begs you to come help with
dishes (whichever comes last.) No, but seriously: this wine is good with
everything. Godspeed! $18/bottle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Domaine Faillenc Sainte Marie Corbières </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'Pas des Louves' 2011</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have to admit, I
have a little crush on Corbières. Located within the Languedoc in southern
France, this AOC boasts a fair number of -- well -- diamonds in the rough. The
story here is quality, character, and affordability.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The four grapes which
comprise the 'Pas des Louves' are pressed and vinified together, which makes
sense in the glass. Like a perfume, you catch different notes depending on the
breath. The wine is alive with farm notes, from floral aromas to a finish full
of straw and herbs. It'd be great to start a dinner with this one; it's charming
and easygoing, which is more than I can say about some of my relatives. Pass
the bottle? $15/bottle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Nicolas Reau 'Attention Chenin Méchant' 2011</b> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The winemaker was a
rugby player before, and I'm as glad as his mother that he changed trades when
his did. Reau's wines are expressive, clean, and downright delicious -- not to
mention solid examples of wine made naturally. This Chenin Blanc has an
electric feeling to it -- you get some great acidity along with a hint of honey
tones. Medium-bodied, it deserves to cut the line as an Official Turkey
Pairing. If Sancerre is your aunt who tells the same story year after
year, this Chenin is your cousin's new boyfriend who seems quiet at first but
ends up winning over the entire family with raunchy jokes and has Grandma
swooning at the same time. $21/bottle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Jean-Yves Peron 'Cidre des Cimes' 2010-11</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've sold a good share
of wines by Peron at the shop, and I think it's safe to say he's a favorite of
ours. Here we have a cider made by him in the mountains of eastern France,
where he does his magic. Before anything else, let's talk about the gorgeous
gunk in the bottle. (I'm really selling this, aren't I?) Yes, there is
sediment. Yes, it dances around a bit. Yes, it's safe. Anyway, this is a pretty
serious cider: a heap of acidity, a rush of tiny bubbles, and a rustic sort of
feeling that works so very well with food. Forget Champagne and pop a bottle or
three of these. Low in alcohol, this is the kind of bottle that can wander
around the Thanksgiving table easily. And if you're one of those cool
relatives, you'll let it wander over to the veteran inhabitants of the kids'
table without noticing. $18/bottle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"><b>WE DELIVER.</b></span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To order
click <a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a> or call 718-596-7643. To view
our full selection come see us at the store. </span></span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-86768375118429473622013-10-14T10:48:00.001-04:002014-03-11T17:01:16.341-04:00La Gramiere! Why La Gramiere.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uo-6ZoHgKiY/UlwC6_tQFyI/AAAAAAAAApQ/4nDrloF_F3w/s1600/IMG_0430_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uo-6ZoHgKiY/UlwC6_tQFyI/AAAAAAAAApQ/4nDrloF_F3w/s400/IMG_0430_2.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amy Lillard and Matt Kling</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626;">When we
visited London in May to attend the </span><a href="http://www.rawfair.com/" target="_blank">Raw Wine Fair</a><span style="color: #262626;"> we met up again with Amy from
</span><b style="color: #262626;"><a href="http://www.lagramiere.com/" target="_blank">La Gramiere</a></b><span style="color: #262626;"> who was showing her wines. We have always admired what she
and her husband Matt did. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Matt and
Amy met at the Kermit Lynch retail shop in Berkeley. Amy worked at the store
and Matt was a customer. In 2005 they left the Bay Area and moved to a small
town in the Southern Rhone 20 minutes outside of Avignon, where they bought
3.75 hectares of vineyards in the Cotes du Rhone, and a small house, and
started making wine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well not
exactly. Long story short they did make the wine, but not without a lot of
sacrifice and a lot of determination. They do almost all of the work
themselves, with occasional help from their friends and family at harvest. The
grapes are hand-picked, without anything added or taken away. They cultivate
without herbicides or pesticides and vinify in concrete vats with naturally
occurring yeasts. The result: a true wine of place made mostly of Grenache with
a little Syrah and Mourvedre. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626;">It's
lively and fresh, peppery, with supple tannins. Originally imported by Kermit
Lynch, Amy told us her wines were currently unavailable in New York. So we
wondered how we could do the situation justice and decided to bring them in
ourselves! Hence our first Thirst Merchants Selection is born. <b>The La
Gramiere Green Label 2011 is just $15/bottle and $13.50/bottle when you
buy a case (in store only). </b></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626;">Going forward we will share some of
our other finds with you. We will soon have an e-commerce site up and running.
As you may know by dropping by our little store in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, we
love those wines that are made in such tiny quantities that essentially if
you're not aware that they're currently available you might miss out!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #262626;">THIRST
TOTE BAGS ARE BACK!</span></b><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For a limited time, get one of our
classic totes FREE when you purchase 6 or more bottles.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zATrHfxjT2I/UlwDNPHTYiI/AAAAAAAAApY/cbXrwu5sNTg/s1600/Totebag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zATrHfxjT2I/UlwDNPHTYiI/AAAAAAAAApY/cbXrwu5sNTg/s640/Totebag.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626;"><b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WE
DELIVER.</span></b></span><br />
<!--EndFragment-->Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-60833963727030350972013-08-06T09:44:00.000-04:002013-08-14T11:45:24.265-04:00It's Not Too Late<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Our wine club offers two exceptional and unusual wines from the Arbois region
of the Jura from two of our favorite producers. Arbois was the first place the
French gave appellation status in 1936. Each wine, one white and one red, is
made from the local red grape Poulsard – in the town of Pupillin they confusingly
call it Ploussard. Poulsard is found almost exclusively in the Jura where it’s
been grown since at least the 15th century.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Jura
is located between Burgundy and Switzerland. It has a cool climate and is known
for producing distinctive wines. The weather here is similar to Burgundy but
colder and therefore the harvest happens later. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-euAkGbxLLrU/UgFGiiTjGNI/AAAAAAAAAoc/jJj-lvTzoiQ/s1600/Cul+Rond.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-euAkGbxLLrU/UgFGiiTjGNI/AAAAAAAAAoc/jJj-lvTzoiQ/s1600/Cul+Rond.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Domaine
de l’Octavin “Cul Rond a la cuisse rose” 2011</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This domaine is a collaboration between Alice Bouvot and Charles Dagand.
They began with two hectares in 2005 but now have about five hectares of
vineyards. They are certified biodynamic and have since 2009 been making all of
their wines completely without sulfur, fining or filtration. Their wines have
great purity and liveliness. This Poulsard is vinified as a white wine and is
from one of their vineyards called “en curon.” It may blow your mind. Proceed
with caution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uDEPIrQdr7g/UgD8s8yamNI/AAAAAAAAAoM/KsDxgPs7iN8/s1600/IMG_4381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uDEPIrQdr7g/UgD8s8yamNI/AAAAAAAAAoM/KsDxgPs7iN8/s320/IMG_4381.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Philippe Bornard</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Philippe
Bornard Arbois Pupillin Ploussard "point barre" 2011<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Philippe lives close to Arbois in the village of Pupillin near the Swiss
border. He inherited his vineyard from his father but began to make wine
himself rather than sell the grapes to others. His winery is located underneath
his house, which overlooks the village.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This is not for someone who likes to drink BIG
wines. It’s light, delicate, almost translucent, giving off aromas of red
currants, citrus, saddle leather, and a touch of cinnamon. It pairs well with
just about any food you care to drink with it. Serve it cool.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" target="_blank">Join</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>NORMALLY $56 -- FOR MEMBERS $50.</b></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-86455393539954774432013-07-01T21:21:00.000-04:002013-07-02T12:45:48.123-04:00You Can Change Your Life<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N554dzAEOn0/UdIpm1EL_nI/AAAAAAAAAlw/Pb3XFLaiwFI/s960/Laurent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N554dzAEOn0/UdIpm1EL_nI/AAAAAAAAAlw/Pb3XFLaiwFI/s400/Laurent.jpg" width="300" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><b>Laurent
Saillard</b></span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"> co-founded <a href="http://www.icirestaurant.com/"><span style="color: blue;">ICI</span></a>,
which was one of the first Brooklyn restaurants to focus on natural wines and
was part of the wave of restaurants that opened about a decade ago that were
referred to as New Brooklyn Cuisine. We used to love going there and spending
time with him. He was always eager to share new and interesting wines. He left
Brooklyn a few years ago and moved to the Loire to learn how to make the
natural wines he'd enjoyed drinking and selling. He began by focusing on
working in the vineyard. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><b>Now
Laurent has made his first wine, a very small amount of fresh unsulphured Gamay
made using carbonic maceration.</b> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;">Because of our
relationship, and because we are one of the few shops that support independent
winemakers who make wine fermented naturally without the use of additives,
Laurent wanted us to be among the first to taste it. When we did, we were
really impressed by its pureness and clarity. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;">The grapes for <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">La Pause 2012 </span>come from a plot of
Gamay planted in 1978 that Laurent rents from Catherine Roussel (Clos Roche
Blanche). Noëlla Morantin rented it from 2008 to 2011 but Laurent took it
over in November 2011. It's organic since 1991 and they have been doing
some biodynamic preparations since 2008. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;">Gamay gets a bad rap but it
arguably yields the most generous, pleasure-giving wines. Many of you, we know,
are fans of Beaujolais from the likes of Lapierre, Foillard, Breton, Thevenet,
etc., as well as Gamays from the Loire and California. There may be no other
grape that gives more and gets less love. Wines made from Gamay grown right, in
the right soils and naturally fermented, yield wines that you can enjoy by
themselves but that also belong on the table.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SGQTZ1qZwZo/UdIpzMM-GpI/AAAAAAAAAl4/MetOLsUqBzY/s320/La+Pause.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SGQTZ1qZwZo/UdIpzMM-GpI/AAAAAAAAAl4/MetOLsUqBzY/s320/La+Pause.jpg" /></a></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><b>Take a
break and enjoy Laurent's La Pause! </b></span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;">Put it
in your ice chest and bring it along for a picnic, to your barbecue or the
beach, or just chill it and enjoy it on your stoop.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Laurent Saillard La Pause 2012 is $20/bottle. For a limited time, <a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" target="_blank">order</a> a sixpack and get 10% off ($18/bottle).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><b>Don't get
fooled by bigger is better!</b> It's all about the texture and the finish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><b>WE DELIVER.</b></span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;">To order click <a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a> or call
718-596-7643. To view our full selection come see us at the store.</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-57688297159281329612013-06-21T09:05:00.000-04:002013-06-21T09:12:02.426-04:00About As Natural As It Gets<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We've long been drawn to
the rustic elegance of the wines of the Northern Rhone. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Hirotake Ooka is a Japanese winemaker working in the Northern Rhone who
understands tradition but is making wines that transcend it.</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It seems as
if he was born to make the wine he does. Wines that are pure, raw, and alive.
He was quickly identified as a rising star in the natural wine world and was
recently profiled in </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><a href="http://goo.gl/ekmc5" target="_blank">The New York Times</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. The wines he makes are about as natural as it gets.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Hirotake has taken a remarkable journey from Tokyo
to St. Péray. He left Japan to study enology in Bordeaux because initially he was
intrigued by Bordeaux wines. However while there his world was turned upside
down when he tasted the brilliant wines of Thierry Allemand of Cornas and
realized that he had to go to the Northern Rhone and work with him, which he
did as soon as he could. Now he has chosen to work the steepest,
hardest-to-work slopes. Ooka, which ironically means big hill in Japanese, then
named his winery Le Grand Colline (big hill in French). </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He makes very
limited amounts of a few wines, most of which he exports to Japan or delivers
to a few Parisian natural wine bars. We, however, have secured a small quantity
of his two most approachable wines, Le Canon rosé and red, which have just
arrived. These in fact are the ones that are the best way to get introduced to
what he does. Enjoy them on a Brooklyn summer's day or night.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: roman;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Get them while you can!</b> The 2012 Le Canon rosé is made from a nearly forgotten red version of
Muscat called Muscat de Hambourg. It's delightfully tart with pink grapefruit
flavors. His 2012 Le Canon red
is a seriously gluggable Syrah with dark plum and sour cherry notes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" target="_blank">Order</a> a sixpack for $97.20 plus tax (10% off!).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chill your reds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">WE DELIVER.</span><span style="font-family: roman;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-54859335682741782712013-06-13T09:53:00.001-04:002013-06-13T09:53:48.395-04:00London Street Art<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-57863827521836710642013-06-13T00:14:00.000-04:002013-06-13T09:43:28.855-04:00London Signs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span id="goog_2051507985"></span><span id="goog_2051507986"></span><br />Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-58398322529378948212013-06-12T12:52:00.002-04:002013-06-13T10:03:48.312-04:00Emilia's sparkling reds and an orange wine...<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The following is our current wine club offering for May/June. If you're interested in getting these kinds of wines on a regular basis, <a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" target="_blank">join</a> the club.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We first discovered delicious sparkling reds served chilled while backpacking through Italy. We didn’t have a lot of money then (some things never change) so we mostly picnicked along the way. Sparkling reds are a natural fit with cured meats & Parmigiano but are also at home around the barbecue. So here are three sparkling reds, two from Colli Piacentini ("Hills of Piacenza"), which is the western edge of Emilia-Romagna, a Lambrusco from the province of Parma--and for good measure a stunning orange wine from Colli Piacentini! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Croci Gutturnio Vino Frizzante 2010 </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This traditional naturally sparkling red wine from Colli Piacentini is typical of the area and is composed of 60% Barbera and 40% Bonarda. The soil here is clayey and sandy. This vino frizzante has good structure, is lightly bubbly, with that trademark good acidity that refreshes and goes hand in hand with the local food. This pairs particularly well with a fritto misto. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Cantine Ceci Lambrusco “La Luna” NV</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Deeply purple in color, Ceci “La Luna” is a fresh, earthy Lambrusco, with notes of dark berries from the province of Parma. Enjoy it with a big bowl of pasta Bolognese. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Elena Panteleoni runs La Stoppa with Guilio Armani. They’ve worked their heavy silty clay soils organically since the early 90s and have been certified organic since 2008. A minimal intervention approach is taken in the cellar. The wines ferment naturally with their native yeasts. Nothing is added or subtracted from the juice. Sulfur is never added during vinification and only in small doses at bottling. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>La Stoppa Trebbiolo 2010</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A young sparkling red wine, made up of 60% Barbera and 40% Bonarda. It’s La Stoppa’s take on the typical style of the red sparkling wines of the Colli Piacentini. It’s well balanced with a pleasant, bracing acidity. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>La Stoppa Ageno 2008 </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The name is a tribute to the founder of La Stoppa, Gian-Marco Ageno, who first believed in the great potential of the area. This may be our favorite orange wine yet. What is an orange wine? It’s a white wine left to sit and ferment on its skins like a red wine, which gives it a depth and color different from any other white wine. The grapes are: Malvasia di Candia Aromatic 60%, Trebbiano 40% and a splash of Ortrugo. The thick-skinned Malvasia brings intense floral aromas and tannins and a suppleness; the Trebbiano and Ortrugo acidity and nerve. It was first made in 2002 with maceration on the skins for 30 days using only indigenous yeasts and without the addition of sulfur. It’s aged for one year in stainless steel and used barrique and then for an additional two years in the bottle. It is not filtered. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Elena gave a lot of thought about what would be the best way to make wine in her region. “We were just thinking and trying to understand the potential of our area,” she said. “The farmers who make wines for themselves? They make no difference between red and white grapes. They macerate for maybe 10 days. But this is traditional, typical. It’s not modern winemaking.” Serve it with a grand bollito misto.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Click <a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" target="_blank">here</a> to order some.</span>Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-75863086803704194802013-06-06T22:50:00.000-04:002013-06-06T23:16:33.517-04:00I think that was the day we discovered rosé<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
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time ago we were in Berkeley, California at an outdoor event celebrating a Chez
Panisse anniversary. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon, and the street in
front of the restaurant was closed to traffic. The vibe was festive and there
was a bounty of good food. Each table featured a specific purveyor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">The staff was grilling meats and
shucking oysters; the farmers that had come down for the day were selling their
wares. Two dry rosés from Provence were on offer by the glass: a rather dark
cassis-colored Tavel from Château de Trinquevedel and a
salmon-colored Bandol from Domaine Tempier. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Some
time ago we were in Berkeley, California at an outdoor event celebrating a Chez
Panisse anniversary. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon, and the street in
front of the restaurant was closed to traffic. The vibe was festive and there
was a bounty of good food. Each table featured a specific purveyor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">The
staff was grilling meats and shucking oysters; the farmers that had come down
for the day were selling their wares. Two dry rosés from Provence were on offer
by the glass: a rather dark cassis-colored Tavel from Château
de Trinquevedel and a salmon-colored Bandol from Domaine Tempier. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">I think
that was the day we really discovered rosé. We drink it year-round. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">These
are some of the many we stock. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Bernard
Baudry Chinon 2012, $20</span></b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Domaine de
Fontsainte Corbières 2012, $14</span></b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Domaine
de l'Ausseil "P'tit Piaf" 2012, $14</span></b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Château
de Trinquevedel Tavel 2012, $18</span></b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Domaine
du Gros' Noré Bandol 2012, $33</span></b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Henri
Milan "Ma Terre" 2012, $22</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"> <b>Montenidoli
Canaiuolo 2012, $22</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Donkey
& Goat "Isabel's Cuvée" 2012, $23</span></b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"> For a
limited time we're offering 15% off a mixed case of twelve rosés when you
mention this email offer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">To order click <a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a> or
call 718-596-7643. To view our full selection come see us at the store.</span></b></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-42443226168801581922013-06-04T15:25:00.000-04:002013-06-06T23:29:00.199-04:00#WHATWEDO<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yLI0e3PdhoE/Ua4-7GaW25I/AAAAAAAAAgU/biSWKlSDMYs/s1600/WHATWEDO+FROM+ITS+FOUNDING+cropped.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yLI0e3PdhoE/Ua4-7GaW25I/AAAAAAAAAgU/biSWKlSDMYs/s640/WHATWEDO+FROM+ITS+FOUNDING+cropped.JPG" width="520" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">DID YOU KNOW?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 17px;">From its founding in 2006 Thirst’s primary mission has been to sell terroirific wines made by small artisan producers who grow their grapes organically or biodynamically and ferment their wines naturally without additives.</span></span>Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-23922254928868987542013-06-03T13:57:00.000-04:002013-07-02T09:33:47.183-04:00Real flavors beat fake flavors every time.<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">Long before we opened our
wine store in 2006 we were constantly on the lookout for interesting, delicious
wines that we could drink that tasted like they came from somewhere specific. We
soon learned that finding simple, honest wine is not so simple. It was this
persistent thirst for a taste of place that finally drove us to open our shop. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">The desire to find these
kinds of wines went hand-in-hand with the food we wanted to eat. We don’t eat
industrially produced overly processed foods so why would we want to drink wines
made that way, which most people don’t realize is the norm -- that most wine,
like most food, is made with tons of chemicals primarily to satisfy the bottom
line. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">Like many of you we choose
to eat minimally processed food not just because it tastes better and gives us
more pleasure, but also because it makes us feel good once having eaten it.
It’s the same with wine and the proof is found in the bottles. A real wine has
real flavors that occasionally surprise and challenge us to come to terms with it,
to struggle to describe it, because it’s not made with fake flavors. Real
flavors beat fake flavors every time.</span><br />
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qMS4qvPO8gk/UazX2GtrGLI/AAAAAAAAAgE/Ir71esIgmkw/s1600/IMG_4769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="499" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qMS4qvPO8gk/UazX2GtrGLI/AAAAAAAAAgE/Ir71esIgmkw/s640/IMG_4769.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">Of course it would take a
lot less effort to sell easily recognized brands but that’s not what we want to
do. We don’t want to sell brands. We want to work with people we like that we
feel make wines that say something unique in small batches without additives or
chemicals that consistently delight and sometimes amaze. Wines that go with
food, have a sense of place, and are meant for thirst.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">Which is why last month we
attended <a href="http://www.rawfair.com/" target="_blank">RAW – The Artisan Wine Fair in London</a>. RAW was filled with talented artisanal
winemakers from around the world who make, in the words of the organizers, “wines
that are pure, kind to the planet, very possibly better for your health, and
best of all they’re absolutely delicious.” There we saw a lot of familiar faces
and many, many new ones. It was a really exciting two-day event and you’ll be
seeing many new things in the store reflecting what struck our fancy. The
London food and wine scene at the moment is really exciting. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<!--EndFragment-->Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-51711015258430085572013-05-30T10:53:00.000-04:002013-06-12T23:45:03.348-04:00London Calling<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Back from London, which we visited to attend the Raw Wine Fair, a wine expo featuring natural winemakers from around the world. The fair was exciting and the London wine and food scene is vibrant. Some of the things and places that inspire us...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
Day 1</span><br />
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Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-68075869727536051122013-04-20T12:40:00.000-04:002013-04-20T12:45:47.309-04:00The Opposite of Insipid<br />
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One of the few things we have in common with Robert Parker is an appreciation for young wines (not usually the same ones). Whether it's the latest vintage of rosé, a brisk, fresh white wine, or a chilled red... the liveliness and fruitiness of a young wine made without chemical additives is captivating.</div>
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Which brings us to our take on Burgundy--the most legendary wine region in the world. Often we get more excited about drinking the bottles that don't need to be aged rather than the ones that should be aged for your children's children!</div>
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Follow our lead, throw off the caste system, and dive into Bourgogne a la Thirst. To illustrate, we're offering four different stylistic variants for under a hundred dollars altogether!<br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>the Quasi-Structured:</b></b></div>
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Domaine Robert Chevillon's Nuits-Saint-Georges are justly famous for ageing well, so even their Passetoutgrains has a "structured" bent to its texture on the palate. If you let this Pinot Noir and Gamay blend breathe for half an hour, you'll find a wine that goes with food instead of showing off in front of it, with rhubarb and raspberry underlying the tannic structure that helps it marry so well with meats.</div>
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the Ethereal:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><br />
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Fanny Sabre, acolyte of natural wine maven Philippe Pacalet, makes precise and brilliantly high-res wines in the Cote de Beaune. Her latest Bourgogne Rouge is perhaps the most soif-able (can we patent the term?) wine we've had yet. If you loved her Grand Ordinaire, you're going to become obsessed with the levity and synesthesia--a wine so vivid you can taste the aromas and smell the flavors directly.</div>
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the Nervy:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><br />
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The kind of white Burgundy we look for is one that has tension without oaky interference. Domaine de la Cadette's Bourgogne Blanc is from vineyards just an hour south of Chablis. The higher latitude mixed with clay and limestone soil gives a wine that's got great Burgundian mouthfeel but with the energy of a more Northern wine.</div>
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the Classic:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><br />
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Domaine Valette's natural Macon-Villages is a flashback to the kind of wine monks made centuries ago. The opposite of insipid, this brilliant, unfiltered white has beautiful minerality. Imagine if Marcel Lapierre (RIP) made a white Burgundy.</div>
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Chevillon Bourgogne Passetoutgrains 2010, $25<br />
Fanny Sabre Bourgogne Rouge 2011, $23<br />
Cadette Bourgogne Blanc 2011, $18<br />
Valette Macon-Villages 2011, $24<br />
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Buy 6 and get 5% off, or mix up a case of 12 and save 10%!<br />
<br />
Click <a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" linktype="2" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="color: blue;" target="_blank">here</a> to order.</b>Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-4878826587263363632013-04-12T14:51:00.001-04:002013-04-12T14:51:54.093-04:00It's Not The "No Sulfur" Movement<br />
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It's not the "no sulfur" movement--we first fell for low-to-no sulfur wines from the Kermit Lynch portfolio when we were drinking them in Berkeley: Jean Foillard, Marcel Lapierre, etc. There's an incredible purity in a wine made without added sulphur. But used in miniscule quantities at bottling, it does little to no damage to the flavor of the wine, and helps to protect it.</div>
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When Kermit Lynch first began importing wine, he noticed that some of the wines he was receiving didn't taste the same as they did when he drank them in Europe. The wines were being cooked during transit. His innovation was shipping the wine in temperature-controlled containers and storing them in temperature-controlled warehouses, which now all of the importers we work with do as well. And it's why we keep our store cool year-round.</div>
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Which brings us to the delicious un-sulfured wines of <strong>Domaine Buronfosse in the Cotes du Jura</strong>, next-door neighbors to Jean-Francois Ganevat, and less than half the price. We can't stop drinking their Chardonnays, their Poulsard (their Cremant too, which is now sold out!), as they have a freshness that's really different from the oxidative Juras that many like but few actually drink.<br />
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Peggy & Jean-Pascal Buronfosse moved to La Combe de Rotalier in 1999 because they wanted to escape city life. They wanted to live in a bucolic setting where they could grow their own vegetables, raise chickens, rabbits, pigs. At first their dream was to have a mixed farm but viticulture gradually drew them in and they soon realized what they really wanted was to grow, raise and make for themselves what they wanted to eat AND drink. They gradually acquired a number of small parcels of vineyards. They studied on their own and through trial and error, as well as some guidance from Monsieur Ganevat, they found their way.<br />
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<strong>Come taste the Buronfosse Cotes du Jura wines with us tonight at Thirst as our dear friend Kreso brings it from 6 to 8 pm.</strong> You might like them so much you'll have wished you reserved a case of each...<br />
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<strong>Buronfosse Chardonnay Marcus, $18</strong><br />
<strong>Buronfosse Chardonnay Ammonites, $22</strong><br />
<strong>Buronfosse Cremant de Jura - already sold out!</strong><br />
<strong>Buronfosse Poulsard, $24 - almost sold out!</strong></div>
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<strong>Click <a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" linktype="2" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="color: blue;" target="_blank">here</a> to order some.</strong></div>
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stay true, </div>
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the Thirst people </div>
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Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-35362976696656436142013-04-11T18:57:00.000-04:002013-06-03T14:20:50.321-04:00Where Soif Meets Sagesse: Laurent Barth<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
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of a family legacy and terroir is done in large part by a strong commitment to
restoring the soil with the eradication of chemicals. </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">"I have a link to my family's land, and I'm proud it
finally has the Barth name on it. The idea was always to make wine from my
village." </span></b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lVjQn8_FpKk/UWjMyppri2I/AAAAAAAAAco/K6kOag-LOdw/s1600/Barth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lVjQn8_FpKk/UWjMyppri2I/AAAAAAAAAco/K6kOag-LOdw/s1600/Barth.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Laurent Barth</span></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Laurent Barth went to wine school in Burgundy, as many sons
whose fathers grow grapes in France tend to do, and so he set off
around the world in search of a true path, living and working on estates
in Libya, South Africa, the US (California), India, and even Australia, before
returning home. Barth honored his father's existing contracts for a few years,
selling grapes to the local co-op, in the meanwhile fostering his vineyards
with organic techniques he learned to improve the soil and health of the vines.
</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">His first vintage of estate bottling was 2004. Each year
thereafter he began to experiment more and more with biodynamic techniques in
the vineyard and cellar, always aiming to integrate what he'd learned with the
specific realities he encountered as well as those reflected in the larger
events written into the biodynamic calender. Restoring the proper use of
sulfur, which had for years been abused--it has so completely damaged the
reputation of Alsatian wines that to this day one sees a preference for Austrian
or German whites from all but the most discriminating sommeliers. Another
imperative for him is to use only indigenous yeasts; not for doctrinaire
reasons, but "if the grapes are clean, if they are well selected at
harvest, you get much more substance," says Barth. </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Just as he was patient to transform his father's vines into his
own, Barth has been equally patient in his cellar, allowing for fermentation to
take its time, a small "price to pay for complexity" in the wine that
comes out of it. We're offering proof of the payoff of Barth's wanderings and
patient arrival back in his hometown of Bennwihr in the form of a cornucopia of
old-vine cuvées. </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">While many 2011 wines have been long on the market (now 2012s
are even showing up!), Barth is just now releasing his 2011s as their élevage
has brought them to a stage where soif (thirst) meets sagesse (wisdom),
reminding us quietly that Alsatian wine can be some of the most pleasantly
drinkable wine on Earth. We're clearing off a major portion on our shelves to
make room for these wines--because these are wines that will transport you to a
place that's somewhere special. Bennwihr, north of Colmar in Alsace, is where
you'll be.</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Barth Gewurtztraminer Les Clos des Trois Chemins 2010, $25</span></b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Barth Racines Metisses 2011, $17</span></b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Try all six for only $125 or save 10%
off eight or more! Click <span style="color: blue; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" target="_blank">here</a></span> to order
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<!--EndFragment-->Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-78820735251758701952013-04-08T16:29:00.000-04:002013-04-08T16:56:38.230-04:00Mediterranean Spring<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">We at Thirst Wine Merchants believe strongly in the greatness of Bandol; a greatness rooted by its Provençal </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><em>terroir</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">facing the Mediterranean Sea. If there's a place whose food and lifestyle we would never refuse for a respite, the shelves of our store in Fort Greene betray our preferences. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z2XDCvLuegc/UWMnuVE9auI/AAAAAAAAAbU/Sx7yCOjk3PQ/s1600/IMG_0336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z2XDCvLuegc/UWMnuVE9auI/AAAAAAAAAbU/Sx7yCOjk3PQ/s320/IMG_0336.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a _mce_href="http://www.domainetempier.com/en/gigot.swf" _mce_shape="rect" _mce_style="color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://www.domainetempier.com/en/gigot.swf" linktype="1" shape="rect" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: underline !important;" target="_blank" track="on">String-turned roast of lamb</a> at Domaine Tempier</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">Today we offer a "diagonal" flight across multiple vintages and vineyard sites of Bandol, making a case for the distinctiveness of its </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><em>terroirs</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">. We know of no other selection that's as passionate for Bandol as ours, and we hope you'll trust and share in our enjoyment of these treasures.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What you'll find here is a rustic and characterful Bandol planted entirely in clay soil (Gros 'Noré), a supple and luxurious Bandol from clay mixed with limestone (Tempier), and an ethereal Bandol coming from marl mixed into blue clay and a particular brown limestone (Terrebrune); as well as the field blends of different vineyards--for Tempier, their Bandol Rouge more Mourvèdre and Grenache; La Migoua less Mourvèdre and more Grenache and Cinsault; and La Tourtine, which has the most Mourvèdre of the bunch. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span _mce_style="font-family: 'Verdana',' Geneva',' Arial',' Helvetica',' sans-serif';">To balance the budget of your case, we're also offering two fantastic values of declassified Bandol wines from the Provençal appellation of Vin de Pays du Mont-Caume, younger vines from the same </span><span _mce_style="font-family: 'Verdana',' Geneva',' Arial',' Helvetica',' sans-serif';"><em>terroir</em></span>, <span _mce_style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as well as what may be our favorite rosé</span><span _mce_style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></span></div>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jean Pierre Gaussen VdP du Mont-Caume 2010, $15 </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Domaine Terrebrune VdP du Mont-Caume 2010, $23 </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Domaine Terrebrune Bandol Rosé 2011, $34 </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Domaine Terrebrune Bandol 1987, $129 </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Domaine du Gros 'Noré Bandol 2006, $39 </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Domaine Tempier Bandol 2006, $50 </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Domaine Tempier Bandol la Migoua 2008, $73</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Domaine Tempier Bandol la Tourtine 2008, $75 </span></strong></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">5% off four bottles from this email, and 10% off six or more. Quantities extremely limited! Click <a _mce_href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" _mce_shape="rect" _mce_style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline;" href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" linktype="2" shape="rect" style="color: blue !important; text-decoration: underline !important;" target="_blank">here</a> to order.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ovKU-zeKjj4/UWMn4VH4sAI/AAAAAAAAAbc/n27htePbp8g/s1600/terrebrune.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ovKU-zeKjj4/UWMn4VH4sAI/AAAAAAAAAbc/n27htePbp8g/s320/terrebrune.gif" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">In addition to all of this, a TWM event you don't want to miss! François and Jonathan Sack of Tempier's neighbor, Clos Sainte Magdaleine, will pour their wines in our store on April 26th from 6pm until 8pm. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">stay true, </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">the Thirst people </span></div>
Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-42494037349456673382013-04-06T10:41:00.000-04:002013-04-06T10:52:02.144-04:00Who's Afraid of CLOS SARON?<br />
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Whatever marketing executive came up with the title "Cult California" to describe wines that are treated like stocks and investment opportunities more than part of the table clearly doesn't put his work away when sitting down for dinner. Instead of financializing one's appetite, we'd like to give credit to California winemaking at its pinnacle where credit is actually due. </div>
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Gideon Beinstock, Susan Rice, and their small children, embody the American spirit in a distinctly Californian manner; instead of rehashing French formulae ("Meritage!?!") for blending their grapes, their starting premise is that French grapes Taste Different in American soil and thus should be fermented and blended uniquely in ways that exemplify their exceptional terroir in the Sierra Foothills. Thus they co-ferment grapes in unusual ways, achieving clarity and texture that's only found in their wines. The love and care that goes into every unorthodox bottle is just insane, with each batch of wines clocking a few hundred bottles, if that. </div>
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Every part of our Thirst team takes our hats off to these wines, and have probably passionately sold more Clos Saron than most other wine merchants combined. We are proud to offer from our allocation some exclusives, both vin de soif and vin de garde. One sip and you'll just forget your cult costume at the cleaners (the "Wine Storage Locker"). </div>
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<strong>Clos Saron Rose 2012, $34 </strong></div>
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<strong>Clos Saron Carte Blanche 2012, $34</strong></div>
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<strong>Clos Saron [Cinsault] Out of the Blue 2011, $34 </strong></div>
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<strong>Clos Saron [Pinot Noir] Home Vineyard 2010, $68 </strong></div>
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<strong>Clos Saron [Syrah/Viognier] Stone Soup 2010, $55 </strong></div>
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<strong>Clos Saron [Syrah/Viognier] Heart of Stone 2007, $43 </strong></div>
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<strong>Clos Saron [Syrah/Viognier/Merlot] Cuvee Mysterieuse 2007, $43 </strong></div>
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<strong>Clos Saron [Syrah/Viognier/Cabernet Sauvignon/Petite Verdot] Black Pearl, $43 </strong></div>
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Normal six-pack and case discounts apply. As limited as it gets. Click <a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" linktype="2" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="color: blue;" target="_blank">here</a> to order.</div>
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stay true, </div>
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the Thirst people </div>
Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-89023971363868066782013-03-29T12:27:00.000-04:002013-04-01T16:15:50.821-04:00Toscana: Feminine<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KnRAKd3lLoU/UVW_etIOdnI/AAAAAAAAAas/QXE7uC04CNU/s1600/Padovani+Sisters+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KnRAKd3lLoU/UVW_etIOdnI/AAAAAAAAAas/QXE7uC04CNU/s320/Padovani+Sisters+(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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What does it mean to call a wine feminine--beautifully perfumed, supple texture, delicate even? We were discussing this way of describing wine the other day in the shop and found ourselves gravitating towards the Tuscan section of our store. </div>
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And of the Tuscan winemakers in the shop whose wines we feel embody what's great about their terroir almost all are <strong>women: Giovanni Morganti (Chianti Classico); Dora Forsoni (Vino Nobile di Montepulciano); Elisabetta Fagiuli (San Gimignano); and the Padovani twins (Montalcino)</strong>. We are thrilled to declare that these brilliant women are leading the current revolution in natural winemaking in the center of Italy, making expressive, elegant wines that are as addictive as they are powerful. <span style="font-size: 14pt;">A brief word on each: </span></div>
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In the Southern limit of the Chianti Classico zone, <strong>Giovanna Morganti</strong> worked at the research laboratory and vineyards of San Felice in Castelnuovo Berardenga. She has a mere three hectares of vineyards and works according to the traditional rhythms of her territory such that the wine takes a thirty month journey before becoming available to the public. She describes her wines as "ferociously elegant." We can't agree more. </div>
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<strong>Dora Forsoni</strong> cultivates the Prugnolo Gentile clone of Sangiovese in Montepulciano with her partner <strong>Patricia Castiglioni</strong>, a unique strain surviving from the 16th century that she describes as difficult to stop drinking (she calls it a "drug"). She also makes a delicious white wine out of the grapes that USED to be blended with Sangiovese in the past when that was the way to make a more thirst-quenching wine, so imagine: Malvasia Verde, Malvasia Bianco. Biancame, Trebbiano, and Grechetto brought up in concrete. After a day of pounding the pavement, this is an ideal aperitif to precede her red Vino Nobile (Dora calls this white her Vino Nobile as well). </div>
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<strong>Elisabetta Fagiuoli</strong>, born in Valpolicella, has high altitude vineyards in San Gimignano overlooking the rest of Tuscany. Because of this elevation, she's most famous for her white Vernaccias, of which she makes four different kinds(!), all of which are of the stature of her compadre in world class white wines, Mme. Bize-Leroy in Burgundy. We're selling her Tradizionale bottling, which is vinified one year "sur lie" (the raw good stuff) before bottling. And her reds are divine too!</div>
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Twin-sisters from Milan, <strong>Margarita and Francesca Padovani</strong> took over their mother's small farm in Montalcino in the late nineties, with the goal of making drinkable, honest wines in a region plagued by Parkerization (over-extracted, magazine score-fetching wines that say look at me but are impossible to drink). Whatever your experience of the Brunello clone of Sangiovese, the Fonterenza sisters make a variety of wines in levels of intensity from the most accessible to the most potent, all of which harmonize with food instead of making loud speeches from the glass. </div>
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<strong>Le Boncie Chianti Classico 2008, $41 </strong></div>
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<strong>Poderi Sanguineto Bianco Toscana 2010, $19 </strong></div>
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<strong>Poderi Sanguineto Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008, $42 </strong></div>
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<strong>Sono Montenidoli Vernaccia di San Gimignano Tradizionale 2010, $21 </strong></div>
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<strong>Sono Montenidoli Colorino Rosso Toscano 2010, $22 </strong></div>
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<strong>Sono Montenidoli Chianti Colli Senesi Il Garullo 2009, $23 </strong></div>
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<strong>Fonterenza Pettirosso Rosso Toscano 2010, $24 </strong></div>
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<strong>Fonterenza Rosso di Montalcino 2009, $34 </strong></div>
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<strong>Build your own Toscana six-pack from these wines and save ten percent! <strong style="font-size: 14pt;">Click <a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" target="_blank">here</a> to order.</strong></strong></div>
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Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-71828988381893544502013-03-29T11:56:00.000-04:002013-04-09T09:09:25.007-04:00Spain by Other Means<br />
<pre style="background-color: white; color: #333333; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap !important;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Spain is a great example of how some traditions must survive, at all costs (Sherry), while others (new oak) simply must go. Neither sustainable nor terroir revealing, the Tempranillo-based appellations were not thinkable without the use of wood until now. Thanks to our intrepid friend Jose Pastor (aka "the Joe Dressner of Spain") small wineries that are getting back to basics are coming to light.</span></pre>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kwn2GRYODe8/UVW5HefxOXI/AAAAAAAAAac/ymU83IDB7ZM/s1600/Mendoza.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kwn2GRYODe8/UVW5HefxOXI/AAAAAAAAAac/ymU83IDB7ZM/s320/Mendoza.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<pre style="background-color: white; color: #333333; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap !important;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Write Ribera del Duero in your head and then cross it out; Alfredo Maestro's there but would rather not have his wines associated with the oak-bombs the region was famous for. His wines are super-natural in both senses--no additives and incredibly powerful, raw, think Paolo Bea but Tinto Fino and Grenache. This is the difference.
And instead of using the standard form of "Rioja" based on grape-assemblages, Abel and Maite Mendoza are making wines exclusively by soil type. This one's tempranillo collected only from limestone-laden ("limoso") vineyards in the Rioja Alta with no oak at all (only concrete!), one of the more fresh takes on Rioja we've had in a while!
Our Spanish re-assemblage would not be complete without Fabio Bartolomei's bonkers-good unfiltered wines from Madrid. Our wine club members get first dibs on our final re-stocking this vintage (our allocation is relatively large, but actually quite miniscule!). His "Titulciano" is mostly old-vine tempranillo with some "Sirah" and Graciano, wonderfully spiced and complex, and the "Malvar" is from one hundred-year-old vines and made the way Lapierre and co. make their quaffable Beaujolais (Carbonic Maceration in shop talk), where the berries are fermented quasi-intact and then pressed afterwords. The result is a new plateau of deliciousness: blood-orange wine.
Sherry, we mentioned, should not change at all, but is rarely organic. We found you one that's both--a half-bottle of Manzanilla is heading your way--if you like it, come get some Fino or Oloroso in our shop! Serve the sherry with green olives, salted nuts, and lighter fish tapas, and the reds with anything you can get your roast on.
(If you're curious to join the club, <a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" target="_blank">rsvp</a> and we'll get you started.)</span></pre>
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<pre style="background-color: white; color: #333333; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">hearts,</span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; color: #333333; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the Thirst team</span></pre>
Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-21079304524251093332013-03-08T11:12:00.001-05:002013-03-08T11:22:37.047-05:00Real Wine All The Time<br />
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">When we were living in the Bay Area and first discovered
the wines of <a href="http://kermitlynch.com/" target="_blank">Kermit Lynch</a>, one of the first mixed cases we compiled was made up
entirely of wines from the Loire Valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If there’s a single region in France whose stylistic bent is geared
towards wines of “thirst” (vin de soif), we decided early on this is it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whites can be highly nuanced, crisp
without being bracing, and somehow deeply supple too, and the reds as chillable
and refreshing as the whites but with an abundance of fruit and herbs that
never tire the palate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">Since that idyllic time of drinking the Loire in San
Francisco, a new generation of intrepid wine importers have made available to
us a new cast of characters from the Loire coming not only from other wine
regions but other walks of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">THE REDS Part 1: Anjou<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">Nicholas Reau was a rugby-playing blues and jazz pianist
who did a one-eighty after nearing the end of his business studies. He dropped
his briefcase and scraped together the funds to buy a vineyard, Clos des
Treilles, and immediately started getting his hands dirty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though Nicolas had studied in
Bordeaux, there was something about Anjou which drew him in—as with Benoit
Courault, who also started in a more mainstream region (Burgundy) only to find
a sense of in-authenticity that left him seeking truer mentors elsewhere
(causing him to spend a couple years working with Eric Pfifferling of L’Anglore
in Tavel, as well as learning how to make a horse his vineyard manager from the
likes of Olivier Cousin).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">If there’s a way to describe both the jazz musician’s
and the equestrian’s approaches to vineyard tending and winemaking, it would be
natural improvisation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
Nicolas harvests from the older vines he found already in his Clos des Treilles
vineyard, allowing the resulting grape juice to turn itself into wine
auto-poetically through a path that starts in cement, then used oak, and
finally settling into the bottle without any fining/filtering/sulfuring or
other interferences, Benoit converted the old farm house on his six hectare
property into </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana;">a winery and decided to create his own living
inhabitation directly in </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana;">the vineyard itself with a trailer, not fussing with the
soil (but allowing his horse Norway to take care of that) so that the itinerary
from harvest to cuvaison is entirely ecosystemic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also uses an old apple press from Brittany that is then
gravity fed so that only the earth’s native forces enable the wine to come into
its own.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">When you drink both Nicolas’ and Benoit’s wines, their
versatility will allow you to improvise too, in the kitchen, as the structure
of these wines are wound differently—Nicolas Reau’s Pompois Anjou Rouge 2010 at
a looser coil, with boisterous vibrancy, and the Benoit Courault Les Rouliers
Vin de France 2010 more densely woven in a way that your own letting it be will
be rewarded with a good, long decantation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">Part Two: Touraine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">Further inland along the river valley is Touraine, home
to one of our favorite of the greatest small appellations in France,
Cheverny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Less people live in
Cheverny than in Fort Greene but the wine scene there is beyond urbane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christian Venier, one of seven
siblings, took over his family’s domaine as the only child who took up the
winemaking call, and makes nearly a dozen single parcel wines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With trouble just picking one (we
cherish them all!) we’ve decided to give you one of his reds, “La Pierre aux
Chiens,” a lovely filigreed and potpourri’d pinot noir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is natural winemaking at its most
balanced, ripened to only 12% alcohol. Also on offer is Philippe Tessier’s
Cheverny Blanc, which is by law a blend of Sauvignon Blanc with at least 20%
and no more than 25% of another grape (candidates being either Chardonnay or
Menu Pineau, Tessier opting for the former), a wine that many of you have been
ordering second glasses of at <a href="http://www.thirstbaravin.com/" target="_blank">THIRSTBARÀVIN</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">To complete the bag is a dry bottle of classic Vouvray from
Catherine and Pierre Breton, who were one of the earlier pioneers of
biodynamics in the region after Nicolas Joly and Domaine Huet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enjoy! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">Have an indoor picnic! Spread your best table cloth on the floor
and pair these wines with rillettes, spicy tripe sausages, and an assortment of
goat cheeses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;">If these wines pique your interest, click <a href="mailto:info@thirstwinemerchants.com" target="_blank">here</a> to sign up for our club at the $25, $50, or $100 level and we'll get you started.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5460841381455671936.post-23580560333827558622013-02-17T11:48:00.001-05:002013-06-06T18:28:34.298-04:00On Doing Nothing<br />
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Thank God there's a new wave of California winemakers making wine where nothing is added and nothing is taken away. </div>
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Hank and Caroline Beckmeyer of La Clarine Farm, which is located at 2600 feet in California's Sierra Nevada Foothills, have throughout the past decade been moving toward doing nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. Their inspiration comes from Masanobu Fukuoka, a Japanese farmer-philopher whose ideas were translated as "do nothing farming." Hank thinks either the phrase was badly translated or Fukuoka had a wicked sense of humor. What it means to him is not doing anything unnecessary; basically working with rather than against nature in the vineyard to produce grapes, and beyond that, simply crushing the grapes to make the wine. </div>
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The Beckmeyers prefer to use their feet, as does Michael Christian in the San Diego area, who started Los Pilares with three co-conspirators a few years after Clarine Farm began to bring it on. Neither want to see much sulfur in their bottlings, which stylistically produces a wine so fresh and fruity you'd mistake it blind for other terroirs for sure. Keep your eyes open though because the colors are beautiful, vivid, and the quantities less than miniscule.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">La Clarine Farm Mourvedre "suma kaw" 2011, $25</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">La Clarine Farm Syrah "suma kaw" 2011, $25</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">Los Pilares Grenache/Syrah 2011, $26</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">One bottle of each for $69 while they last!</span></div>
<br />Michael Yarmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388656723509163773noreply@blogger.com0