Short Work Week Grab Bag

We hope your weekend plans include at least one visit to Joe Canal's. Both stores have wine tastings on Friday and Saturday, and there's a special after hours tasting event on Sunday at our Lawrenceville store.

Upcoming Events

Yesterday's blog post gave an excellent preview of what's coming up over the next few weeks at both stores. Click here for that post. Otherwise, click here for the Lawrenceville Event Calendar. Please click here for the Woodbridge Event calendar.

New Products

Mud House Central Otago Pinot Noir. Fragrant aromas of cherry and dried herbs complemented by scented oak and spice. Smooth on the palate with dark cherry and bramble flavors delivering a long finish with fine tannins and balanced acidity. Pinot Noir is a great summer red, pairing perfectly with salmon and salads.


Ardbeg Perpetuum. Ardbeg celebrates their 200th anniversary with a limited-edition whisky that's sweeter, lighter and more floral than a standard Ardbeg. The palate still exhibits tar and charcoal and spice and peat, but here they’re balanced by sweeter elements like vanilla, caramel and milk chocolate.

Ardbeg Perpetuum contains no age statement, and is made up of very old and very young Ardbeg whiskies aged in both Bourbon and Sherry casks.

A Look Back

It was a busy Memorial Day Weekend at Joe Canal's in Woodbridge.

We had a visit from Eddie Plungerhead, as part of the Plungerhead wine tasting.

We also had free Maglione's Italian Ice available.

Ripped From The Headlines

Will taxes be lowered on distilleries? Click here to read the story.

Have a great weekend!

What to do, what to do?

That's the classic conundrum, isn't it? We're looking to do something interesting outside of work, especially when the weather is nicer. Well, challenge accepted! With an ever-expanding schedule of events at our Lawrenceville and Woodbridge stores, there's something on the agenda for almost everyone. Here's a look at our upcoming calendar:

Events in Lawrenceville

This weekend is two parts regular wine tasting, one part special event wine tasting. We'll have our regular wine tastings on Friday (4-6pm) and Saturday (2-4pm). Click here for the menu.

On Sunday, we'll have our Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer Wine Event. Here, you can sample from more than a dozen different wines, shop both our store and invited vendors, enjoy appetizers and so much more. This after-hours event starts at 7:30pm on Sunday. Click here for details.

Next weekend, our wine tasting schedule gets a shake-up. We'll feature wines from Josh Cellars on both Friday (3-6pm) and Saturday (12-3pm). Customized labeling will also be available during tasting hours. Inquire at Customer Service for complete details.

Highlighting only special events, the next three will appeal to anyone who enjoys Scotch whisky, and also anyone who wants to give a gift of Scotch. Stop in for bottle engravings for The Macallan (June 12, 4-7pm) and Johnnie Walker Blue Label (June 13, 1-3pm). We're also offering wax seal gift tags for Dewar's Higher Marques on June 20, 2-4pm. Since Father's Day is June 21, any one of these three premiums will be ready in time.

June 13 will be a day you'll want to either stop in several times, or just hang out all day. We already mentioned the Johnnie Walker Blue Label bottle engraving. Our events will actually start at noon on June 13, with a tasting of Not Your Father's Root Beer. That's the name of a brand-new product that comes to us from Chicago. NYFRB is an ale, brewed with spices. Click here for more information.

After the NYFRB tasting, we'll have our regular wine tasting, from 2-4pm. June 13 wraps with the nearly sold-out Founders Small Plate Beer Dinner. This will start at 5:30pm, and registration is $35. Your registration fee includes one bottle of the 2015 edition of KBS.

We're not done with our June events. On June 19, we're hosting a tasting of Haig Club Single Grain Scotch. Haig Club has been crafted using a unique process that combines grain whisky from three cask types. This creates a fresh, clean style that showcases butterscotch and toffee for an ultra-smooth taste. Single grain whisky is being predicted by experts as the next trend in whisky. Haig Club is backed by David Beckham and Simon Fuller.

Our final special event for June is a Bourbon dinner, hosted by Store Manager Toni Carver. The only details currently available are that the dinner will begin at 5:30pm on Monday, June 22, at Vidalia in Lawrenceville.

Events in Woodbridge

It's a relatively sedate weekend at our Woodbridge store. We have our regular wine tastings on Friday (4-6pm) and Saturday (1-3pm). Click here for the tasting menu.

Things get really hopping in June. After a regular Friday wine tasting on June 5, we have a special guest visitor on June 6. We're hosting a Skinnygirl Cocktails In-Store Bottle Signing with Bethenny Frankel, the founder of Skinnygirl Cocktails, Wine and Vodka. Saturday, June 6th, 3-5pm.

Next, we're hosting a Bridal Show & Wine Tasting on June 10, starting at 7pm. Please click here for details. We just updated some information this morning.

The following day, June 11, we're hosting a tasting of Troegs beer, from 5-7pm. On June 12, we're back to a regular Friday wine tasting, from 4-6pm.

If you've ever wanted to try a Bloody Mary, or if you like to sample different recipes, then you definitely need to stop in on June 13, from 1-3pm. We're hosting a tasting of Bruce Julian Bloody Mary mix. This is a Southern spin on a classic cocktail. Click here for more information.

On June 14, from 2-4pm, we're hosting the Johnnie Walker Blue Label bottle engraving, with the Dewar's Higher Marques Wax Seal Gift tag set for June 20, from 2-4pm. Both are conveniently placed if you want to gift these items for Father's Day.

Explore the lighter side of Guinness on June 19, as we host a tasting of Guinness Blonde, from 5:30-8pm. Guinness Blonde combines the best European brewing techniques with the finest American hops. The result is a crisp, light and flavorful beer characteristic of the post-Prohibition American Pale Lager style, with an added hoppy and citrus nature and a unique biscuit malt taste.

With our incredible selection, unbeatable prices, great service and very full schedule of events, it's no wonder that we are New Jersey's wine and spirits SuperStores!

Incoming!

It's mid-week, where we have the opportunity to take a look at some of the newest arrivals at Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville and Woodbridge.

Patrón Añejo, Canal's Family Selection

At Joe Canal's, we sometimes partner with others to add outstanding products to our shelves. These partnerships allow us to offer you unique, limited-availability wines and spirits at reasonable prices. The Canal's Family Selection (CFS) designation means that the item was hand-selected for quality, taste and value.

So far, the CFS program has featured Tequila, Bourbon and other whiskies. We also have a number of wines that are exclusive to Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville and Woodbridge. These wines come from some of the best producers in the business, and are available to us because of our buying power.

You always knew that we saved you money. With these branded programs, you can be certain that you're getting the best of our stores.

Patrón Añejo is, for good reason, perhaps the best known ultra-premium tequila. Patrón Añejo combines a variety of tequilas all aged in small white oak barrels for at least 12 months. Similar to winemaking, each vintage of Patrón Añejo is carefully blended to produce a smooth and sweet tasting tequila perfect for sipping. Each bottle is numbered by hand and crafted from recycled glass.

The taste is smooth and sweet, with distinct oak notes complimented by vanilla, raisins and honey, with a hint of melon. Only $50.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Bombay Sapphire East Gin

In response to requests, we're adding this superb new gin from an excellent distiller. Bombay Sapphire East Gin features all of the botanicals from Bombay Sapphire (juniper, grains of paradise, lemon, cubeb berries, coriander, angelica, almonds, orris root, cassia bark and licorice) and then adds lemongrass and black pepper.  These two new botanicals clearly stand out in the nose of the Bombay Sapphire East Gin, giving it a spicier and fuller nose. The lemongrass seems to also boost the lemon in the nose and the black pepper boosts the juniper.

Available for $29.99.

                             Matua Marlborough Pinot Noir

We've noted previously how the New Zealand winemakers have started producing some excellent Pinot Noir. A notoriously difficult grape to grow, the success of Pinot Noir from the Marlborough region (the North end of the South Island) follows the success of Sauvignon Blanc.

Matua had a great 2013 growing season, yielding truly ripe and flavorful grapes. The palate reveals cherry, backed with blackberry notes and sweet smoky oak. The wine is soft and luscious on entry, with supple tannins leading to a savory, lingering finish.

Enjoy this young, but you'll add complexity by cellaring for up to three years. Only $10.49 in the Bottle Club®.

As always, if you're looking for new items in our stores, just ask any team member.

Funky Tuesday

After the long weekend, we're not feeling particularly alliterative. However, with the new wines we're presenting today, the savings will make up for that.

Depending on your palate, we have three reds from Funky Llama that will be the perfect pour. These are the kind of exceptional values that you have come to expect from Joe Canal's. Enjoy them at a cookout, use them as cooking wine or as a base for home-made sangria; you can't go wrong with any of these three wines.

Funky Llama Shiraz. Not your typical Argentine red. From the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "It is immediately an extremely juicy and mouth-coating wine, full of crushed black cherries, loganberries, huckleberry sauce, licorice root extract and black twizzlers. There is tremendous concentration through the midpalate that also shows a delineation not normally seen in wines of this level. It is well-structured to the finish that lingers surprisingly long with yet more anise, cherries jubilee and dry extract."

"This is clearly a complete overachiever at this ridiculous price point and worth the time and effort of going to the store for it." Only $4.98 in the Bottle Club® for the 1.5 liter size.

Funky Llama Malbec. Our wine staff in Woodbridge recently tasted this, and called it a "great buy". More: "Brick-ruby color, hints of berries and chocolate on the nose. Up-front fruit with an earthy, rustic, fruity finish. Perfect for pizza, pasta and barbecue. Make a great base for a home-made  sangria !!!"

On many occasions, we've noted our exceptional buying power, and how we pass those savings to you. That's all fully in effect with Funky Llama Malbec, which is available for only $2.98 in the Bottle Club® for the 750ml size.

Funky Llama Cabernet Sauvignon. The Llama is an icon of the high Andes, roaming the snow covered peaks between the pampas and the sky. Grown at 4,000 feet, in the shadows of these great mountains, these wines give a clear expression of the purity of the land where the grapes are grown: lively, fresh, and flavorful. Intense color and pleasantly dry with varietally true characteristics of black fruit and spices setting the stage for a solid Cabernet Sauvignon typically found in examples several times the price. Graceful and balanced on the palate with firm tannin. Also only $4.98 in the Bottle Club® for the 1.5 liter size.

Three Day Grab Bag

Thank you for making our blog a part of your holiday weekend. Of course, we pause to remember those who served and sacrificed.

Over the weekend, we will have our regular store hours on Saturday and Sunday, and both stores will be open from 9am to 6pm on Monday, Memorial Day.

In-Store Events

We listed out the important upcoming events in yesterday's post. Click here to access that post, which covers both stores.

New Products

Edge Cabernet Sauvignon. The winemaker notes: "EDGE is a lush, complex Cabernet Sauvignon produced from grapes which were carefully selected from the great old vineyards in the heart of Napa Valley."

"Produced with Napa Valley fruit, our product is a cutting edge wine without the cutting edge price."

EDGE Cabernet Sauvignon drinks wonderfully now, and will age well for five to eight years. Edge spent 16 months in French oak barrels, of which 35% were new. It is a blend of Cabernet and small amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

We've seen this elsewhere for as much as $27.99 per bottle. We have it on sale in the Bottle Club® for only $17.99.

We reviewed several other new products earlier this week. Click here to access that post. Since this was a holiday week, we didn't have many new product deliveries.

Ripped from the Headlines

Wine Spectator offers wine recommendations for your grilled meals. Click here for the story. We carry 5 of the 10 wines listed. Spoiler alert: Here's a listing of the wines that we do carry:

• Alamos Seleccion Malbec
• Bogle Merlot
• Columbia Crest H3 Cabernet Sauvignon
• E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône
• Layer Cake Pinot Noir

Have a great weekend! See you Tuesday.

Events Update

At Joe Canal's, we're not content to only be New Jersey's leading wine & spirits superstore. With our schedule of events, we're ahead of the curve in education and entertainment as well. Here's a look at the upcoming events in our two stores. First, a quick reminder that our store hours on Monday, Memorial Day, are 9am-6pm.

Events in Lawrenceville

We're taking an event break for the holiday weekend. If things slow down, we might have an unscheduled wine tasting, but we're expecting to be pretty busy for the weekend.

May 29 & 30 will see us returning to our regular weekend wine tasting schedule, Friday from 4-6pm, and 2-4pm on Saturday.

May 31 is our Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer Wine Event. This will be after hours next Sunday. Sample from over a dozen wines, enjoy appetizers and more! Click here for more information.

June 13 is the next important date if you're a craft beer aficionado. Starting at 5:30, we're hosting a Founders Brewing Small Plate Dinner. Five small plates courses will be expertly paired with five hand-crafted, quality beers. Seating is limited, and the cost is only $35. Your registration fee includes one bottle of the 2015 KBS.

Up next will be two excellent Father's Day and/or Graduation gift ideas.

June 14, we'll offer complimentary engraving on 750ml bottles of Johnnie Walker Blue Label.

June 20, we'll offer Wax Seal Gift Tags for Dewar's Higher Marques.

Click here for our website Event Calendar, a listing of all events, plus explanations.

Events in Woodbridge

We've doubled down on a busy weekend with interesting events.

May 23, we'll have a special tasting of Plungerhead wine. Plungerhead is donating $1 per bottle sold to the Boot Campaign, which benefits veterans. Click here for a more detailed explanation and a link to the Boot Campaign website. The tasting will run from 1-4pm.

You don't have to be an oenophile to enjoy visiting Joe Canal's this weekend. From 11am-6pm on Saturday, May 23, we're offering free Maglione's Italian Ice (while supplies last). It's just not summer in New Jersey without Italian ice, and this is one way we can say "thank you" for shopping with us.

June 6 is our next major event, an appearance by Bethenny Frankel, from SkinnyGirl Cocktails. The In-Store Bottle Signing will be Saturday, June 6th, 3-5pm.

We're hosting a Bridal Show and Wine Tasting on June 10, starting at 7pm. We're experts at saving you money on the wine, beer and spirits for your wedding, and we're partnering with Elegant Bridal Productions for this fun evening!

That very busy week continues the next day, with a free tasting of Troegs Craft Beer on June 11.

You'll have to wait two whole days for the next event, a Bruce Julian Bloody Mary Tasting on June 13. Click here for information on the event, and to find out why this is the must-have mix of the summer.

The week wraps with the Johnnie Walker Blue Label Bottle Engraving on June 14. On June 20, we have the Dewar's Wax Seal Gift Tag. Click here for more information on the Dewar's event.

Click here for our website Event Calendar, a listing of all events, plus explanations.

Here's the Latest

Those of us who grew up around here know that this weekend is really the start of summer. Not the "unofficial start" that the media often refer to, because we can ignore the calendar when we need to. It's the start of weekends (or weeks) either down the shore, or at the beach, depending on whether you're discussing South Jersey or North. It's also the start of cookout season, and we'll all be outside when we can.

There are a couple of things that you'll want to enjoy while you're outside. Sangria is always on the summer list, as is an easy-drinking red wine. Sangria, with its cornucopia of fruit, is the quintessential summer wine beverage. Because we enjoy more meals outside, as well as just sitting outside people watching or star gazing, we tend to drink from plastic, unbreakable containers, so the easy drinking, very affordable red wine is the right call. Fortunately, we have choices for you in those categories.

Mija Sangria. Sure, we still have the old favorites, but we think you'll absolutely love this new sangria, which comes from the team at 90+ Cellars.

Mija Sangria is a fresh and natural bottled sangria made with 100% real fruit juice for a true homemade taste. Crafted without artificial additives or preservatives, it's packed with antioxidants from the juice of popular super fruits including pomegranate, açaí and blood orange. Mija comes in a reusable flip-top bottle, making it the perfect on-the-go beverage.

Mija is sourced, produced, and bottled in New York. And the bottle's 100% screen printing means you won't have to deal with any runny ink or wet labels next time you and your friends are sipping and savoring a bottle pool-side.

Only $9.96 in the Bottle Club®.

For your summer cookouts, we have a couple of incredible values in our stores. Depending on your palate, we have three reds from Funky Llama that will be the perfect pour.

Funky Llama Shiraz. Not your typical Argentine red. From the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "It is immediately an extremely juicy and mouth-coating wine, full of crushed black cherries, loganberries, huckleberry sauce, licorice root extract and black twizzlers. There is tremendous concentration through the midpalate that also shows a delineation not normally seen in wines of this level. It is well-structured to the finish that lingers surprisingly long with yet more anise, cherries jubilee and dry extract."

"This is clearly a complete overachiever at this ridiculous price point and worth the time and effort of going to the store for it." Only $4.98 in the Bottle Club® for the 1.5 liter size.

Funky Llama Malbec. Our wine staff in Woodbridge recently tasted this, and called it a "great buy". More: "Brick-ruby color, hints of berries and chocolate on the nose. Up-front fruit with an earthy, rustic, fruity finish. Perfect for pizza, pasta and barbecue. Make a great base for a home-made  sangria !!!"

On many occasions, we've noted our exceptional buying power, and how we pass those savings to you. That's all fully in effect with Funky Llama, which is available for only $2.98 in the Bottle Club® for the 750ml size.

Funky Llama Cabernet Sauvignon. The Llama is an icon of the high Andes, roaming the snow covered peaks between the pampas and the sky. Grown at 4,000 feet, in the shadows of these great mountains, these wines give a clear expression of the purity of the land where the grapes are grown: lively, fresh, and flavorful. Intense color and pleasantly dry with varietally true characteristics of black fruit and spices setting the stage for a solid Cabernet Sauvignon typically found in examples several times the price. Graceful and balanced on the palate with firm tannin.

Only $4.98 in the Bottle Club® for the 1.5 liter size.

Nebraska Brewing Black Betty Russian Imperial Stout. Black as night and every bit Imperial, this RIS was originally launched to tremendous accolades.  Aged in Whiskey barrels, this barrel aged version meshes the rich chocolates and the coffee-like aromatics with the sweet whiskey nose and drying character of the oak.  Slightly behind on the palate are the hops, held in restraint by the wonderfully full mouth-feel and broad flavors brought on by the perfect blend of so many malted barley varieties. Ready to enjoy now and perfect for extended cellaring. 11.3% ABV. $18.49 for a 750ml bottle. Very limited availability.

Rough Rider Cask Strength Rye Whisky. Locally harvested winter Rye is the cover crop that is planted on the farm land to maintain the sustainable characteristics of the soils, following the harvesting of Long Island's iconic potatoes. Bottled at cask strength (121 proof), this remarkable Rye reveals its true raw spirit with hints of spice, coupled with a touch of malty sweetness, followed by a long, warm and smooth finish.

From Long Island Spirits, the company that brought us Pine Barrens Whisky and LiV Vodka. Priced at $61.49, and available in limited quantities.

Finally, for our Fine Wine lovers, we present the 1964 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo. "The 1964 Barolo presents an uncharacteristically youthful dark red color. It used to be quite common for estates to blend a little Barbera into Barolo and my guess is that this wine is not 100% Nebbiolo. It is a richly structured wine that displays mature aromas and sweet dark fruit with good overall depth of expression, although it is not as well-balanced as the best wines in this grouping." - Wine Advocate, 89 points. $289.99 in the Bottle Club®.

The Rinaldi vineyards

The New Baby

Hewitson makes its home among some of the oldest vineyards in the world. Discovering the beauty within these venerable old vines and expressing their distinctive characters through winemaking that respects tradition and understands progress is the essence of Hewitson.

Mourvèdre is one of the classic grapes of the Rhone region, bringing finesse to everything up to a Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Mourvèdre responds best to traditional vineyard practices with dry-grown, untrellised bush vines thriving in both Europe and the Barossa Valley in Australia. Taking cuttings from the 1853 planting of the Hewitson Old Garden vineyard, the oldest Mourvèdre vines on Earth, we grew, then crafted a wine from Baby Bush vines that takes a new look at an old treasure.

Kangaroos inspecting the grapes at Hewitson

Our Baby Bush vines thrived in the superb vintage of 2012 that saw a slow and even ripening period. The later maturing nature of Mourvèdre grapes meant ripening occurred in Autumnal sunny weather and the grapes benefiting from hang-time in these cooler conditions.

After hand picking and fermentation on skins, the wine completed its maturation for 16 months in the very same barrels used, when new, for Old Garden Mourvèdre. During this period the barrels experienced our innovative batonnage, where we mix the fermentation lees with the new wine by rotating our barrels on little wheels built into the racks. These methods serve to intensify flavour and complexity and offer us complete control over this process, maximizing quality.  The result is an intense wine of unique quality displaying very similar, yet youthful, flavors and characteristics of the Old Garden.

Tasting Notes:

The 2012 Baby Bush is a wonderful expression of this variety. The aromas display classic Mourvèdre richness, ripeness and rusticity. The dark, brambly, blueberry aromas are matched with the sage, earth and undergrowth. These aromas carry right through the palate which delivers a rich, velvety mouth feel, backed by very soft and fully ripe tannins. The structure, balance and youthful poise of 2012 Baby Bush Mourvèdre ensures the wine is extremely enjoyable now. It will also reward with time in the cellar. Rated 94 points by James Suckling. Only $17.49 in the Bottle Club®.

Johnnie Walker Monday

Mixology Monday is always about a high-quality spirit. While you may not want to use any of these three new items in a cocktail, a little water will always open up a beautiful Scotch whisky. These are all limited edition products, and each would be would be a unique Father's Day gift,

Johnnie Walker Odyssey 

A new super-premium release from Johnnie Walker whose launch has been continuously celebrated by an extraordinary around the world journey of a 157 foot luxury yacht. The John Walker & Sons Voyager, as the yacht is called, has been holding parties at cities across Asia and Europe!

This luxury blended malt has been based on the notes of Alexander Walker. It is made up of three carefully selected single malts married in European oak casks. There is absolutely no grain whisky used in this spirit, just three hand-selected single malts from three distinct distilleries, whose identities are a closely held secret. But the musty-sherry and honeyed-heather bouquet of this whisky hints that they are most likely Highland in origin, with at least one of the oak casks coming from Speyside—and perhaps a touch of Islay. A single sip all but confirms this, with elements of stone fruit and a whiff of smoke in the long, extremely smooth finish.

In stock now for $549.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Johnnie Walker King George V

King George V was created to celebrate the Royal Warrant given to the Walker family in 1934 to mark their exceptional quality. This blend includes Port Ellen, a highly prized malt whose distillery no longer exists. King George V has more restraint and sophistication than the Blue Label. The smoke is supplied from the unique, closed distillery of Port Ellen and is powerful, slow and resonant. It's a slower whisky to evolve but has enormous depth.

Besides Port Ellen, the distilleries include Cardhu, Lochnagar and some very old grain whisky.

Nose: Profound smoky initial aroma followed by sweet, fresh fruit (apples, pears, bananas) malt characteristics; developing into rich dried fruit/spicy complexity (raisins, figs, cinnamon).

Palate: Smooth with a rich, fruity sweetness. Warming with subtle flavors of sandalwood and smoke.

Taste: Powerful, complex, rich and smooth.

Finish: Mouth-warming and lingering rich peaty finish.

With water: Releases new flavors, more fresh fruitiness and more smoke on the palate.

In stock now for $324.99 in the Bottle Club®.

John Walker & Sons Private Collection - 2015 Edition

This is the second release in the John Walker & Sons Private Collection range. The first release was a "Unique Smoky Blend", whereas the 2015 edition focuses on the "Rare Fruit Character" of the Johnnie Walker range.

This limited edition blended Scotch whisky was made using 29 specially selected casks. As with the previous edition, 8,888 bottled were produced, all very handsomely presented.

Nose: The initial aromas are full of freshness and vibrancy – grassy notes, crisp green apples and pineapples from the Speyside malts.

These evolve into the heady Highland aromas with the autumnal richness of stewed apples, and then the spicy dried West Highland fruits emerge with orange peel and dried apricots.

These are balanced by sweet fudge notes provided to the blend from American oak casks.

With a few drops of water, the blend develops floral notes reminiscent of the sun-baked Highland heather moor, then into estery pear drops.

Palate: The mouthfeel is smooth and velvety.

Here the Speyside fruit character is present as orange citrus and passion fruit. The Highland whiskies appear as sweet and succulent ripe melons, and there is a West Highland dusky peach skin sweetness. Hints of honey are rounded off by a delicate sweetness from the grain whiskies.

Long years of maturation of the experimental cask whiskies deliver underlying notes of vanilla and a touch of rich fruits. As these flavors begin to fade, a very subtle hint of the John Walker & Sons signature smoke arrives, leading to a sweet, slightly warming finish.

Coming soon, for $499.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Mid-May Grab Bag

Since this is the last weekend prior to Memorial Day, we suggest stopping at Joe Canal's early, so you can avoid the holiday shopping crowds. Click here to see our current specials in Lawrenceville, and click here for our current specials in Woodbridge.

Events

We provided a detailed accounting of our upcoming events for each store in yesterday's blog post. Click here for that post.

Woodbridge Parking Lot

The parking lot re-paving project wrapped up yesterday. I think you'll agree that they did a great job.

Looking toward the entrance

Looking toward the exit

Delivery zone and extra parking, rear of store

New Products

Kreusch Dornfelder: Produced from the Dornfelder grape variety, which yields a red wine brimming with rich flavors of ripe plum and berry. Deliciously sweet with a deep, nearly opaque, purple color. The finish is full with velvety smoothness and little hint of tannin.  Best served slightly chilled. Serve on its own, with a hearty beef dish or with pasta and red sauce. Available in Woodbridge only (for now), for $8.49 in the Bottle Club®.

Valdespino Fino Inocente: "The NV Fino Inocente must be one of the few wines in Jerez that is still fermented in 600-liter American oak botas, which is an incredible amount of work compared with fermenting tens of thousands of kilos of grapes (or even more) in a big stainless steel tank. This method was the norm of yesteryear, but is so labor intense that it was discontinued in most wineries, and gives a big diversity of wines, as each barrel has its own character, which contributes to the complexity of the blend. Furthermore, the

bottled wine is on average 8 to 10 years old. One other thing that makes it apart from other Finos is that the grapes are exclusively from the high part of the Macharnudo vineyard, so this is a single-vineyard Fino. The nose is very complex, showing the effect of the long lees contact: chalk, dried hay, aromatic herbs and salty almonds. The palate is full, but at the same time elegant and balanced, powerful and fine, with the texture of a Meursault rather than a Puligny. A very complex wine, that manages to be both powerful and elegant. Inocente is great value for money. Drink 2013-2016." - Wine Advocate, 94 points. Also 92 points from Wine Spectator. Only $18.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Ripped from the Headlines

A Pinot Noir "game changer"? Click here for the story in the Philadelphia Inquirer. And note that the price cited in the article was $12.99. We sell Underwood Pinot Noir for $9.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Have a great weekend!

Looking for Something to Do?

The Events Calendar at both of our stores are filling very nicely. While we normally detail the upcoming events in our Friday blog post, we have so much information that we decided to detail everything in a stand-alone blog post.

Events in Lawrenceville

We have a full weekend of wine tasting, with a twist. Our Staff Selections are typically four different types of wines. This weekend, however, we're doing a Blind Pinot Grigio tasting.That means we're offering samples of four different Pinot Grigio brands, challenging your palate to see if you have a preference based on taste and aroma, rather than label. This tasting will be on Friday and Saturday, 4-6pm each day. Click here for the tasting menu.

Plungerhead wines, with their innovative Zork closure, have been a popular choice for quite some time. Stop in on Saturday, 2-4pm, for a free tasting of Plungerhead wines. Plungerhead is also donating $1 per bottle sold to the Boot Campaign, a non-profit that works to help veterans. Please click here to learn more.

We're having a special after-hours event on Sunday, May 31. The Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer Tasting Event will feature more than a dozen wines, appetizers, raffle prizes and more. Click here for more information on this fun night out.

Looking ahead a little bit, we're hosting a Founders Brewing Co. beer dinner on Saturday, June 13. This will be an in-store event.

And for Scotch lovers, we're offering bottle engraving for Johnnie Walker Blue Label on June 14, as well as the Dewar's Wax Seal Gift Tag on June 20.

Never miss an event. Click here to see the latest news on our website Event Calendar.

Events in Woodbridge

Now that the parking lot project is wrapped up, see the results might be an event itself!

We have our regular wine tasting for this weekend, 4-6pm on Friday, and 1-3pm on Saturday. Please click here for the tasting menu.

We're having our Plungerhead tasting next Saturday, May 23, from 1-4pm. The $1/bottle donation to the Boot Campaign is also in effect; click here for more information.

If you're watching the calendar, you know that next weekend is also Memorial Day Weekend. To celebrate the unofficial start of summer, we're offering free Maglione's Italian Ice throughout (exact hours TBD).

Since May is half over, we'll take a sneak peek into our June events as well.

Please join us on Saturday, June 6th, from 3-5pm for a Skinnygirl Cocktails In-Store Bottle Signing with Bethenny Frankel, the founder of Skinnygirl Cocktails, Wine and Vodka.

Click here to read about the newest arrival, the SkinnyGirl Spicy Lime Margarita.

As we move further into June and rest of the summer, you'll find a great range of events at our Woodbridge store, like a Bloody Mary tasting (June 13), two beer dinners (July 31 and August 14), two beer tastings (June 11 and July 23), and plenty more. Click here for our website Event Calendar, so you can keep up with our well-filled agenda.

Introducing...

Over the last few weeks, many of the wholesalers that we buy from hosted portfolio tastings. Our staff attended many of these events, so that we can better understand what we're currently carrying, and so that we can consider new products. Here's a look at a few of our newest additions:

Hewitson Baby Bush Mourvedre

Taking cuttings from the 1853 planting of the Hewitson Old Garden vineyard, the oldest Mourvèdre vines on Earth, Hewitson grew, then crafted a wine from Baby Bush vines that takes a new look at an old treasure.

The 2012 Baby Bush is a wonderful expression of this variety. The aromas display classic Mourvèdre richness, ripeness and rusticity. The dark, brambly, blueberry aromas are matched with the sage, earth and undergrowth. These aromas carry right through the palate which delivers a rich, velvety mouth feel, backed by very soft and fully ripe tannins. The structure, balance and youthful poise of 2012 Baby Bush Mourvèdre ensures the wine is extremely enjoyable now. It will also reward with time in the cellar.

Rated 94 points by James Suckling. Only $17.49 in the Bottle Club®.

Michter’s Barrel Strength Rye Whiskey

Michter's is known for producing limited edition whiskies that are highly collectible, and highly enjoyable. That's what we have with this cask strength version of its rye whiskey. It is a stronger version of their US*1 Single Barrel Rye, which rings in at 84.8 proof.

The barrel entry proof for this was 103 proof, a strength that Michter’s believes will yield a richer, smoother product than a higher entry proof would. After aging, the barrel proof for the majority of barrels of this first release ranged between 108 proof to 110.8 proof. The single highest proof barrel reached a strength of 113 proof. Available for $74.99.

Fattoria dei Barbi Brunello 2010

Fattoria dei Barbi is among a prestigious group of estates that has played an integral part in writing the history of Italian wine. The Colombini family, one of region’s most influential families, founded the estate in 1790. The family has owned land in Montalcino since 1352. The estate is currently owned and managed by the 20th generation heir, Stefano Cinelli Colombini.

"Fattoria dei Barbi's 2010 Brunello di Montalcino starts with a tightly wound personality that begins to unravel slowly, one delicate layer at a time. As it does, you become aware of dried fruit, cigar box, crushed mineral, plum, tar and cola. The wine puts on a beautiful display. I also loved the mouthfeel of this beautiful wine: It is tonic, tight and brimming with energy. Well-integrated oak notes give the wine a spot of softness and velvety spice. This is one beautiful Sangiovese." Wine Advocate, 94 points. Available only in Woodbridge (but we can transfer a bottle to Lawrenceville, upon request), for $54.99.

Six Saints Caribbean Rum

The devout islanders of Grenada have been quietly hand crafting rum for over 200 years. Named after the Caribbean isle’s six saintly parishes, we distill divine natural rum, the way it has always been.

Using only the most hallowed ingredients, the rum is matured in once used bourbon barrels and presented at 41.7% ABV, the perfect sipping strength. You might say Six Saints is a truly immaculate conception!

Golden and light-bodied, this small-batch rum mixes honey and oaky vanilla notes with fresh apples, pears and pineapple. The slow-building alcohol heat makes this an ideal rum for tropical drinks. Only $32.99 in the Bottle Club®.