Come Taste Our Thanksgiving Picks All Friday and Saturday

At both stores Friday and Saturday we'll be tasting out all five of our Thanksgiving picks. Click here to see a description of them.

Just about every place that sells wine has Thanksgiving picks. What makes ours special is our selection criteria. Most places will just push some stuff they want to sell for whatever reason and call it a pick. We took the time to find the most food-friendly wines we could at different price points. Not only have we tasted all these wines, we've brought them home to drink so that we could vouch for their quality. Plus, these are all hand crafted wines made by people who really care about wine instead of making a buck. If there was such a thing as a Farmer's Market for wines these would be the sort of wines that would be for sale.

Beaujolais Nouveau Est Arrive!

Today is Beaujolais Nouveau day. Beaujolais (technically part of Burgundy) is a region in France famous for their delicious and (in my opinion) hugely under-rated red wines made from the Gamay grape. Beaujolais Nouveau is released every year on the third Thursday of November worldwide. I'll skip the technical details, but Beaujolais Nouveau differs from regular Beajolais in that it is made very fast and best consumed young. The vintage is 2009, so these grapes were harvested just a couple of months ago. It's a fun wine to drink this time of year.

You'll see some big brand Beaujolais around town but I don't mind telling you that ours is the best. We have two in stock at different prices and you can taste them at both stores tonight!

By the way, if you're wondering about pronunciation it's Boh-jah-lay. The "j" is a soft j as in the French name Jean, not a hard j as in January.

Sake & Cheese Tasting

Saturday,

November 28

@ 3:00p

Gallery at 915

915 Lafayette Blvd

Fredericksburg,VA

22401

kybecca & The Gallery at 915 are pairing up to bring you a tasting adventure your palate won’t soon forget! You will sample five different style sakes, each paired with a cheese or food item to complement the unique flavor and texture of the sake. You will also learn about the different grades and the sake making process. Sake lovers… this one’s for YOU. Don’t like sake? Then this is DEFINITELY for you (as we are certain we can change your mind!)

$15 per person.

Call kybecca at 540.373.3338 for reservations.

Reservations are limited, so make yours today!

Good Wine Can Save A Terrible Meal

If you enjoy cooking like I do I'm sure you've had days where you feel the need to cook something for yourself (ie don't want to spend the money on take away) but you are feeling way too lazy to put some effort into it. I had just such a day yesterday. I decided to heat up some Heinz beans from a can. I don't even know why I had them because I hate canned beans; perhaps my subconscious mind made me buy them knowing I would be lazy enough to cook them one day. Anyway, I added some hotdogs and heated them over the stove. My first bite confirmed that my tastes have evolved tremendously since college, when I would have happily wolfed it down. Faced with the daunting task of finishing the meal (I wasn't about to go to bed hungry), I decided to open a bottle of red Burgundy I bought from an importer who gave me an excellent deal on it. It's from Domaine Emmanuel Giboulot and comes from the Cotes de Nuits, at the north end of Burgundy. Burgundy, for those who may not be aware, is the home of Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir as we know it comes from there, and many people (including myself) would argue that Burgundy Pinot is still the best. But back to my meal. The wine had fantastic candied cherry and wild strawberry flavors and bright acidity. It was very flavorful and aromatic. It made the beans not only palatable but good. I can't wait to try it with some decent food.

I'll be tasting this wine at our Plank Road location (next to Ukrops) tonight and tomorrow (Saturday the 14th) if you want to try it. If you want to know what Pinot Noir is meant to taste like here's your chance.

We Can't Make it Any Easier

Hey, Did You Know We Have A Robert Parker 94 Point Wine for $24?

Yes, it's been selling like crazy on our website but Fredericksburg is sleeping on it. This isn't 94 points from some no-name, this is Robert Parker, the man who invented the point system. The man with the golden palate. Usually a wine that gets 94 points is $50 and up, so this is a crazy deal. We only have a little over a case left between our two stores so if you are interested you should act fast before somebody on the internet recognizes it for the spectacular deal that it is and buys whatever we have left. Click here for a product description.

My Thoughts on a Good Article About the Wine Business

You should read this article about modern wine branding so that you know what you are getting. Some quotes followed by my thoughts:

“Customers should not look down on those scenarios as fraud; this is the reality of wine industry. All wine producers produce many their brands, large or small, the same way, “ says Jonathan Gelula of KDM Global Partners, a wine branding company.

Really? Were you aware, before reading this, that this was the reality of the wine industry? How is it not fraud to produce a mega-brand and market it so that it looks like it was made by a small family winery? Just because it's the reality of the wine industry doesn't mean it's not fraud.

Similarly, if you walk into any wine shop—in any town, in any state—you will probably see Rock Rabbit, Mark West, Smoking Loon, or Pepperwood Grove.

Not us.

Whether you want value or authenticity is up to you. But you generally don’t get both.

Rubbish. This is repeated over and over and it's just not true. Re-branding is just a way to make an extra buck, to pretend like you're giving the customer great wine for a low price is deceitful. I can show you a bunch of wines we sell that are produced and bottled by the same winery that are not expensive, including the Cholila Ranch Malbec that's been a big seller for us recently. In fact, look at our 6 for $60 wines this month. Every one of them is from a small or medium-sized winery that produces and bottles their own wine, and you get all six of them for $60 including tax. I'm not saying this to toot our own horn, I'm saying it to demonstrate that this idea that big brands are better values is not true. Plus value is in the eye of the beholder. I'd rather buy better wine and drink it less often than buy cases of super cheap wine and drink it a lot.

Interestingly, when it comes to Champagne the reverse of this scenario is true (ie the more familiar the brand is the more you have to pay for it). I'm often asked if I carry Dom Perignon and struggle to convince people that our $45 Champagne is better than the $140 Dom Perignon. Some people are not convinced, they want the Dom Perignon because they know the brand. It's all about branding, not value.

Tasting the Raspay Tomorrow

Just a word to let you know we'll be tasting out the Primitivo Quiles Raspay Monastrell at our Plank Road store Friday night from 4-8pm. I talk about it a few posts down. It's also currently in our enomatic machines at the wine bar. Other great stuff will be tasted out as well at both stores. Click here to see the tasting line up.

Kung Fu Girl - Sneak Peak at Our Thanksgiving Picks

Every Thanksgiving table deserves a good Riesling. They appeal to novice and expert wine drinkers, pair well with just about any dish and are reasonably priced. We found a stellar one for Thanksgiving. Food & Wine Magazine says "Washington-state winemaker Charles Smith earned his reputation with some formidable (and fairly expensive) Syrahs, but lately, he’s been focusing on a line of quirkily named, inexpensive wines. This floral, slightly off-dry Riesling is one of the best.."

Eric Asimov from the NY Times calls the 2008 Kung Fu Girl riesling “fresh, juicy and exuberant” and “perfumed, with lively flavors of citrus, flowers and minerals.” Perhaps more importantly, he urges you to try riesling, a very versatile grape.

89 points Wine Enthusiast: "This 2008 is the third vintage for this extraordinarily popular Riesling, again showing bright, vivid, punch citrus fruit and juicy acids. Residual sugar is about 1.5% and once again it is sourced from the Evergreen vineyard. With production climbing to 20,000 cases, this should be easy to find at least until fall." (08/09)
Single bottle $13.99/ solid case $11.89 per bottle (15% case discount on solid cases)

The Prisoner has broken free - 2 days early!

That's right...Orin Swift's flagship wine is back. The 2008 vintage is available at both kybecca locations (and two days earlier than the rest of the country!)