If wine could talk, the article that follows lists some questions you might want to ask to help you choose the perfect bottle. Wine doesn't talk, but fortunately for you the wine staff members at Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville and Woodbridge do! Feel free to come in and interrogate them instead!
To some folks, wine is a one-way street. You buy a bottle, open it and drink up. Seemingly, the wine does all the work. All you do is decide whether you like it or not. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Our appreciation of wine is much more interactive.
Oh sure, if the wine is just an everyday item, one that neither deserves nor rewards any attention, then the buy-unplug-and-glug approach is just right.
But at the fine-wine level, a whole lot of discussion goes on, whether consciously or otherwise. With wine, as with so much else, we get what we ask for.
What, then, should you ask of a wine? This question is more key than you might imagine. It will determine not only the kinds of wines you choose, but also the kind of taster that you become.
Let me give you an example. Some wine critics say that an essential question to ask a wine is: "Are you delicious?"
This sets the bar awfully low. It empowers the "If I like it, it is good" approach to wine appreciation. As a taster you're asking nothing more of a wine than that it please you. In high-falutin' terms, this is known as the hedonistic approach.
The "Are you delicious?" demand ensures that as a taster you will prize ease over challenge. If this question is primary, you will choose wines that are soft, rich, fruity and devoid of the rasp of tannins or a poke of acidity.
So what should you ask? Allow me to offer five such questions that I, anyway, think good tasters might ask of any wine they come across. Next time you try a wine, ask these questions and see how the wine answers.
1. Are you characterful? If I had to nominate one question as preeminent over any other, this is the question I would choose. Why? Because characterfulness in a wine is the proverbial fork in the road.
If you decide that a wine lacks character, then however pleasing it may be—however, dare I say, "delicious"—it ultimately is banal. A wine without character will never—indeed, can never—invigorate. It cannot sustain your repeated attention. It is interchangeable with many other wines and therefore is, well, a simple commodity.
2. Are you unique? This is the next (big) step up from the character question. It's also a more difficult question to ask if you lack context. If, for example, you're tasting your first Meursault or Malbec, then it's pretty much impossible to say with assurance that the wine is unique. You need more experience with other wines of the same type.
That acknowledged, even novice tasters can hazard a guess. Some wines are so astoundingly original-tasting, so sense-filling, that you can't help but conclude that if this baby isn't unique, there surely can't be many more at home quite like it.
I remember just that sensation upon first tasting the Rieslings of Egon Müller's Scharzhofberger and von Schubert's Maximin Grünhäuser, to say nothing of the likes of La Tâche or Hanzell Chardonnay.
3. Are you a knockoff? Sometimes you can get the answer you're looking for by asking what might be called a reverse question. Here, instead of inquiring about uniqueness, you might instead ask whether you've already been there and tasted that.
For all of the wonders of our wine era, one of its features is the ability of winemakers to copy the style of successful or lauded wines. Modern technology and scientific winemaking training allows winemakers to mimic at least the manners, if you will, of other wines. And they do—all the time. (This is why question No. 1 is so critical.)
If you taste a wine and you have a nagging sense that, hey, I've had a wine like this before, then you're on to something. Trust your gut instinct on this. And know that knockoffs, by definition, lack originality.
4. Do you offer insight? For what it's worth, this is the question I ask more often than any other. Really fine wine can (and should) deliver a lot more than mere pleasure. It's precisely this ability to go beyond the merely pleasing that vaults a wine into the "really fine" category.
Really fine wines offer insight. If you can taste a wine and say, "I had no idea that the earth could speak this way," then, Bingo!, you've found a wine that offers insight. A wine that can tell you something about the mysteries of the natural world (call it terroir, if you wish) is an experience like no other.
I would submit that there's no more gratifying experience in wine-loving than drinking a wine that offers insight. Asking if a wine offers insight is arguably the highest demand you can make—and it is the hardest question for most wines to answer affirmatively.
5. Do I want more of you? Here, finally, we come to pleasure. (Yes, pleasure is essential. It's just not the sole measure.) The best wines—for whatever reason—make you want more. I've written often about my love of magnums. The best magnum bottles are filled with the wine you want yet more of.
If you ask a wine, "Do I want more of you?" and the answer is a resounding "Yes!", then you've arrived. Personally, the wines from which I get this answer are also the ones that I've concluded are characterful, unique, original and offer insight. That’s what I always want more of.
But whatever is on your list, if a wine answers this question to your satisfaction, then nothing else matters, does it?
This article was originally written by Matt Kramer and published on winespectator.com.
Given a 95 rating at ratebeer, Riverhorse Oatmeal Milk Stout is velvety smooth sweet stout brewed with oats and milk sugar and displays rich notes of bitter coffee, roasted malt, toasted oats, vanilla and a combination of dark and milk chocolate. Full-bodied with an incredibly smooth and creamy finish that will keep you yearning for that next sip!
A new arrival to the shelves of Joe Canal's in Woodbridge aad Lawrenceville is a delightful beverage to add to your holiday repertoire, Holly Nog - A sweet and smooth egg nog flavored beverage made with Wisconsin dairy cream and a touch of alcohol!
Rieslings and Sparkling Wines: Work well with vanilla flavors, and custard-filled pastries. The wine will play off the buttery flavors in the pastry.
Ports: A classic pair, a nice port compliments chocolate fantastically. Both sweet and rich, they'll dance in your mouth. Any dessert with nuts will also go great with port, which tends to have a has a nutty flavor on its own. Walnuts work especially well because they are tannic, and the sweetness of the port will counteract that.
This sparkling wine is new to our shelves at Joe Canal's Woodbridge and Lawrenceville locations! Tosti Brachetto d’Acqui is a fine, lively and persistent Rose sparkling wine offering delicate aromas of strawberry, raspberry and truffles with sweet fruit flavors and a crisp finish.
Sutter Home Family Vineyards, today announced the winery will donate $50,000 to the American Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org) towards relief efforts to help those impacted by October’s storm.
Nothing says festive like a big bowl of punch being ladelled out at holiday parties. Creamy or sparkling, fruity or spiced, hot or ice cold, punch is a fun way to get your guests interacting! Try these recipes at your holiday parties!
Orange Eggnog Punch
Hot Spiced Cider and Rum Punch
This month our beer department is featuring Brooklyn Brewery! All month long our Growler stations will be stocked with great Brooklyn brews, and we've got a coupon for $1.00 off Brooklyn bottles that's good all month long!
Click here to view this coupon by itself for easy printing, or show it to your cashier on your smartphone to redeem!
Volere Pinot Grigio is our newest wine-in-a-box... with a twist! This delicious Pinot Grigio comes in an adorable purse-shaped dispensing container, making it perfect for bridal showers, girls' night, or a charming gift for the purse-loving woman in your life!
Simply, a decanter is a container, usually glass, that you pour a bottle of wine into to let it "breathe" before you drink it. Decanters are widely available in many different sizes and shapes, from economy-priced versions to ornately engraved crystal, I've even seen decanters shaped like tree branches. 
You know how when you taste wine, you're supposed to pour only a little into the glass and swirl it around before you sniff it? Decanting is the same thing on a larger scale. Decanting, like swirling, allows the wine to come into contact with oxygen in the air, which releases the delicate aromas that have been trapped in the bottle. Since our sense of smell is so intricately connected with our sense of taste, this enhances flavor as well as aroma.
New to our stores this holiday season is Absolut Tune, the perfect guest at your holiday parties.
I knew it would happen. I knew someday someone would come into the store and ask the question, and that question would open the flood gates. However I never thought it would happen so soon. What's the question you wonder? Simply, this one: What wine do I serve with turkey? To answer this question, first ask yourself what is it that you and those eating with you usually prefer.
Georges Dubeouf Beaujolais Nouveau 2012
Gobble-tini
Hot Apple Cider
With the holiday shopping season right around the corner, why not cross the single malt Scotch lover off your gift list early and pick up a bottle of The Balvenie 17 Year Old DoubleWood, recently added to our lineup! 
The date is October 26th and I would like to share everyone a list of my favorite... Christmas Beers! Yes, Christmas beers have landed and we haven't even hit Halloween yet! So, please join me in looking forward to snow covered trees, hot cocoa by the fire and black ice on the roads as I count down my Top 5 favorite Christmas and Winter Beers. 
New to both our Lawrenceville and Woodbridge locations this week are two great everyday red wines from Washington's Thorny Rose: Cabernet Sauvignon and Red Blend
Wine goes with cheese. Meat sandwiches go with a pickle. Green tea goes with Asian food. Sushi goes with pickled ginger. Oil goes with vinegar. Soda goes with chips. Many of the world's most beloved food combinations pair an astringent food, which causes the mouth to pucker up, with a fatty food, which makes the mouth feel slippery.
If you're looking for a unique and different spirit to liven your Halloween festivities, we've got just the thing. This haunting glowing-green spirit was just delivered to our stores and is waiting for you on our shelves.
A very limited amount of beer from a brand new (to us) brewery has arrived in both of our stores. We're happy to bring to you Maine Beer Company!
Looking for something new, different and interesting to try with a hearty cool-weather meal? Just arrived in both of our stores is this highly-rated Macedonian gem that's good for your taste buds and great for your wallet.
Want to make a big splash at your Halloween parties? Check out this awesome set, due to arrive this week!
