We'll try to find a spare sunbeam.
Resolved…
Relax. I absolutely promise not to subject you to details about giving up cheese or going to more yoga classes. (And on another note, SO not giving up cheese.) Nope, as always, these are liquid resolutions-all about what we think is awesome. We’ll probably spend 2018 telling you about these, so in no particular order and without further ado:
1) Drink more ‘other’ French bubbly. Cremant de Bourgogne. Cremant d’Alsace. Sparkling Chenin Blanc from the Loire. Seriously delicious bubbles at non-Champagne prices. What’s not to like about that?
2) Play around with fun new cocktail ingredients. Have you seen our new cocktail corner? Shrubs and syrups and bitters, oh, my! Not to mention killer Amarena cherries. Where’s that cocktail book?
3) Speaking of books, I resolve to read more wine & spirits books. In the first years of a new business, one thing you rarely have time for is leisure reading. I need to get back to that, so I’m starting off the new year with Thad Vogler’s By the Smoke & the Smell, Terry Theise’s Reading Between the Wines, and Peter Liem’s boxed set Champagne.
4) Italian wines continue to fascinate me, but I’ve been zeroing in on opposite ends of the boot lately: Sicily and the Veneto. From Sicily, we’re loving exuberantly spicy Nero d’Avola but also delicate whites, our latest fave an improbable blend of Fiano and Chenin Blanc. From the Veneto, crisp but full-fruited whites, plus Ripasso and Amarone. Seriously, who doesn’t love Amarone?
5) I resolve to drink more Bulgarian wines. That is not a typo. Some of this year’s most mind-blowing bargains were from Bulgaria. Yes, please.
6) I resolve to continue seeking out fun and unusual gins. There are so many! And in wildly different styles….we may need a .larger bathtub.
7) I resolve to continue seeking out local and regional distilleries. We’re longtime fans of Privateer, Mad River, and Astraluna. But we’re also loving Flag Hill, a NH farm distillery, and Gloucester’s Ryan and Wood. We’ll keep you posted.
8) Corollary to # 7. We’ll continue sourcing as much aggressively local craft beer as humanly possible. Hitchcock, Night Shift, Foolproof, Exhibit A-bring it on.
9) We resolve to keep a weather eye on wine-in-cans, THE trend of last summer, Pros: light, environmentally friendly, convenient, inexpensive. Cons: not every wine tastes its best from aluminum, people describing the cans as ‘cute’ actually hurts my soul. We’ll see….
10) The end of this list is always the same. We resolve to continue sourcing delicious wines, spirits, and craft brews at great prices accompanied by our best customer service. You have many choices of where to spend your beverage dollars. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for choosing us.
Wishing you a safe, happy, healthy, and tasty New Year!