Joe Canal's is pleased to announce the arrival of a new offering from Malibu Rums!The iconic bottle and taste has made Malibu the world’s best-selling Caribbean rum, and today, we introduce you to its younger, darker and ultimately more stronger younger brother: Malibu Black.
The new flavor utilizes similar coconut flavor you’re used to with the original, but with higher proof and less sweetness for a “bolder taste of the Caribbean.” Original Malibu flavor carries with it a 21% alcohol by volume (42 proof), while the new Malibu Black boasts a 35% alcohol by volume (70 proof).
A splash of this would go great with cola, add it to your blender for a ramped up colada, or try it straight up as a Malibu Black Bite.
We planned to visit two small towns nearby, first Casale d'Elsa and then Volterra. As we walked about in Casale d'Elsa the first thing that came to mind was ... lunch. After all, this is Italy. We looked as we walked for a good place to eat and located a comfortable and trendy looking pizzeria with a veranda and a nice view. As it turned out, the pizza and the accompanying wine (the house white) were not quite up to the view. Mythbusters you are on alert, not all food in Italy is awesome.
A small space with a counter that offered cured meats and cheeses, espresso, and wine, and a very small seating area decorated in a hodgepodge of newspaper articles, half a Volkswagen Beetle hung upside down, and mostly womens' brassieres. Lots of 'em. Hanging all over the ceiling and autographed to boot. 
We left La Vena di Vino and walked around for a while more, then drove home, it now being late in the afternoon. We would dine at a local restaurant in the next town over from where we were staying.
It's going to be a gorgeous holiday! Don't forget to stop by Joe Canal's this Memorial Day weekend to stock up for your barbecues! While you're here, take advantage of the fun things we have planned for you!
Victory Brewing
Join us for a free taste of these fantastic wines:
Shiner Bock
We are on a plane bound for Rome and then Florence. From Florence, we travel by car to a small village in central Tuscany called Colle di Val d'Elsa. It is the first day of a deferred honeymoon that will have us in a villa central to everywhere, but in the middle of nowhere. Sienna, Florence, San Gimignano, Montalcino, are all no more than an hour away by car, but here we are tucked away up on a hillside isolated from everything but ourselves and beautiful landscape as far as the eye can see. The winding gravel driveway up to the villa is over 2 kilometers long and wide enough for only one car. We unpack as we sip champagne from Egly-Ouriet and feel a great sense of pleasure knowing we have no plans until Monday, two days from now. 
This is Villa Montecastelli, formerly a fortress constructed in the 12 century, now restored by Jens Schmidt into a working farm, olive oil estate, and luxury residence that we will call home for the next 7 days. We finished settling in and I take my wife Stacey for a tour of the grounds.
I guess I should clarify. Antipasti is any assortment of small dishes one consumes as appetizers. Traditionally the next course would be a pasta course, so the food you have before that is your antipasti.
While we talked and ate, I lit a fire in the wood burning grill in our kitchen. The gorgeous steaks we had were from grass fed cattle. They were much redder and leaner than the beef you see here, but not coming from feed lot cattle, they were definitely healthier as well. I grilled the asparagus, prepared a green salad dressed with the olive oil from the villa, Primo Olio, and grilled the steaks.
Deb's Spotlights
Joe Canal's is pleased to announce the upcoming arrival of a new line of vodka from Cupcake! That's right, the same manufacturer that brings you some of your favorite wines is now entering the world of vodka with four fantastic flavors that you are going to LOVE. They'll be here in June, so keep your eye out for these brilliant blue bottles!
May 5th was not only Cinco de Mayo, it also was Mom's Nite Out. It's the first national celebration of motherhood that brings together today's Moms at over 100 Simon Malls. This was the 2nd year in a row that Joe Canal's participated in this event at the Menlo Park Mall in Edison and we were the featured vendor. 
Joe Canal's is lucky enough to have the opportunity to host this legendary patriarch of the Argentinean wine world in a VERY RARE public appearance! This is your chance to wine and dine with Decanter's Man of the Year and the man behind Wine Enthusiast's current New World Winery of the Year!
The menu is as follows:
Impromptu Chickpeas Over Soba Noodles
One of our internet folks is lucky enough to own an "aroma kit." Before I started at Joe Canal's, I had no idea that something like this even existed. It's up there as one of the coolest things I've discovered in this position. What it is, is a collection of little bottles of concentrated scent. This particular kit is a basic red wine kit with only 12 scents, ranging from Strawberry to Licorice to Vanilla. These kits range from the most basic, to very extravagant kits that include over 50 vials of scents and cost many hundreds of dollars. 
I smelled it, and an almost overwhelming familiarity filled my nose. See, in my little tasting notebook I have where I write down my amateur wine tasting notes, there are more than a few red wines I've tasted that I have written down "wine." under the aroma column. And what did this blackcurrant vial smell like? Wine!