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.

Get Skinny for the Summer

Everyone loves a margarita with a kick, but no one likes the extra calories! The NEW Skinnygirl Spicy Lime Margarita is a perfect balance of natural flavors like cool lime and spicy chili, mixed with premium blue agave silver tequila. Pour over ice in a festive margarita glass with a twist of lime. It's a delicious and low-cal way to feel the heat!

At Joe Canal's, we also carry a pretty extensive selection of the other Skinnygirl Ready to Drink cocktails. Open, pour and enjoy! From sparkling and sweet to our new Spicy Lime Margarita, you'll find a low-cal cocktail for every taste. In addition, we carry Skinnygirl Moscato and Prosecco.

Bethenny Frankel, the founder of Skinnygirl® Cocktails, Wine and Vodka, will be at our Woodbridge store on Saturday, June 6th, from 3-5 pm, for a bottle signing!

Weekends Update

While our grammar might be less than perfect, that seemed like the best way to address the weekend coming up, and the weekend that just ended.

In talking about the weekend that just ended, we're really highlighting the special appearance of Christina Milian at our Lawrenceville store on September 12.

A long line awaited Christina, and the line stayed strong throughout the two hours she was in-store. However, the line did move well, and she gave every guest her complete attention.

Viva Diva Moscato wines are from Italy's Piedmont region, and are high quality sweet, slightly sparkly wines that are infused with natural flavors of Mango, Peach, Pineapple-Coconut and Strawberry. 

We are all looking forward to the upcoming Customer Appreciation Weekend. There will be special discounts and extra sales all weekend long. Both stores will have free food on Saturday, along with a charity dunk tank that will allow you to try and sink a Joe Canal's employee, for only $1 per ball toss.

In addition, both stores will offer tastings of high end products on all three days. Want to sample Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Dom Perignon, Caymus, or Beluga Gold? All are on the tasting schedule for Customer Appreciation weekend.

Because each store will have unique events, and restrictions will apply in certain circumstances, the best thing to do is check the complete agenda for each store.

For the Lawrenceville schedule, please click here.

For the Woodbridge schedule, please click here.

See you this weekend!

Viva Diva in Lawrenceville

The Viva Diva, Christina Milian, will appear at our Lawrenceville store on Friday, September 12. The specifics of the event will be announced shortly.

Within the next couple of days, the Viva Diva Mango, Peach, Pineapple-Coconut and Strawberry Moscatos will be available in Lawrenceville. These wines all originate in Italy's Piedmont region. They start with a high quality sweet, slightly sparkly wine and infuse it with natural flavors.

Christina Milian, the multi-talented phenomenon whose resume includes film, television, theater and music, her Mother and manger, Carmen Milian and publicist, Robyn Santiago, share in ownership of the brand.  The brand has been recognized for taste, quality and price point.

This Just In

Here's our weekly review of new products at Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville and Woodbridge.

Bacardi Mango Fusion

We ought to start with a rum that is all about summertime. Bacardi has created a unique fusion of mango and orange rums that creates an unforgettable taste experience. Mango Fusion fuses the refreshing and juicy flavor of mango with a recognizable hint of orange.

The Bacardi Mango Fusion is currently available in the 1 liter bottle, and it's priced at $20.99.

Francis Ford Coppola Director's Cut Cabernet Sauvignon

Strictly speaking, this is not new to our store. This is, however, only available on occasion, and always sells out quickly.

The Director's Cut Cabernet Sauvignon showed a beautiful degree of richness and structure because of the season’s excellent weather. Coppola added small amounts of Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot to enrich the complexity of the fruit profile. Full-bodied with sturdy tannins, deep, layered fruit character, and a lushness on the palate, Coppola Director’s Cut Cabernet Sauvignon boasts a mélange of red and black berry flavors, cherries, cassis, notes of lavender, and a broad range of spices and toasted oak. Will show best with a few years of aging, but can be enjoyed now after an hour or two of decanting.

Decadent and complex, Coppola Director's Cut Cabernet is fragrant with exotic notes of clove and toasted oak. Aged primarily in French oak barrels, this wine will develop further for several more years.

Only $15.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Carla Facciolo Wines

These wines should arrive today at our Woodbridge store only. In advance of the bottle signing appearance (June 21) by TV's Mob Wives star Carla Facciolo, Woodbridge will carry the Facciolo Montepulciano, Trebbiano and Prosecco.

The Montepulciano is deep and dark in color, with hints of blackberry and chocolate in the nose. On the palate, the wine is medium bodied with good structure and balance and a finish that lingers on and on. Ideal to pair with steaks, stews, roasts and pastas with with red sauce.

Not your typical Trebbiano, a wine that is a pale straw in color with hints of green apple in the nose. on the palate the wine bursts with freshness, balanced acidity and a finish that is dry, crisp and delicious. The ideal wine to serve with seafood, poultry and casual conversation.

The Montepulciano and Trebbiano are priced at $8.99 each in the Bottle Club®, while the Prosecco is available for only $14.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Block 478 Wines

Under the direction of consulting winemaker Alison Crowe, Block 478 wines express the individual character of each vineyard site, resulting in consistent wines from each vintage. Every block of grapes harvested is 10 acres or less; because of this they are able to focus their attention on every vine.

Their minimalist approach to winemaking and hands-on attention to detail, results in consistently high quality wines year after year. Every step of the winemaking process is done carefully. The grapes are sorted 3 times before fermentation: on the vine, going into the picking bins, and on a sorting table before fermentation. The result is the purest expression of the fruit in the wine.

We are bringing in four varities of Block 478 wine: Chardonnay ($11.96 in the Bottle Club®), Pinot Noir ($12.96 in the Bottle Club®), Zinfandel ($12.96 in the Bottle Club®) and the cabernet Sauvignon ($14.96 in the Bottle Club®).

Laetitia NADIA Cabernet Sauvignon

A Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the NADIA Cabernet Sauvignon fulfills and highlights the delicious potential of the Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard. Th e Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot were all crushed and fermented separately and blended at 10 months. 

Th e wine is aged for 16 months in 30% new French oak, 20% new American oak and the remaining 50% in neutral French oak.

Th is focused and supple Bordeaux blend unveils aromas of velvety currant and plum entwined with hints of juniper berry and a touch of orange peel. Opulent in mouth feel, this wine boasts sound acidity, fi rm tannins and a whisper of sweet oak giving this wine a soft but lasting finish. 

Regularly priced at $25.99, this is available in the Bottle Club® for only $19.99, and should be in the stores within the next day or two.

As usual, we have more new products that we can review. Please ask one of team members to show you our new items when you're next in the store.

Grand Tasting in Atlantic City

Each year, our staff gets to go to one of several trade tastings and this year I attended the Fedway tasting at the Taj Majal in Atlantic City, NJ with several of my colleagues.  This is one of the largest tastings of the year where wine and liquors are sampled and it takes place in the largest event space available, the Mark G. Etess Arena.

While sampling high end wines like Armand Brignac Ace of Spades Champagne or 1964 Faustino Grand Reserve Rioja you never know who you might see.  From old colleagues, vendors and even a celebrity or two, there is a lot of excitement in the room.

My colleagues were fortunate enough to hang out with Teresa Giudice from the Real Housewives of NJ who was at the tasting showing us her new sparkling wines.  Some other colleagues were fortunate to meet athlete John Starks from the NY Knicks.

These tastings are a great opportunity for the Joe Canal’s Staff to keep up with wine vintage changes, help them to make excellent recommendations, and enable them to sample new products that we think our customers would love.  Stay tuned for some new products sure to hit our shelves soon!

A Very Special Guest is coming to Lawrenceville!

Hey Phillies fans! Have you heard who's coming to visit Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville?

Join us on Saturday, June 30th for your chance to meet Phillies legend Darren "Dutch" Daulton! He'll be at our Lawrenceville store for a meet and greet, signing memorabilia and saying hello to all the Phillies fans who can make it out. This special event is sponsored by Yuengling Lager and Yuengling Light Lager.

"Dutch" is best known for his outstanding years in Major League Baseball. As a catcher for the Phillies and the Marlins he made his mark with his work behind the plate and at bat. During his 14-year career he was chosen as an All-Star 3 times.

Mark your calendar for Saturday the 30th, and don't miss your chance to meet "Dutch!"

Marc Mondavi Visits Joe Canal's Lawrenceville

We've had a very exciting week at Joe Canal's Discount Liquor Outlets of Woodbridge and Lawrenceville! Earlier we reported on Apothic Winemaker Boyd Morrison's visit to Woodbridge. A very special guest also stopped by Lawrenceville this week, Marc Mondavi!

Marc signed bottles and spoke with customers and staff about his new Divining Rod wines. As a teenager Marc discovered he possessed an unexpected, mysterious talent - the ability to locate underground water using divining rods. The gift earned him the title "Water Witch" and enabled him to plant great vineyards throughout California.

Marc brought his divining rods with him in the store and even allowed a few lucky staff members to try them out!

Water Divination, or dowsing, traces its roots back to Europe in the 1500s. Dowsing has been used to find a variety of things - from precious metals to life sustaining water. It is the latter that has been employed successfully by farmers for hundreds of years and enabled countless generations to irrigate myriad crops crucial to our very existence.

It was enlightening and interesting to speak with Marc, and we thank him for taking the time out of his busy schedule to come and see us and our customers! Watch the video below to see Marc speak about being a "Water Witch," and the Divining Rod wines.

Joel Gott's visit to Joe Canal's!

This past Wednesday, we were lucky enough to be graced with the presence of winemaker Joel Gott in our Woodbridge store! He stopped in to say hello and check out our store, and we were lucky enough to get him to talk to us on camera for our very first Winemaker Video Shelf Talker. Check it out!

Winemaker Martina Molino Visits Joe Canal’s Lawrenceville

Joe Canal’s has long been a "must-visit" location for winemakers and other industry VIPs. The latest visitor to meet and greet the customers in Lawrenceville was Martina Molino, the charming young winemaker from Mauro Molino.

The Mauro Molino winery is located in northwestern Italy’s Piedmont region. Joe Canal’s carries Molino’s Barbera, Langhe Nebbiolo, and Barolo, all of which were available for tasting with Martina. The 2010 Barbera D’Alba (available exclusively at Joe Canal’s in Lawrenceville and Woodbridge) is a fresh, fruit-driven wine that is aged in stainless steel tanks. This red wine is light enough for summer sipping, or pairing with casual food. The Langhe Nebbiolo is a richer wine, spending time aging first in stainless, then in oak. The traditional 2007 Barolo is young, but enjoyable, and capable of aging for 20 more years.

Martina spent two hours at the Lawrenceville store, signing bottles and talking about her wines. The occasional summer thunderstorm didn’t dampen anyone’s appreciation of the wines, which showed amazingly well. And although she’s only been studying English for about eight years, her stories of the wines and vineyard life captivated every store visitor.

With the Barbera priced at only $12.96 (BottleClub), the Mauro Molino wines are as affordable as they are enjoyable. Please remember to visit the Events page on jcanals.com to get the latest updates on special guests and activities in Lawrenceville and Woodbridge.

Winemaking Legend Nicolas Catena Visits Joe Canal’s in Lawrenceville

The Patriarch of Argentina's First Family of Winemaking paid a visit to Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville last week, as a part of an extremely rare trip to the United States. Nicolas Catena, joined by his wife Elena, was in Joe Canal's to talk about his namesake wines, and sign bottles of wine and copies of his daughter's book, "Vino Argentino."

Although Catena took over the family winery in the early 1960's, it wasn't until he planted vineyards in Mendoza in the 1980's that the wines delivered the quality that we enjoy today. The high altitude Mendoza region proved to be a perfect environment for Malbec, which became Argentina's signature red wine.

Daughter Laura, an ER physician with degrees from Harvard and Stanford, remains deeply involved in Bodegas Catena. "Vino Argentino" is the definitive guide to the wine country in Argentina. The book includes some amazing recipes that are taken directly from the kitchens at the winery.

During Nicolas Catena's visit to Joe Canal's, customers had the opportunity to taste four different and amazing wines: Chardonnay, Catena Alta Chardonnay, Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Joe Canal's stocks more than a dozen wines under the Catena label, with the basic wines priced under $15 in the BottleClub. We also carry Catena's fine wines, with scores as high as 98 points (Wine Advocate).

In a separate blog post, we'll tell the story about that evening's sold-out winemaker dinner. We do thank you, our loyal customer. The volume of wine that we sell at Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville and Woodbridge allows us to bring in industry superstars like Nicolas Catena. Make sure to check our website and emails for information on more visits like this.

Your Chance to Wine and Dine with a Legend

If you're serious about learning the wonders of the wine world, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for you to hear the stories and traditions of Argentinean winemaking, straight from the horses mouth!

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!

From 6:30pm - 9:30pm on Thursday, May 19th, Nicolas will be joining us at Salt Creek Grille in Princeton (One Rockingham Row, Princeton) for a fantastic Argentinean/South American themed dinner featuring amazing Catena wines.

This promises to be an evening to remember! Tickets will be $175 per person including tax and gratuity, and are VERY LIMITED, so reserve now! Tickets are available by calling Robert Strasser with Salt Creek Grille directly at: 609-419-4250.

The menu is as follows:

Reception Course
Poached Pear Tostada
A poached pear with goat cheese mousse, fresh berries and a mint walnut pesto on top of a tostada
Paired with Catena Chardonnay 2009

First Course
Octopus Carpaccio
Mediterranean octopus carpaccio with Moroccan fried capers, mediterranean sea salt and a micro green salad and extra virgin olive oil atop
Paired with Catena Alta Chardonnay 2008

Second Course
A Duo of Beef
Kobe beef short ribs with a foie gras sauce and a beef tenderloin shitake mushroom masa empanada, served with a cheese polenta
Paired with Catena Malbec Adrianna 2007 and Catena Malbec Nicasia

Third Course
Prime Mesquite Grilled Strip Loin
Mesquite grilled beef strip loin with an infused herb sauce and a ten layer potato and root vegetable and cabrales blue cheese au gratin, served with zucchini wrapped white asparagus
Paired with Nicolas Catena Zapata

Dessert Course
A Dessert Sampling
A chocolate shot glass filled with strawberry mousse and garnished with a white and dark chocolate marbled cigar
A Torta de chocolate
Dulce de leche gelato topped with a mini churro
Paired with Catena Malbec Argentino 2007

For more information, please visit the events page at jcanals.com!

A Very Sopranos Saturday

This past Saturday, we were treated to a special personal appearance by Tony Sirico, Paulie Walnuts from HBO's hit series, The Sopranos!

Tony stopped by at around 12:30 and was greeted by a crowd of about 500 fans. One dedicated fan was on line at the store at 8:30 in the morning, waiting to meet Tony! He shook hands, and signed bottles of Sopranos Chianti Classico that were sold through the BottleClub for $19.99!

We had a professional photographer on-hand who was kind enough to take photos of everyone that came to see Tony! She's working on the pictures right now and they should be available for viewing online next week. Keep an eye on your BottleClub e-mails for the link!

If you couldn't make it out to meet Tony but would still like to pick up some signed bottles of Sopranos Wines for gifts or to add to your personal collection, we still have plenty available at the Woodbridge store!

Sopranos Chianti Classico
"Intense ruby red color with big bouquet of notes of cherry, spice and hints of vanilla. The mouth feel is medium-bodied and balanced with full, harmonious flavors and a nice velvety finish rounding out the rustic tannins. A perfect wine to pair with beef, lamb and most pasta dishes." -The Sopranos Wines

The very best part of the event was that we were able to raise $6,400 to benefit special charities. Tony presented a check and we are thrilled to be able to help support these great causes.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who attended! We here at Joe Canal's had a great time chatting with you and we hope you had a great day as well and will come back to see us again very soon. Keep an eye on your email for those pics!

"Paulie Walnuts" is visiting Joe Canal's!

Please join us on Saturday, April 9th from 1:00pm - 3:00pm as we welcome Tony Sirico to Joe Canal's in Woodbridge! Tony Sirico is best known for his role as Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri in HBO's hit drama, The Sopranos!

Tony will be appearing to meet his fans and sign bottles of The Sopranos Wines! These wines are inspired by the landmark HBO series and feature a range of selections for every type of wine enthusiast. At the appearance, we will be featuring The Sopranos Chianti Classico, and offering free samples to taste while you wait to meet Tony Sirico!

During this very special event, $1 for every bottle sold will be donated to Tony's favorite charity, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Because this is a charity benefit event, no outside memorabilia will be signed.

Hope to see you there!

Willamette Valley Winemaker Visits Joe Canal's!

Thursdays the BottleBlog will feature an update on various exciting things going on at Joe Canal's: Reports of our travels, special event coverage, and more!

On Friday, March 11th, Jim Bernau from Willamette Valley Vineyards appeared at our Lawrenceville location to answer our customers' winemaking questions and pour samples of fantastic Willamette Valley wines.

Founder Jim Bernau is intense. He admits he drove his friends to distraction years ago, talking about the potential for Pinot Noir in Oregon. He either inspired them or wore them down. In any case, Willamette Valley Vineyards is an unusual enterprise.

What began as a small group of understanding fellow Pinot Noir enthusiasts, the winery has grown to over 4,500 owners.

Having developed an interest in wine at an early age, Jim explains he began as an adolescent home winemaker interested more in wine's effect than its attributes. As a small business lobbyist at the State Capitol, he helped the emigrating California winemakers pass legislation to develop an Oregon wine industry. This lit a path for Jim resulting in his planting in the South Salem Hills.

Trips to Burgundy and UC Davis and time with Oregon winemakers helped define his strategy. The cool climate of the Willamette Valley could deliver the expression of pure varietal fruit character, subtle layers of flavor and fine tannins with the balanced acidity he wanted.

Jim loves this land and has now lived at the vineyard for 23 years. Using a small tractor, he cleared away the blackberry vines and remnants of a pioneer plum orchard in 1983 and began planting Pinot Noir. The neighbors were convinced he was serious when he watered the over 1,000 feet vine rows with many sections of garden hose by hand. He speaks passionately about the soil and the steps taken to protect it and the ground water underneath.

Care is taken to meet strict standards of viticulture practices earning the Estate Vineyard and the Tualatin Estate Vineyards purchased in 1997 certification as LIVE and Salmon Safe.

When the winery began its first crush, Jim served as its first employee and cellar rat guided by a consulting winemaker. The winery quickly grew into Oregon's leading producer of wines selling at $15 and above only three years after its first release of Pinot Noir.

He has contributed his expertise in governmental affairs over the years serving as the industry's first Political Action Committee Chair, Legislative Committee Chair and as President of the Oregon Winegrowers Association. In addition to lobbying for passage of the original Oregon Wine Advisory Board and its financing provisions, he drafted and advocated passage of laws permitting wineries in exclusive farm use zones, direct shipment of wine to consumers, in-store wine tastings and a winery marketing tax credit. His contributions have earned him the industry's Outstanding Service Award and most recently the Founder's Award for his work on establishing the new Oregon Wine Board.

When asked where he would most like to be, it is in the vineyard. He believes Oregon wine quality and the unique attributes contributed by the Willamette Valley's growing conditions will determine the industry's success in the northern part of the state. His financial gift to Oregon State University established the first professorship in Fermentation Science.

He takes pride as a native Oregonian following the lead of the emigrating winemakers to build a world class Oregon winery by organizing the energy and resources of thousands of wine enthusiasts. Jim explains a consumer-owned winery is naturally oriented to the long term, sustainable interests of the community. His ground breaking work on conducting the nation's first successful self underwritten public offering has led to a new fabric of federal and state laws facilitating small business capitalization.

For the little time he spends away from the winery, the bulk is traveling to out-of-state markets with the balance hiking and fishing in the Oregon Cascades.

Bio courtesy of Willamette Valley Vineyards.

Upcoming Events at Joe Canal's!

Tuesdays on the BottleBlog, we'll focus on interesting or exciting industry news from here in New Jersey, to the valleys of California, to the vineyards of New Zealand. Today, we're excited to feature some fantastic events we have upcoming at our stores!

At Joe Canal's in Woodbridge and Lawrenceville, there's always something exciting going on! Each Thursday, we feature a free beer tasting for all of our beer lovers. Friday and Saturday free tastings highlight wines selected for you by our wine managers. But we're more than just free tastings! Check out these awesome upcoming events!

UPCOMING EVENTS IN LAWRENCEVILLE:

Free Glenlivet Tasting Event
Featuring Glenlivet Brand Ambassador Ryan Caswell
Saturday, March 5th, 2011 - 12:30pm - 2:00pm
Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville is happy to welcome Ryan Caswell from Glenlivet Scotches to our store for a free tasting event. We'll be pouring free samples of: Glenlivet 12 Year Old, 15 Year French Oak, and Nadurra, and Ryan will be answeing all your scotch-related questions. Please visit the events page at jcanals.com for more information!

* * *
Free Wine Tasting Event
Featuring Williamette Valley Winemaker Jim Bernau
Friday, March 11th, 2011 - 4:00pm - 6:00pm

We hope you can join us on Thursday, March 11th as we welcome Jim Bernau from Williamette Valley Vineyards! Jim takes pride as a native Oregonian following the lead of the emigrating winemakers to build a world class Oregon winery by organizing the energy and resources of thousands of wine enthusiasts. He'll be here to answer all your winemaking questions! Please visit the events page at jcanals.com for more information!

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UPCOMING EVENTS IN WOODBRIDGE:

Class: Beer 101 with John Hoyos
Saturday, March 12, 2011 - 1:00pm - 3:00pm

Join Joe Canal's in Woodbridge on Saturday, March 12th to get your beer knowledge on just in time for St. Patty's Day! John Hoyos from Hunterdon Brewing will be leading our first ever Beer 101 class in our Liquid Learning Center. Sample eight unique and interesting beers while gaining an insight into the world of craft beer. Come with questions, John will be happy to answer any you might have! It's only $10 per person! This class is a must for any craft beer lover and promises to be a great time. Please check the events page at jcanals.com for more information!

* * *
Tony Sirico Appearance and Bottle Signing
Saturday, April 9th, 2011 - TIME TBA
Joe Canal's is pleased to welcome Tony Sirico to our Liquid Learning Center for a bottle signing! Tony is best known for his role as Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri on HBO's hit series, The Sopranos. He'll be stopping by to sign bottles of Sopranos wines and to say hello to all his fans. Please check the events page at jcanals.com for more information!

Deborah Brenner visits Joe Canal's

Thursdays the BottleBlog will feature an update on various exciting things going on at Joe Canal's: Reports of our travels, special event coverage, and more! Today we report on Deborah Brenner's visits!

On Friday, December 3rd in Woodbridge and Saturday, December 4 in Lawrenceville, Deborah Brenner, author of Women of the Vine stopped by to meet and greet with fans, sign bottles, and pour samples of her wines.

Women of the Vine is touted by Wine Spectator as critcal reading for any wine lover's library. "Deborah Brenner uses this as a hook to present profiles of 20 women in the wine industry. Most are winemakers (Gina Gallo and Heidi Peterson Barrett being two of the more recognizable), but others include teachers, journalists and consultants. Brenner's close access to them comes through in the profiles, which use lots of details and quotes to tell each woman's story."

While writing the book, Deborah Brenner created the first-of-its-kind winery. Featuring hand-crafted, limited production wines, Women of the Vine Cellars unites award winning women winemakers from around the world under one brand. It is the first art gallery of artisan women winemakers designed to showcase their individual styles and nuances of their regions.

We thank Ms. Brenner for taking the time to stop and see us, and hope that all of our friends that came to visit us that day enjoyed talking with her! We have special events and appearances all the time at both our Woodbridge and Lawrenceville locations. To keep up to date on what's going on at your local JC's, make sure to keep our events page @ jcanals.com on your list of favorite pages!

Cousiño Macul's Eduardo Hidalgo visits Joe Canal's

Thursdays the BottleBlog will feature an update on various exciting things going on at Joe Canal's: Reports of our travels, special event coverage, and more! Today we report on Cousiño Macul's Eduardo Hidalgo's visit to our Lawrenceville location last month.

On Saturday afternoon, October 23rd from 1:00 - 3:00 pm, Eduardo Hidalgo, Brand Manager for Cousiño Macul visited us at our Lawrenceville store. He poured some of his fantastic wines, and chatted with many of our customers.

Founded in 1856, Cousiño Macul is the only winery in Chile amongst those established in the 19th century that continues in the hands of the original founding family. The company remains 100% under family control, producing limited quantities of fine wines.

All the Cousiño Macul reserve wines are estate grown, estate vinted and estate bottled. The complete supervision from the vineyard to the glass is a characteristic that Cousiño Macul shares with the world's most renowned wineries.

The mission of Cousiño Macul is to produce world-class wines that are unmistakable Chilean, carrying the distinctive character of the Maipo valley.

We thank Eduardo Hidalgo and hope that all of our friends that came to visit us that day enjoyed talking with him! We have special events and appearances all the time at both our Woodbridge and Lawrenceville locations. To keep up to date on what's going on at your local JC's, make sure to keep our events page @ jcanals.com on your list of favorite pages!

Alison Sokol Blosser visits Joe Canal's

Thursdays the BottleBlog will feature an update on various exciting things going on at Joe Canal's: Reports of our travels, special event coverage, and more! Today Debbie Miller Nelson reports on Alison Sokol Blosser's visit to Joe Canal's.

I met Alison in March 2008 in New York City. I was a blogger for a wine column on a big New Jersey newspaper web site and one of her importers reached out to me to see if I’d like to do an interview with her. Of course, I happily agreed and they set up a fantastic dinner at the W Hotel's Icon Restaurant in mid-town NYC. Her people arranged a wine dinner with three of her wines so that I could taste them and talk with her about the winery.

The winery was started in 1971 by her parents. Their love for Pinot Noir started it all. Susan, Alison's mother stepped down on January 1, 2008 and allowed her daughter and son Alex to take over the winery as Co-Presidents. Alison handles the business side while her brother handles sales and viticulture. The winery is located in Dundee, Oregon, a location that mimics the climate of Burgundy making it ideal to grow fantastic Pinot Noir.

Alison was 6 months pregnant when I met her, of course, at the time making tasting her own wines difficult. It's always awkward in the beginning, not knowing anyone, but once the wine was poured, the conversation became easy. Alison explained that the winery was 100% certified organic and 100% certified sustainable. Basically, they don't use any chemicals and all of their farming practices are meant to give back to the earth instead of destroying it, so that over time, they continually reuse and renew their natural resources. Usually when I start to hear this, I get nervous about the quality of the wine, but the three wines I tasted were amazing.

Alison and I kept in touch over the last few years. Of course, Facebook has made it easy to keep up with everyone nowadays. When I told her last year that I was working at Joe Canal’s, we considered having her come in and set up a tasting of Evolution, the only wine of hers that we carried at the time. I’m happy to say we now carry all four of her wines. In addition to the white blend of nine grapes, Evolution, we also carry Meditrina, a blend of Syrah, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel, the Dundee Hills Pinot Noir and her Pinot Gris. Of course, in 2009, her trip to the east coast was already booked up.

Several months ago, Alison let me know when she was going to be in town and we booked her immediately. On Tuesday, October 19th, Alison showed up an hour early and was ready to go. Within an hour we practically sold out of all her wines! A Joe Canal’s first! This was the first time I’ve seen customers coming in just for her. She was charming and gracious and introduced everyone to her wines. Most customers were familiar with Evolution and fell in love with her other wines as well. Alison signed almost 4 cases of wine and was able to make it to the city in time to see her first Nets game at the Garden.