New Week, New Products

Most every weekday, new products reach the sales floor at Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville and Woodbridge. We try to keep you informed by specifically noting some of the most interesting additions, but we can't possibly keep up. Today. we'll feature some of the most recent new products. If you're looking for something new or different, just ask our store team members for assistance.

Purple Heart Red Wine. The 2013 Purple Heart has aromas of mulberries, plums and blackberries with hints of black licorice. Dark ruby and opaque in appearance, this medium-bodied beauty is lushly textured with notes of red and black fruits and hints of cardamom. Seamless across the palate, the wine has a long, velvety mouthfeel and balanced tannins. It will drink beautifully upon release and gain complexity and grace over four to five years. Only $16.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Purple Heart is a Napa Valley red wine created to honor the bravery and commitment of America’s military heroes. It is an uncompromising wine crafted by highly accomplished military veteran winemakers under the stewardship of the Peter Mondavi Sr. Family, whose patriarch is a proud veteran of World War II. Purple Heart Wines makes a generous annual donation to the Purple Heart Foundation, an organization dedicated to serving the unmet needs of military men, women and families.

Think about adding a bottle of Purple Heart Red Wine to your Memorial Day BBQ.

Seña Red Wine 2013. Seña is an authentic Chilean blend made from the finest Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot varieties. The Carmenere variety adds an evident Chilean personality to the wine. The 2013 vintage will be remembered as exceptional, characterized by cool climate conditions that contributed to the fresh flavors and fruit intensity of each vineyard lot. Th e elegance and purity of Seña 2013 vintage truly stands out; a perfect blend of structure, persistence and roundness alongside freshness and intensity.

Rated 99 points by James Suckling: "Superb aromas of black currants, rose petal and mint. Lavender and stones too. Full body with incredible fruit density. Complex, yet it's agile and bright. Tannins are perfectly polished. It builds on the palate and shows the structure of a first growth Bordeaux but remains so Chilean. A blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Carmenere, 12% Malbec, 10% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot. From biodynamically grown grapes. Even better than the amazing 2012." Limited availability, at $97.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Harpoon UFO R.A.Z. Natural raspberry flavors are added to our UFO Hefeweizen to create this beer. Consistent with the Hefeweizen style, this beer is unfiltered and cloudy with a solid foamy head. UFO R.A.Z. has a distinctive, hazy rose color. The scent of fresh raspberries hits the nose immediately, along with a subtle bready aroma from the wheat and yeast. The body is light and the unfiltered yeast provides a soft mouthfeel. The taste of the fruit compliments the beer nicely, neither overwhelms the other. There is a faint sweetness on the palate, which finishes cleanly in a semi-dry, tart finish. 4.8% ABV, 10 IBU. R.A.Z. = Raspberry Ale Zinger.

Brennivin Aquavit. Brennivin  is traditionally brewed using potato mash,

lightly flavored with caraway, cumin, and other spices. Brennivin has a unique and distinctive aroma and palate that is similar to Scandinavian akvavit that pairs well with pork, herring, salmon,shark and other seafoods. Drink it straight ice cold or mix it into cocktails. Made at one distillery in Iceland. Limited availability, at $37.99.

Stop back to this blog tomorrow for the Craft Beer Corner, where we discuss our newest craft beer deliveries.

Nothing Old, Something New

We're really going for plural with "new," but we couldn't keep the wedding theme, so we'll just leave it as an almost mixed metaphor. Today, we'll take a look at some of the newest arrivals at Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville and Woodbridge. Yesterday's post was the Craft Beer Corner. where we introduced several newly-arrived craft beers. Click here to review that post.

Chateau Puyanche Francs Cotes de Bordeaux Blanc 2014. 90 points from Wine Enthusiast. "This 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Sémillon blend has hints of toastiness and spice along with ripe yellow fruits. It is still young, the texture coming together with acidity and spice mixing with the fruitiness. Drink this fragrant wine from the Arbo family's tiny 3.7-acre vineyard from 2016." Only $13.96 in the Bottle Club®.

Platinum 7X Vodka. Distilled seven times for exceptional purity and a smooth, polished finish, Platinum 7X Vodka has raised the bar on what it means to be smooth. This is an American-made vodka (from grain) with a smooth, clean and crisp style. Sip it chilled or enjoy it in a cocktail. Available in 750ml and 1.75L sizes.

Bodegas El Nido "El Nido" Jumilla 2013. The grapes for this wine are made from 12 Ha -29.65 acres- of Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards and 32 Ha -79 acres- of very old Monastrell, with a very low yield. The grapes are harvested with small baskets to prevent bruising. The bunches are brought to triage tables where the best ones are selected. It spends 24 months in French and American new oak barrels where it gets a very typical complexity.

Glass-staining purple. Explosive, alluring scents of blueberry, boysenberry, pipe tobacco, licorice and vanilla bean. Lush and broad but juicy and firmly built, with suave candied dark fruit flavors accented by sexy floral and Asian spice qualities. Finishes broad, juicy and impressively long, with echoing boysenberry and spice notes.The blend is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Monastrell.

Food pairings: Rice, pasta, (noodles, spaghetti, macaroni), vegetables, mushroom, stewed meat, sausage, pork, roast meat, red and/or white meat with sauces, grilled meat, short or medium cheeses. Only 4 bottles available per store. $106.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Epic Brewing Sour Apple Saison. Sweet, yet dry and tart, apples spiced with coriander, grains of paradise, anise, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger. There is no wrong way to enjoy this Saison Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale! Serve in a pint or tulip glass. Pair with savory and fatty meats, salads, and tart desserts. Limited availability, in 22oz bottles.

Drink or Hold?

That's the dilemma often faced by wine lovers-do we enjoy a particular wine now, or do we wait for it to age a bit. Your blogger often solves that delightful "problem" by buying two bottles; one for now, and one for later. At this time of year, of course, we might have to turn it up to three, so we can give one bottle away.

Here are some additional gift sets, along with other new deliveries, that we recommend.

Campo Viejo Gift Set. This includes two outstanding Spanish wines. The Tempranillo has rich aromas with a pronounced intensity. The initial scent of red, ripe fruit is followed by gentle, sweet notes of vanilla and spices. On the palate, it is perfumed, soft and fresh with a long finish that leaves memories of red fruit, vanilla and cocoa.

The Garnacha has a red color with purple flashes. Very bright and lively. Complex nose: floods of fruit – strawberry, raspberry, cherry, blackberry, enhanced with floral notes of violet and lilac. Subtle notes of sweet spices and toast enhance and wrap the fruit. Soft, silky, fresh and intense.

The Tempranillo sells for $9.99 in the Bottle Club®. The Garnacha is only available by special order, and sells for around $15. However, the 2-bottle set is only $18.99 in the

Bottle Club®. So, in the end, this could easily be a "one for you, one for me" kind of purchase.

Flying Dog Naughty. Brewed with habanero peppers and orange peel, Naughty packs heat and subtle citrus sweetness. Aunt Judy's fruitcake will never taste the same. 9.0 ABV, 35 IBU's.

Flying Dog Nice. Toasty and sweet, this beer will be quite nice light proteins, cream-based soups and all of your favorite holiday desserts. 8.3% ABV, 30 IBU's.

Both are available in limited quantities.

Baileys Original Irish Cream. The perfect marriage of fresh, premium Irish dairy cream, the finest spirits, aged Irish whiskey and a unique chocolate blend. The Gift Set include four glasses, since Baileys is typically enjoyed with friends. Best of all is the Gift Set, which includes a 750ML bottle of Baileys, is priced at $21.09 in the Bottle Club®, and that's the same price as Baileys on its own.

Click here to get drink recipes from the Baileys website. Many of the featured drinks will fit beautifully in the glasses found in the Gift Set.

Opus One, 2012. Perhaps the ultimate American Bordeaux. The wine effuses dark fruit aromas accentuated by subtler notes of forest-floor and graphite. The wine’s round mouthfeel and satiny tannins wrap around classic flavors of cassis, blackberry and black cherry. This refined and age-worthy wine offers lively acidity and a sturdy structure with a long lingering finish.

Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon 79%, Cabernet Franc 7%, Petit Verdot 6%, Merlot 6%, and Malbec 2%.

We have a very limited quantity of Opus One, available at $209.99 in the Bottle Club®.