First Friday Grab Bag

Well, the first Friday in October, anyway. That just means it's time for our wrap up of the week that was, with a preview of the upcoming weekend.

Events

Lawrenceville has a pretty full agenda, which includes a month full of fund-raising for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. We start with our regular wine tasting schedule; today, 4-6pm, and tomorrow, 2-4pm. The tasting menu is here.

For the month of October, we will have special Growler keg tappings at 5pm on Fridays. We will be pouring brews that are part of the Sierra Nevada Band Camp collection. Today, we're tapping Myron's Walk Belgian Style Pale Ale and CANfusion Rye Bock. Click here to see the schedule for the month.

Looking ahead, Ladies Night Out is Sunday, October 19, 7:30pm-9:30pm. This special after-hours event will include expanded tastings, food and fun. Complete details will be posted shortly.

We wrap October in style, beginning with an in-store Weyerbacher dinner on Wednesday, October 29. We'll also have a free spirits tasting on Thursday, October 30, featuring Irish Whiskey.

Woodbridge has a similarly full schedule of events. We start with the regular weekend wine tastings, 4-6pm today and 1-3pm tomorrow. Click here for the menu.

Coming up, we'll have two Deep Eddy Vodka tastings, on 10/10 and 10/18. Also on the 18th, we'll forgo our normal tasting to focus only on Barton & Guestier wines.

The Sierra Nevada Beer Camp specialty tappings will be at 6pm on every Friday in October. Today, we're tapping Myron's Walk. To see the full agenda for October, please click here.

Woodbridge will also host an after-hours Ladies Night Out, on Sunday, October 26. Details are being finalized.

We'll have a great Wine Dinner on Wednesday, October 29, at Dominic's Italian Restaurant in Avenel. While all the details aren't yet set, the wines and menu are. Click here for more information.

Sneaking a peek into November, we're hosting an in-store beer dinner on 11/14, featuring Kane Brewing Co. There will be at least 4 courses, paired with at least 4 beers. Full details will be available shortly.

New Products

This was a busy week, as we've already blogged about several new wines and spirits. You can also look for these:

Compass Box Whisky, The Lost Blend: An under-the-radar brand of small-batch whisky, made by an American in Scotland. After many years in the wine trade, American ex-pat John Glaser entered the world of Scotch whisky, learning his art through one of the industry's largest companies. In 2000, he started Compass Box Whisky Company, based on his commitment to evolving practices in the industry to make great Scotch whisky more approachable and relevant to more people.

The Lost Blend is an homage to Compass Box's now-retired, first-ever single malt blend. It's an elegantly complex union of two fruity Highland single malts and a peaty Islay single malt. It has an ethereal fruit and herbal character and a sweetness on the palate that is buttressed by an underlying smokiness. The whisky is sourced from the Clynelish, Allt-A-Bhainne and Caol Ila distilleries, bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered, with natural color.

This whisky will also be retired after the current production run, making this highly collectable (and it will feature 3 different labels) and extremely allocated. $99.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Woodwork Cabernet Sauvignon: Woodwork honors and celebrates the craft of making a wine. In accord, this Cabernet shows some smoky notes from oak influence with some juicy and tart raspberry flavors.

$13.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Ripped from the Headlines

Beer can help your memory. Seriously. Click here for the article.

And wine can help fight acne? Click here and scroll down for the article.

Today is the Day of German Unity, marking the post-Communist reunion of East and West Germany. So whether you choose one of their great beers, sweet or dry Rieslings, Zweigelt or Gruner Veltliner wines, Joe Canal's has something appropriate to toast with.

Wait, it that a Coke inflatable at this beer event at the Brandenberg Gate?

Cheers! Have a great weekend.