Wine & Words

We've carried Four Sisters Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc for several years, and they've attracted a loyal following of customers who find them well-made and reliable at an affordable price.  In April 2009, we introduced the Four Sisters Merlot.  At that time I wrote, "Wow! It's just what you'd expect from an Australian Merlot.
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If you go to the "Press+Trade" page of Charles Smith's website you're confronted with hip videos of Charles himself. I wasn't impressed - the Nirvana t-shirt, the "shades," the aging hippy long hair, the rock 'n roll allusions. As he takes you through his vineyards, everything is "hot" or "cool." It's a good thing I tasted his wines before I saw the marketing persona.
 
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One of the things I like about Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, my favorite indie bookstore, is that they have little cards describing "Staff Favorites." These mini reviews show that the staff love books and actually read the books that they sell in the store. Well, since I'm not ready yet to start introducing new wines of the year to our Wine & Words stores, I thought I'd do a "staff favorites" from our Washington and Belhaven points of view.
 
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This weekend is the time we celebrate as St. Valentine's Day. In ancient Rome, 13, 14 and 15 February were celebrated as Lupercalia, a pagan fertility festival. There is no record of little candy hearts that say "Be mine." Instead, it is said that young men would strip naked and use goat- or dog-skin whips to spank the backsides of young women in order to improve their fertility.  Makes candy hearts seem pretty tame.
 
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When it comes to this season of wines and chocolates, Wine & Words has got you covered.
 
Sant'Evasio Brachetto D'Acqui (Monferrato, Italy) Regular Price $18.60, Feature Price $14.88
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Chateau de Saint Cosme Little James’ Basket Press (Gigondas, France) Regular Price $15.50, Feature Price $12.40
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 We get a lot of people in the stores who ask for “local wine.” I explain that the only really local wine, meaning made from grapes grown here in Eastern North Carolina, is from the native Muscadine grape and that it’s very sweet and has a taste unlike any kind of wine you’ve ever had…unless you grew up down here, in which case it reminds you of the fat grapes your granddaddy grew on a trellis in the back yard. Then I try to move them on to “real” wine that is made in North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley.
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