3CUPS Blog  filter by tag: wine

Gianfranco Alessandria Barolo
Piemonte, Italy
2004
$34.99 ($31.49 this weekend)
The past has returned, briefly. Recession has granted us a temporary return to days when high-quality small-grower Barolo was occasionally available to Italian wine fans for moderate prices. The 20th Century is back (at least for the weekend), but we get to keep our iPhones and snowboarding gold medals. What, you guys didn't get one? Maybe it's in the mail....

Nothing makes me look forward to coming into the shop as much as the promise of great, affordable Barolo waiting by the wine counter to greet me. Not as chipper as a Wal-Mart greeter, but more likely to let you eat all the osso bucco and wild mushrooms on toast you could possibly want in peace, without giving you a stare of reproach and concern. Stop by Friday and Saturday to taste this amazing red. Happy days are here again....

The Man... We have talented Piedmontese wine grower Mauro Veglio to thank for the existence of this wine. Veglio was able to convince Gianfranco Alessandria, his cousin, to begin estate-bottling fruit from his 5.5 hectares of vines. Gianfranco’s father had expanded this estate, founded by his grandfather in the 1940s, but both men had sold its fruit to other producers. Alessandria followed his father’s example until the late 1980s, when he began experimenting with bottling small quantities of wine. His first major release was in 1991. A 1993 Alessandria Barolo received Tre Bicchiere from Gambero Rosso, the prominent Italian food and wine publication. He was on the right path. The rest is history.

The Estate... Alessandria farms in Monforte, one of the hilltop villages of the Barolo D.O.C.G. This is the heart of the Italian Piedmont, a region considered by many in the wine community to make the best red wine in all of Italy. In 1996 Gianfranco completed an expansion and modernization of the winery’s cellars, upping production to a whopping 35,000 bottles annually.

Gayo
Indonesia
Sumatra
$15.99/lb.

The Coffee... Sumatra is one of the classic coffee origins: deep, velvet-bodied, earthy notes with hints of dry cocoa and spice swirl in each sip. Sumatran coffees are renowned for their sweetness and lack of acidity; the perfect afternoon or late night coffee! This coffee, from the northern Sumatran region of Aceh, is shade-grown by a cooperative of small producers dedicated to shade-growing on small, family-owned farms.

The coffees from Gayo are wondrous. Deep, chocolatey, and velvety, they manage to achieve a very rare thing in coffee: they are earthy without being dirty, they have a long, sweet aftertaste that is never cloying, and their sweet, syrupy body make a strong cup of Gayo like drinking molten dark chocolate.

The Region... Aceh, as the region on the northernmost tip of the island of Sumatra is called, is a fascinating and complicated place. Aceh has been troubled by political instability for years.  You might remember Aceh as the place where the tsunami in 2005 had a devastating effect.

The Cooperative... The Gayo cooperative, named after the indigenous Gayo people, is an island of stability in an ocean of chaos. A diverse and democratic group, the Gayo co-op includes Acehnese, Gayo, and Javanese in its numbers, and 20 percent of the producers in the co-op are women! This cooperative, formed in 1997, produces coffees of a unique quality: organic and shade grown, with a level of consistency and quality that is relatively unknown in Sumatra.

MARCH 3BOTTLES: BORDEAUX, $55

Bordeaux = Money. Everyone looks to get paid, but the Bordeaux trade is garishly capitalist in a way that unsettles me. I have a vague and silly notion about the product I sell, but it's how I feel so you all are stuck with my naivete. I find wine evocative of people and harmony with the nature they live in to be essentially worthwhile, and beautiful. It is hard to view Bordeaux using that romantic notion. The way that it is traded, and in many instances farmed (organic wine is a rarity in the region), the structure of Bordeaux estates, and the type of commerce they feed leaves a bad taste in my mouth. When I buy the (scant few) bottles of Francois Raveneau Chablis that I will purchase every vintage, I never discuss or even think about the future value of this wine, because I am going to drink it. Its quality lies in bringing an evening of happiness to me and my family, or even maybe friends, assuming one day I make some. By the way, it's easy to make friends with Francois Raveneau on your table.... With Bordeaux of a similar price, the wine is generally discussed in terms of future dollar value, a logical flaw which has led to the blast off from sanity of the prices of the top 150 or so Bordeaux wines. They are lost in the stratosphere of extravagant luxury, a bottle to sip in your penthouse, admiring your newly acquired Basquiat, considering the merits of various small Pacific islands to purchase as a location for your next vacation retreat. They have become hard to justify, and even more painfully, they have become inaccessible to much of the wine loving public.

But millions of bottles of good, decent Bordeaux at sound prices are made every year. Some of this wine is the result of proud men and women unwilling to abandon the traditional type of wine that was made in the region for generations. Occasionally, more natural farming practices are being employed. So there is hope: Bordeaux for the rest of us is being made, and we are dedicated to finding and drinking it with the many foods that it complements and improves.  

This month's set includes Lex's version of the recipe for Gigot de Sept Heures, or Seven-Hour Lamb.  Yum.

Call (919 968 8993) or email me (jmurrie@3cups.net) to reserve your set.

March 1 - 6, 2010

Coastal Wines - Flight of 3 - $8
Dom. de la Pepiere Muscadet - $6/gl - $12.99/btl
Caruso Inzolia - $6/gl - $14.99/btl
Valle dell' Acate Frappato - $7/gl - $16.99/btl
Domaine de la Patience Merlot - $6/gl - $12.99/btl

We believe the retail wine price where you get the best wine for your money is $12-$20….sure, we stock wines less expensive and many which cost more, but we focus on $12-$20. Wine tastes better when you underpay for it and we pride ourselves in finding wines that taste more expensive than they are!

Folks who are shopping for wine often have two things in mind… the color, red or white… and about how much they want to spend. The more confidence customers have in the store's selection, the more they will spend.  In retail, conventional wisdom says: what sells is either the cheapest or what is considered the best and therefore is expensive.  Most of our wines fall in the middle, between $10 and $25.  Here's why…

1.  $5.99-$8.99… In the trade this is where most retailers focus, where the bulk of the sales are.  This is the magical price point where customers will happily, impulsively pick up a bottle and sometimes a case.  Brands like Yellow Tail, Smoking Loon, Toasted Head, and Turning Leaf are all professionally conceived brands where marketing firms concoct "cool" labels and branding to enhance the popularity of these inexpensive choices.  If you do the math, and I have, in order to achieve $7.99 on the retail shelf the actual juice, the wine, has to cost almost nothing.  Often these wines are made using the popular corporate mantra of "better living through modern chemistry" to achieve the low price point.  Wine does not require an ingredient panel or any disclosure about how the grapes made their way to wine.  These wines are to wine what particleboard is to wood… they fulfill a function, but the aesthetic leaves a bit to be desired.

2.  $35.00 and up… Famous,expensive, and prestigious wines are in demand, highly sought after and collected. They sell well.Not as well as they did in 2007. These wines are famous and collected… Silver Oak Cabernet, Chateau Latour, and Chateau de Beaucastel, to name a few.  Because they are popular, they are written up and evaluated in the monthly wine journals and cellared by wine enthusiasts.

3.  The "Sweetspot" $12-$20... These are the wines we are selling and promoting.  This is how much you have to pay in order to experience authentic flavor, the "sweet spot" where you can buy wines that taste complex and alive.  Some folks have called the wines we have at 3CUPS "invisible" because they fly underneath the radar screen of the wine press and because of the authentic nature of the farming, cannot slip under the magical price point of ten bucks!  Our wines include obscure grape varieties like Counoise, Albarino, or Frappato… or hail from little-acclaimed regions such as Bizkaiko Txakolina. 

Chateau Moulin de Tricot
Haut-Medoc 2006
$27.99, $25.19 this weekend

The wine... Utterly traditional Bordeaux from a vintage that was a great success at this estate. This wine is pure Margaux in character, a concentrated Cabernet-based red that on the palate seems both full and finely tuned. Consider picking up additional bottles for ageing, as wines of this traditional class are rare, particularly so at sane prices. I would recommend it with duck confit, potato gratin, haricots verts. Also simple grilled meats and stews, roasts and game meats would be a perfect match.

The estate... Bruno Rey is the proprietor of Chateau Moulin de Tricot in Margaux, a family estate that has been passed down generation-to-generation since the 19th century. Rey is a believer in old-style Margaux wines. His methods are honest and effective in creating the wines of the character and longevity that made his homeland famous. High-density vine plantings yield naturally low yields of flavorful fruit from his vines. He avoids chemical herbicides, favoring more natural and traditional farming practices. The grapes are harvested entirely by hand to allow poor-quality clusters to be left on the vine, and to avoid damage to the pristine fruit that would occur if they harvested using machines.

Shakisso Natural Sun-Dried

Ethiopia
Sidamo
$14.99/lb.

The Coffee... Shakisso is dried on wooden tables in the sun, resulting dried cherry flavors above dark chocolate and nuts.

The Legend... In the south of Ethiopia, in the region of Sidamo, sits the town of Shakisso. Surrounding Shakisso are mountains covered with forest, so dense that it appears almost black when viewed from above. This mysterious, dense tropical forest has been the source of speculation and wonder for thousands of years. This forest is said to conceal King Solomon's legendary gold mines, mythical animals and satyrs, and fierce warriors. From the forest also comes coffee, growing in the wild just as it has for eons.

February 22 - 27, 2010

The wines... The wines we carry from Icardi are delicious today. They are vinified for the table, tonight or a year from now, but not to be cellared. The same estate makes magnificent Barolos for aging, if you are interested.... Fresh fruit aromas, clean and ripe and honest, these wines are a bargain and a safe bet for simple enjoyment. They show off the best flavors of the Italian Piedmont.

The family... This estate's story is a common one in the history of European viticulture, happily. The Icardis were tenant farmers of these same fields. Through the work of Pierino Icardi (father of current proprietor Claudio) the family were able to purchase the land they had always worked. Today Claudio and his sister Maria Grazia bottle a large range of consistently impressive Piedmontese reds and whites.

The land... Italy's Piedmont is located in the northwest corner of the peninsular country, and is nearly encircled by mountains with the Alps to the north and west and Apennines to the south, explaining the translation of Piemonte in Italian: at the foot of the mountain. The Mediterranean sea lies to the south, separated from Piedmont by the region of Liguria, with its narrow coastline dotted by fishing villages and vineyards producing their own respectable wines. The major wine growing area of Piedmont is nestled in the lower-lands, in the rolling Langhe and Monferrato hills.

3CUPS Tasting Group: Bordeaux

Mar 3, 7pm

Are you up for a dose of unfounded opinion, conjecture, bizarre travelogue, lists of arcane facts, and a spirited round of swirling, sniffing, shouting and pontificating? If the answer is yes, or if you've bothered to read to this point, Jay's wine class may be for you. This event should be subtitled Bordeaux for the Everyman, because this large region of southwestern France has great dark and delicious food-friendly reds suitable for innumerable everyday meals.

Informal, irreverent, appropriate to wine fans of any level of expertise, this once-monthy series of tastings is moderated by 3CUPS wine boss Jay Murrie. $30 per class, or $100 to register for four meetings of this group. Tastings will be held on the first Wednesday of every month and space is limited, so sign up soon!

Valle del Santuario - fresh crop arrival!
San Ignacio, Peru
$16.99/lb.

Yunquera Albillo - $7/gl - $17.99/btl

D. Ventura Vina do Burato - $8/gl - $18.99/btl

Biurko Gorri Rioja Arbanta - $5/gl - $12.99/btl

El Maestro Sierra Pedro Ximenez - $7/half gl - $16.99/375mL btl

Grapes To Know and Love - Pick 3 Tastes - $10

Glatzer Gruner Veltliner - $3/HALF -$5/GL - $12.99/btl
This Gruner Veltliner is pretty special. It has a little substance to it, and always leaves me feeling like I've invested my dollars wisely.

Domaine de l'Ecu Muscadet Gneiss - $4/HALF - $7/GL - $17.99/btl
This wine challenges any preconceptions of Muscadet as simple, acidic, watery, inconsequential. It offers as much to ponder (or simply enjoy) as any white from France. (Grape: Melon de Bourgogne)

D. Ventura Ribeira Sacra Vina do Burato - $4.50/HALF - $8/GL - $18.99/btl
A Beaujolais comparison is perhaps inevitable: this has the fun, charming aspects of a good lighter-in-body wine that is minerally, complex and concentrated. (Grape: Mencia)

Breton Clos Senechal - $5/HALF - $9/GL - $24.99/btl
Clos Senechal is Cabernet Franc from 15- and 30-year-old vines, aged in barrel for five months. The product is natural, hand-made goodness.

The Man... Ramon Losada and his family farm very old vines on the banks of the rivers Sil and Miño. They labor to make wine that is a correct expression of its homeland. Losada farms organically, in search of perfectly ripe fruit. His friend and fellow winemaker Gerardo Mendez of the Do Ferreiro winery advised Ramon on how to convert to natural agriculture. In the cellar, Losada’s techniques remain focused on authenticity of flavor. Viña Burato is not filtered. To filter would reduce flavor complexity in the finished wine. Losada also avoids cold stabilization, a procedure that precipitates solids out of wine, in theory making the wine easier to sell to consumers. This technique does not improve the flavor of the wine, yet it is commonly practiced by more technology-obsessed commercial wineries. Cold stabilization is an additional manipulation, extraneous to flavor quality, that allows for the possibility of loss of character in a wine.

The Land... Galicia is poor. In fact, it is the least prosperous region of Spain. It is a green, beautiful area, scenic in a way that is at times reminiscent of Ireland or Norway. Celts settled here. Rivers cut deeply into the landscape, the coast is jagged, wet and cold. Its people have a history of hauling a livelihood from the water. We’re a long way from La Mancha. Above Portugal, perched on the edge of the Atlantic, Galicia does not fit the visual stereotype of Spain. The vineyards of Ribeira Sacra (Losada’s neighborhood) are inland and disconnected from well-known white wine producing areas on the west Galician coast. Vineyards here are so steep that dumbwaiters are often used to lower fruit down from the vines. In spite of this daunting physical obstacle, grapevines have been cultivated in Ribeira Sacra since Romans were doing the farming.

The Wine... Vino do Burato is harvested from 80-year-old vines on the banks of the Miño. Slate soils add minerality, complexity and concentration. The wine is 100% Mencia, a grape that produces many interesting wines in Rueda and Galicia. Vino do Burato is fermented and aged entirely in stainless steel, to keep vibrancy in the wine. A Beaujolais comparison is perhaps inevitable: this has the fun, charming aspects of a good Chiroubles, or other lighter-in-body cru Beaujolais.

We've had a lot of folks asking about Karen's entry into the Southeast Regional Barista Competition.  3CUPS looks forward to Karen's flying the orange and brown at the Southeast Regional Barista Competition in Atlanta next month.  Each competitor prepares a series of drinks for the judges: espresso, cappuccino, and a signature beverage.  Reflecting 3CUPS' traditional Italian espresso menu, Karen has developed the Caffe Angelo as her signature, using Espresso Rustico, cream, and aniseed syrup to evoke the romance of Sambuca.  3CUPS got snowed out last Saturday, but fear not: Karen will be behind the bar this Saturday morning and early afternoon, and Caffe Angelo will be on the menu that day.  Swing by to taste what all the fuss is about.

The Coffee... Sumatra is one of the classic coffee origins: deep, velvet-bodied, earthy notes with hints of dry cocoa and spice swirl in each sip. Sumatran coffees are renowned for their sweetness and lack of acidity; the perfect afternoon or late night coffee! This coffee, from the northern Sumatran region of Aceh, is shade-grown by a cooperative of small producers dedicated to shade-growing on small, family-owned farms.

The coffees from Gayo are wondrous. Deep, chocolatey, and velvety, they manage to achieve a very rare thing in coffee: they are earthy without being dirty, they have a long, sweet aftertaste that is never cloying, and their sweet, syrupy body make a strong cup of Gayo like drinking molten dark chocolate.

The Region... Aceh, as the region on the northernmost tip of the island of Sumatra is called, is a fascinating and complicated place. Aceh has been troubled by political instability for years.  You might remember Aceh as the place where the tsunami in 2005 had a devastating effect.

The Cooperative... The Gayo cooperative, named after the indigenous Gayo people, is an island of stability in an ocean of chaos. A diverse and democratic group, the Gayo co-op includes Achinese, Gayo, and Javanese in its numbers, and 20 percent of the producers in the co-op are women! This cooperative, formed in 1997, produces coffees of a unique quality: organic and shade grown, with a level of consistency and quality that is relatively unknown in Sumatra.

January 25 - 30, 2010

Piedmont on my Mind
Valditerra Gavi -
$8/gl - $23.99/btl 
Icardi Cortese l'Aurora -
$7/gl - $16.99/btl
Luca Ferraris Ruche -
$9/gl - $24.99/btl
G.D. Vajra Langhe Rosso
$6/gl - $13.99/btl
Flight: Choose 3 tastes: $10

Bera Arcese
Piemonte 2007
$13.99, $9.99 this weekend

The Wine... I like the completeness of this wine. There are many pleasant one-note wines for $10: Bera's blend of Favorita with Arneis and Cortese (hence the clever name) has range of aroma and depth of flavor. It is a satisfyingly full white for a cool winter evening. Arcese is a white for pork, and /or an assortment of your favorite edible roots: roasted parsnips, orange beets, or turnips could go nicely. Or for the ambitious chef, try it with a porchetta, Parmesan, parsley, and onion panini.

Joe Dressner, a top importer of natural wines who portfolio is well-represented at 3CUPS, says, “All of the estate is cultivated in organic viticulture with an emphasis on creating an active, healthy ecosystem. All grapes are harvested by hand and their juice is fermented without yeast inoculations. All the winemaking is done by Alessandra’s brother, Gianluigi Bera.”  Joe also recently had an excellent and brief essay on how "[t]here is nothing more unnatural than trying to compress a vineyard and a year's work into a 750 milliliter container" published in The Diner Journal (vol. 13) - check it out.

January 13-19, 2010

Burrr-gundy - Flight of 3 - $8
Goisot St-Bris Exogyra Virgula - $7/GL - $16.99/btl
Francois Gaunoux Bourgogne Rouge - $8/GL - $24.99/btl
Jean-Paul Brun FRV100 - $8/GL - $19.99/btl

3BOTTLES
January 2010
Italian Reds

As we ease into the colder weather of January, we have selected 3 red wines from Italy to add interest and provide great flavor at your evening meals. Three different grapes, three different regions of Italy, and three different flavors….and coming from some of the best small family vineyards of the Italian landscape. Simply put, these are the 3 wines we would most like to take home to drink during this season. The exciting thing about this theme is that it taps into the wonderfully diverse (and frustratingly complex) world of Italian wine. Whether it is a delicately floral Gewurztraminer or a heady, dense Amarone, Italian wines come alive with appropriate and thoughtfully-prepared cuisine. Italian wine is food wine, for the table. Since we have only three chances to prove this point, we've picked very divergent examples of Italian red wine. Here are my thoughts on what they are, and why they are different. I have also included recipes and suggestions for foods to serve with each wine. The recipes are loose interpretations of Italian foods which hail from the same regions as each of the 3 wines.

Italy wasn’t a country for a long time - so the regions are like mini-countries, each with their own specialties, identities, and loyalties. So many kinds of grapes, too... “When the merchants of Bordeaux created their famous 1855 classification...Italy wasn't yet a unified country,” Vino Italiano's authors Joseph Bastianich and David Lynch point out. “In 1963, the Italian government drew up the Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) laws, which created legally defined production zones and production formulas for what were once simple farmhouse wines.” It’s a long country, from north to south, so the hearty foods you find in northern Italy have more in common with those of their Austrian, Swiss, and French neighbors than their Italian brethren from Sicily and Sardinia. Foods Sicily is well known for: olives, tuna, almonds, pistachios, capers, citrus fruit, swordfish. Veneto: salted cod, beans, liver, Asiago, Grana Padano, radicchio, cherries, and peaches. The Piedmont: hazelnuts, chestnuts, truffles, agnolotti del plin (small meat-filled pasta, served with a brothlike sauce), Grana Padano and Taleggio cheeses.

January 20, 6-8pm

If you've ever noticed the jolly photograph of Tyrolean winemaker Vincent Grosjean in our shop, you probably have surmised that Italians have the right ideas about living exuberantly - even during the longest and darkest days of the year. Join us as we taste some Italian wines new to 3CUPS and take home something tasty to hibernate with. We'll also sample new selections in charcuterie, including salumi from Giacomo's in Greensboro. Tickets are $20 in advance/ $25 at door.

January 10, 5-7pm

Eating seasonally in winter is the theme of this informal wine dinner. We'll feature locally-grown produce from Piedmont Biofarms, a year-round vegetable farm located just outside Pittsboro. We'll pair wines from organic family-owned and -operated small estates located in the Italian Piedmont to delicious food prepared by farmer and chef Doug Jones. Tickets are $40 in advance / $45 at the door.

Informal, irreverent, appropriate to wine fans of any level of expertise, this once-monthy series of tastings is moderated by 3CUPS wine boss Jay Murrie. $30 per class, or $100 to register for the first four meetings of this group. Tastings will be held on the first Wednesday of every month and space is limited, so sign up soon!

First class is 1/6/10, 7PM, Italian Reds

Second class is 2/3/10, 7PM, Spain: A New Look

December 9 to December 15, 2009

Austrian Whites - Flight of 3 - $8
Berger Gruner Veltliner - $5/GL - $12.99/1L btl
Brundlmayer Gruner Veltliner - $8/GL - $25.99/btl
Heidi Schrock Ried Vogelsang - $9/GL - $28.99/btl

Italian Reds - Flight of 3 - $9

Camillo Donati Lambrusco - $7/GL - $18.99/btl
COS Nero d'Avola - $10/GL - $29.99/btl
Chionetti Dolcetto San Luigi - $8/GL - $20.99/btl

Montesecondo Chianti Classico AND Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Tuscany, Italy
Wine: Sangiovese, Colorino, and Canaiolo; EVOO: frantoio, leccino, moraiolo, pendolino
Wine: 2006; EVOO: 2008
$35.99 (35% off this weekend)

The Gift Set... The oil alone used to be that expensive. It's like going home with a bottle of awesome Chianti for free. Even better,you can taste both all weekend, before you buy. And I predict you will purchase: Montesecondo's wares so are hard to resist that I took home two bottles of the olive oil on the day it arrived. A taste, and it's clear this is no retail ruse: Montesecondo is the authentic flavor of Tuscany. Condiments like thise are lifesavers tohave around as the holidays get closer and your house starts to fill up.Whether or not you recreate the traditional Italian Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes, or just use it to drizzle on your winter greens, it's special stuff. Hostess gift, too? If you bring this with you, your hosts will want you to move in permanently.

The Messana Family...in a previous life, Silvio & Catalina Messana were New Yorkers. Silvio's father started this beautiful farm in Tuscany in the 1960s, and in the '70s planted the vines that Silvio now tends. In the mid-'90s Silvio's mother fell ill, and he moved his family to Tuscany to be near her. This period also inspired Silvio to take over the vineyards his father had planted, and make greatwines that would honor their potential, and in 2000 he produced his first vintage. He, his wife Catalina, and their three sons live on this land in a lovely restored farmhouse, with the cellar and bottling room in the basement, just down a gravel drive from the small outbuilding that formerly housed farm animals but has been renovated to contain the winemaking facility.

Grosjean Freres Pinot Noir

2008

Vallee d'Aoste, Italy
$23.99 (10% off this weekend)

The Wine... From our perspective, Italy's least productive viticultural region is making some of that nation's most compelling wines. This Pinot Noir is (surprisingly, given its mountainous homeland) intensely aromatic, but also happily not heavy or dull. It is a perfect red for seasonal fare: great with your Christmas goose, or maybe just a simple snack of flavorful crusty bread, local cheese, and salami. Vincent Grosjean's wines make us happy: apparently they make him smile, too, given the jolly demeanor evidenced in his larger-than-life photo on our wall.

Disappearing Vines... Grosjean Freres is a small estate in the communes of Quart and Saint Christophe in the Vallee d'Aoste (or Valle d'Aosta, in the alternate Italian), Italy's extreme northwest. The whole region has 520 hectares of vineyards, and only 385 acres of this land is in a DOC zone. This is less than half the acreage cultivated 20 years ago. At the end of the 19th century the Valle d’Aosta had over 3,000 hectares of vines. Many of these terraced vineyards disappeared between the two world wars. Fewer than 2,000,000 bottles are produced in the region annually. There are single estates in Sicily making more wine in a given year.

The Grapes... Since 1975 Grosjean estate has farmed grapes using sustainable, natural methods. 90% of the wine made in their region is red. Petit Rouge is often made into a wine that tastes like a spicy Beaujolais, a perfect refreshing red for a hike around Mont Blanc or the Matterhorn, with traditional regional foods like fontina cheese or mocetta, a local prosciutto made from ibex and chamois. Other native grapes of the region include Premetta, Cornalin, Petite Arvine, Fumin, and Mayolet. These grapes grow best in the central Aosta valley, which is at a height of roughly 800 meters above sea level. The soils here are glacial moraine, a rocky, semi-fertile mixture that aids in the creation of quality wine.

The Wineries... There are 27 bottlers of wine in the Valle d’Aosta, a figure that includes the region’s six cooperatives, two of which (Chambave and Morgex) actually make decent wine. As has been the case in mountainous Alto Adige, co-ops in Valle d’Aosta are not necessarily corrosive to wine quality in the way they often were (and are) farther south.

It's basic pedal-to-the-metal retailing for the next three weeks at 3CUPS, but while we are busy wrapping bottles,  stuffing stockings, hand-picking cases of holiday party cheer, and warming your insides with caffeine and delicious locally-sourced calories, there are a couple of exceptional events that do not deserve to be lost in the shuffle.

Resident coffee and dessert pairing genius Karen Caffrey will blow minds and warp palates with her mastery of matching single-origin coffees with our favorite course of the meal.  Food and beverage pairing isn't just for wine. Karen's planning something chocolatey, something gingery, something fruity, all with the appropriately tasty coffee.  Even lunch deserves a dessert... Sunday, December from 3-5pm. Tickets are $7.50 in advance, $10 at the door.

Tickets are going fast For Ari Weinzweig's Bacon and Champagne Social. Come by, purchase a copy of his Guide to Better Bacon ($29.99; ask nicely and he may sign it), and mingle with glass samples of three small-grower Champagnes and top-tier American bacons in hand. April McGreger of Farmer's Daughter Brand will be bringing delicious homemade snacks to nibble on, showcasing these fine bacons.

Ari is a co-founder of Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, MI.  His book is a porcine tour-de-force, a work of bacon scholarship that should prove a catalyst to many conversations.  

"Bacon is so integral to the culinary history of this country.  The roots are so deep in our cooking, I think of it as the olive oil of North America."

- Ari Weinzweig

The Wine... Pretty Pinot Noir grown on limestone-riddled slopes in a tiny wine growing region of the Loire. River fish served in a creamy herb sauce (dill, maybe?) with crusty hunks of a good baguette would be Jay's dream meal with Jamain Pinot Noir. But in a less-perfect (but still pretty good) world, this red makes a great accompaniment to Carolina Basketball viewing.

3CARD Cash Drawing: December 2009... And the winner is (drumroll, please...)

Lisa London, #705850

Congratulations, Lisa!  The next time you come into the store, you will have $50 credited to your 3CARD.

It's just that easy.  Tell your friends... get a 3CARD, sign up for the Newsletter and wait to see who the next winner is in January.

Coffee and Dessert Social with 3CUPS' Karen Caffrey
Sunday, December 6, 3PM - 5PM
$7.50 in advance / $10 at the door

Coffee Cupping

Sunday, December 6, 12-1PM

Free

A cupping is a blind tasting of fresh roasted, fresh ground coffees. This is done to learn about the character – the aroma, flavor, body and aftertaste - specific to coffees from different regions, different varietals, and different growing processes. It's also designed to help appreciate what makes a great coffee great and to develop a palate for recognizing and selecting these coffees. The process of cupping is a process of tasting, thinking and learning with a group. A rule of silent work is used, so that no participant's tastes are influenced, although there is a lot of "aspirating" going on – snorting and slurping to get everything that's there. It's a chance to discover and appreciate what you like, what you don't like and a lot you probably didn't know about coffee cultivation and care. 12PM to 1PM. Free

Megan and I spent a week in the southwestern German village of Ürzig several years ago: the idea of building an interstate-style bridge through this unspoilt agricultural region is troubling to say the least. Most of southwestern Germany is modern, industrial, not much different than the Triangle in terms of building, roads, modernity etc. The Mosel valley is a last look at a different era, and should be saved from an ugly eyesore, for the sake of the residents. Tourism is a huge part of the economy, and would be impacted.

Here is a link to an online petition so that you can register your opinion on the matter (instructions in English).  In the meantime, our Weekend Wine this week is from Ürzig, an opportunity to taste what makes this agricultural region worth saving.  Read on...

The Wine... Is fruity, with lime, peach, pear, baking apple flavors. Spicy aromas of cinnamon and other subtle exotic spices are present, alongside floral aromas. A wine complex enough to merit many glasses of dissection and discussion. Drinkers of Vouvray, Austrian whites, and even New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs will like this.

The Brothers... The Merkelbachs tend to a tiny (1.9 hectare) amount of land in Ürzig, at the far northern end of the good part of the Mosel. They pull fruit from the massive, grand hillside that frames the town, an impossibly steep mass of slate and vine that directly faces the wide, slow-moving Mosel. I spent four days of my last vacation in Ürzig. What better way to escape from the rigors of tasting wine for a living than to hide out in a tiny German village known for only one thing? That thing ain’t quality restaurants, which is a shame because the three streets that make up the entirety of Ürzig are dotted with more than their fair share of exceptional wineries.

The Land... I think when my child is old enough I’ll go back to show her what a town should be like, how life could be, away from ugly modernity and impermanence. Even if Rolf and Alfred are gone – and the brothers are sadly among the last and maybe the best of a vanishing generation of small family wine estates – I think Ürzig will be the same.

The Vineyards... I love the names of these sites. Rosenberg (rose mountain) makes clean, vivid, fresh wines that smell markedly of flowers. It’s the most northerly of the sites the Merkelbachs utilize. It also marks the northern boundary of quality viticulture along this river. On a cool fall evening I enjoyed a bottle of local wine in a riverside restaurant in Wolf, Kinheim’s northern neighbor, but the bottle I ferried home seemed surprisingly ordinary. So I’m sticking to my story: Kinheim represents the frontier. Never underestimate how much a pretty setting can charm your palate. To the south Merkelbach’s great holdings continue. Erdener Treppchen (so steep Megan turned back at this point in our hike, for fear of vertigo) and Ürziger Würzgarten (spice garden, a grand amphitheater vineyard that to me yields every flavor Riesling should have.) Not surprisingly, brothers Merkelbach grow only Riesling, and the sum of the wines they bottle from these great sites is a scant 1,600 cases annually.

The Struggle... To end on an insufferably serious note, it is my belief that the creation of wine from this vertical landscape is heroic. It demonstrates how man can harness and work within nature to create something that is the sum of our our abilities and hers. This special little time capsule: a year in the life of one plot of vines, in a bottle.

La Golondrina
Colombia
Cauca
$16.99/lb.

Alejandro Cadena and Giancarlo Ghiretti are two Colombians who dedicate themselves to finding and protecting small lots of great coffee grown in the mountainous region of Cauca in the Andes.  Alejandro and Giancarlo search Cauca for farmers willing to make the strong commitment to quality we need, and immediately send samples from potentially great farms for analysis.  If the coffee meets our standards, we purchase the lot from the small farmer who offered it at many times the local price.  In this way, we were able to create a strong incentive for these talented farmers to supply us directly rather than sell it to local mass-market buyers for homogenization and export.

The Coffee...  Caramel, chocolate, black cherry notes. The body of the coffee is juicy, a reliable Colombian coffee that delivers satisfaction with a sweet and clean aftertaste.

I am also an 11th-hour Thanksgiving wine buyer. It's shocking how last-minute my wine purchasing can be: dallying is one of the many advantages of working in a wine store, I guess. After many years of my Thanksgiving buying displaying a heavy French bias (specifically a Burgundian and Alsatian bent), this year I'm moving east, putting my turkey on the table next to glasses of German and Austrian wine. Juicy Nigl Zweigelt rose is perfect with turkey, cranberries or fruit pies, as our Wednesday afternoon tasting with Scratch Baking will prove. Gysler, a dry Riesling from the Rheinhessen, is every bit as appropriate as an Alsatian white at Thanksgiving, but more sprightly (and less pricey.). And try to resist a second glass of family-sized Messmer Spatburgunder, a 1-liter Pinot Noir that is aromatic like an expensive French Pinot Noir, but remains delightfully affordable in comparison to quality red Burgundy.

We all want to bring special, memorable wine to this important meal with the people we care about: I feel these wines might add a smile or two to the proceedings, and complement the traditional holiday foods. You can easily reinvest the money you save with these well-judged wine purchases on a tasty Scratch pie for dessert (but reserve in advance by sending an e-mail to Phoebe Lawless, phoebelawless@mindspring.com, click here for the menu). Need some coffee with your dessert? Read on.

While many places would offer a Thanksgiving Blend, we offer single-origin coffees.  That allows us to follow the chain of custody all the way to the farmer and recognize them for the work they do, just like we do in wine.  This coffee is part of the Los Luchadores project, where Aida Batlle (pictured above) helps identify exceptional small farms in El Salvador. 

Las Delicias is owned and run by Ricardo Gonzalez and his family.  The coffee is 100% Pacamara which is an heirloom variety from El Salvador and produces a very large, sweet bean.  This Thanksiving, I'm going to offer thanks to Ricardo and his family for producing an exceptional coffee that we can all enjoy.

Tea and Chocolate Social with Kit Conway
Sunday, November 22, 3PM - 5PM
$7.50 in advance, $10 at the door

Love tea?  Love chocolate?  Either way, you’ll love our Tea and Chocolate Social on Sunday, November 22. We’re pairing four standout chocolates with six equally notable teas to create eight new taste sensations. Taste a different form of liquid pleasure each time a chocolate melts in your mouth and then is transformed by the aroma and taste of tea. Three of the selections are American-made artisan chocolates that are single source and created in small batches. The fourth chocolate comes from a company known for its refined Belgian chocolates. We’ve paired each chocolate with two selections from our Keemun, Pai Mutan white, Darjeeling, Pouchong, Ceylon, and Assam teas to give you the best of both worlds. So bring your friends to our drop-in social between 3:00 and 5:00 PM on Sunday, November 22 and find your favorite coupling.

Thanksgiving Wine and Pie Tasting with Scratch Baking
Wednesday, November 25, 10:00AM Until the Pie Runs Out
FREE

Here's the plan. We will be sampling the six bottles of our 2nd-annual Thanksgiving wine six-pack all day long. 3CUPS will also be a Thanksgiving pie pick-up point for Scratch baking, and Phoebe will join us for the middle bit of the day (time TBA) to sample her Thanksgiving pies. So with one easy stop at 3CUPS you can become the hero of Thanksgiving, the bringer of amazing locally baked pies and six perfect bottles of wine, selected to make everyone happy around a traditional epic holiday meal. The tasting is FREE, but it would be wise to contact Phoebe in advance to reserve your pie(s.) Email phoebelawless@mindspring.com  Click Here for the Scratch Holiday Menu 2009.

Las Delicias
El Salvador
Santa Ana
$16.99/lb.

The Coffee... Coffee plant varieties, much like wine, define the flavor.  And, just like wine, there are rare coffee varieties unique to a particular place.  The Pacamara variety is identified with El Salvador and the best Pacamaras are still produced there.  This coffee is part of Aida Batlle’s “Los Luchadores” project, finding and selecting great El Salvadoran coffees.
 
Las Delicias is owned and run by Ricardo Gonzalez and his family.  In the cup, the brute savory strength unique to Pacamara is tempered by a sweet fruitiness, and leads to characteristics of flowers, plum, dried fruit, and a mouthwatering savoriness.

NV Soligo Prosecco Brut $16.99

 $99.99 = 6 bottles (30+glasses!) of tasty, tasty European wine.

3CARD Cash Drawing: November 2009...

Rebecca Forrest, #705508

Congratulations Rebecca!  The next time you come into the store, you will have $50 credited to your 3CARD.

It's just that easy.  Tell your friends... get a 3CARD, sign up for the Newsletter and wait to see who the next winner is in December.

This is a Weekend Wine picked with this specific weekend in mind. Pretty autumn days, still sunny, days where you want to be outside, with a sweater on. Goisot makes lovely refreshing Chardonnay (and Pinot Noir, and Sauvignon Blanc, and a little Aligote) and the style of wine from this northern outpost of Burgundy is always both tasty and refreshing. The Chardonnay is light and clean and a total crowd-pleaser (even a mixed Duke-Carolina crowd,) the kind of Chardonnay that makes even adamant Chardonnay foes thirsty for a second glass. When the last boat-load of these wines arrived at 3CUPS they evaporated pretty quickly, a collaborative effort between you guys and our sales team, who may have purchased their weight in Goisot in 2009. I love getting those paychecks back in exchange for bottles...

The story of Goisot is a good one, elaborated on in the Burgundy II issue of Edward Behr's great quarterly The Art of Eating. Certified Biodynamic, family-farmed, an estate that summarizes in many ways (including ultimate quality) what kinds of wines we strive to sell at 3CUPS.

In summary, we'll have one or more Goisot wines open Fri-Sun (the Pinots are also about as pure and refreshing as a red wine can be) so you should detour to 3CUPS en route to the garden store, the farmers' market, the football game. Pick up a savory Scratch Baking pie and a bottle of Goisot and voila! dinner is taken care of. Good dinner, no rummaging around through pantry leftovers to cobble something together. Goisot wines are also certifiably seafood-delicious, almost across the board. Appropriate with crustaceans, bi-valves, steaky ocean fish, flavorful fresh-water fish... Maybe rare tuna is what I crave most with these wines, unless a table-full of sushi is an option.

Bare Hands Grilled Pizza and Wine Take Out Supper
Sunday, November 8, 5PM - 7:30PM
$30 in advance, $35 at the door

It's a simple idea: grilled pizza + 3CUPS wine = a very good Sunday dinner.  The last time Seth Elliott and Rob Segovia-Welch set up outside our shop to cook pizzas, the store overflowed with happy diners. So we present you with a quick and easy dinner option. Call ahead to tell us when you're arriving, and Seth and Rob will have one pizza (two flavors avail, feeds two) and one bottle of wine waiting for you, to eat here or take home.  Past pizza flavors have included roasted butternut squash and spicy sausage with a hard cider and cheddar cheese sauce. Italian reds are what we're offering up with these awesome pies.

Pie Flavors: The Mar-grill-ita, A Margherita-style pizza with our own tomato sauce, roasted garlic, basil, and a blend of fresh and smoked mozzarella. The "Whassuuup?", Our Farmer John tribute pie featuring Eco Farm's spicy Italian sausage and shiitake mushrooms with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan.

4th Annual Dispute Settlement Center Wine Tasting
Tuesday, November 10, 5:30PM - 7:30PM
$35, Limited Tickets

Join us for the 4th Annual Dispute Settlement Center Wine Tasting at The Sienna Hotel on November 10. We'll be selecting the wine. Heavy hor d' oeuvres will be donated by local restaurants. 5:30 - 7:30 PM, Limited Tickets for $35.

The Dispute Settlement Center is a non-profit mediation center based in Carrboro, North Carolina.  Their mission is "to promote and bring about the peaceful settlement of disputes and to prevent the escalation of conflict through mediation, conciliation, facilitation, and training."

Gayo
Sumatra
Jagong
$15.99/lb.

The Coffee... Sumatra is one of the classic coffee origins: deep, velvet bodied, earthy notes with hints of dry cocoa and spice swirl in each sip. Sumatran coffees are renowned for their sweetness and lack of acidity; the perfect afternoon or late night coffee! This coffee from the Northern Sumatran region of Aceh, is shade-grown by a cooperative of small producers dedicated to shade-growing on small, family-owned farms.

The coffees from Gayo are wonderous. Deep, chocolatey and velvety, they manage to achieve a very rare thing in coffee: they are earthy without being dirty, they have a long, sweet aftertaste that is never cloying, and their sweet, syrupy body make a strong cup of Gayo like drinking molten dark chocolate.

The Wine... This wine smells of fresh (not compoted or stewy or porty) dark berries, along with a bewitching and rare aroma that I often describe as violets, though that simplification may miss the mark slightly. Brezeme is a steep, limestone-rich terroir approximately 20 miles to the south of Hermitage. These vineyards on the eastern banks of the Rhone once rivaled in reputation this much more famous northern neighbor, but by the 20th century barely a hectare of vines remained. Texier has brought this special region back to prominence almost single-handedly. His wine from Brezeme looms above most Cotes du Rhone in qualitative terms. It is an archetype of real Syrah, farmed Biodynamically (and certified by Demeter, though this is not listed on the label) and bottled in a deliberate attempt to elevate Brezeme to the level of Cornas, Hermitage, Cote Rotie... Serve it with lamb and you and your good friends will have a dinner to remember.

I can't choose between these two excellent wines, so this weekend we'll pour (and discount) both.

Years ago, 3CUPS wine team member Susannah came back from a winter trip to Paris with strong recommendations for some new French wines to buy. She seemed particularly animated when discussing the virtues of Michel Quenioux and his extraordinary organic wines. These wines have given us consistent enjoyment since this initial encounter. Many of you bought the previous vintage of the red, which was with us for the opening of our new Elliott road location. I tasted the current vintage when I was in France in January, and thought they were flavorful and lively, perfect examples of what wines from Cheverny can be. The rouge has earthy depth to complement its red berry fruit notes, the white is a nice combo of floral aromas, green apple fruit and stoniness. It seems perfect for simple seafood courses, mild white-fleshed fish for instance.

Domaine de Veilloux
Cheverny
Blanc
2008
$11.99
$10.79 (10% off this weekend)

The White... The wine is a nice combo of floral aromas, green apple fruit and stoniness with a clean dry finish make Veilloux blanc a great choice for scallops or simple seafood courses, mild white-fleshed fish for instance. Sauvignon Blanc and Menu Pineau are equal partners in Veilloux’s white wine. The vines from which this fruit is harvested are between 20 and 50 years of age. The soil is a mix of clay and limestone. Floral, mineral aromas and a clean dry finish make Veilloux blanc a great choice for scallops.

Domaine de Veilloux
Cheverny
Rouge
2008
$11.99
$10.79 (10% off this weekend)

The Red... It has earthy depth to complement its red berry fruit notes. The vines for this wine are between five and 20 years old. Quenioux uses 50% Gamay, 35% Pinot Noir and a blend of 15% Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc to make Domaine de Veilloux rouge. These vineyards naturally yield small amounts of high-quality fruit thanks to Quenioux’s meticulous farming practices. Soil at the estate is a mix of clay, limestone and other calcareous material, a composition that is well-suited to Domaine de Veilloux’s fragrant, lively style of wine. Serve with salmon.

Alary Le P'tit Martin
Cotes du Rhone
2008
$15.99
$14.39 (10% off this weekend)

The Wine... The Oratoire St. Martin in Cairanne models how I want my wine to be made. This is a fun young red, spicy and complex enough to keep from getting boring: totally enjoyable and juicy. Frederic and Francois Alary are the current (10th) generation of their family to tend vines in a town whose best wines rival bottles from the very top communes in the southern Rhone. They farm organically, and are seeking certification for that enlightened labor. The Alary family make unfiltered reds that accurately express the character of their homeland, wines based on the great grapes of the Rhone valley: Grenache and Syrah. These grapes are grown in the rocky blue clay and limestone-laced soils of their 25-hectare estate. Replanting is en massale, a technique that maintains genetic variety in the Oratoire's fields. En massale means from a crowd, and refers to selecting the cuttings for replanting from the area's existing vines, as opposed to importing clonally identical new plants to accomplish this task.  All fruit is harvested by hand and sorted rigorously to remove damaged or under-ripe berries.

Tim Ross' American Brain Tumor Assoc. Fundraiser
Saturday, October 17, 8PM

$26 at the door / RSVP Requested

On October 11th, I will be running the Chicago Marathon on behalf of the American Brain Tumor Association & in memory of my good friend Cy Rawls, who passed away from brain cancer last October at the young age of 33. As part of my efforts to raise money for ABTA, and as a fun tie-in with the general goal of optimal brain health, I am hosting a "Feed Your Brain" fundraiser at 3CUPS on the Saturday after the marathon. Come learn about & enjoy the brain-boosting benefits of delicious items like red wine, green tea, coffee, dark chocolate, blueberries, raspberries, walnuts, almonds, salmon, pumpkin seeds, avocado, and more! - Tim Ross

Crepes and Cider Sunday Supper
Sunday, October 18, 6PM
$30 in advance / $35 at the door

Hard cider and buckwheat crepes stuffed with tasty things like gruyere, ham, and caramelized onions is one of life's happy pairings. It makes the French, and particularly the Bretons, smile. But we thought you'd like it too. We're having this social because Laura mentioned (over and over, like a broken record) that we should have a supper that paired crepes with cider from Foggy Ridge, an orchard in southern Virginia that presses tasty juice out of heirloom apples - and Jay said, "That's a good idea, why don't you make them?" Come taste the results of this delicious dare at a cozy fall supper... we'll have two types of savory, well-stuffed buckwheat crepes (galettes, as they are known in Brittany) and one sweet, plus salad and cider.  Here's the full menu:

Savory buckwheat crepes with ham, gruyere de comte, caramelized onions; savory buckwheat crepes with sherried mushrooms; green salad; sweet crepe with salty caramel sauce and creme fraiche-rosemary whipped cream. Yum!

Nancy Kitterman Wine Social
Thursday, October 22, 6PM - 8PM
$20 in advance / $25 at the door

Nancy is a talented cook who has been a part of 3CUPS Managing Partner Lex Alexander's extended family since she helped open the Chapel Hill location of Wellspring Grocery in 1990. Her culinary talents were and are exceptional. She has worked at 21 Club and Arcadia restaurants in NY, Magnolia Grill, Crooks Corner, opened Nana's, and designed the café at the Nasher Museum.

Come taste what Nancy is up to in 2009 at this informal gathering that will feature delicious, carefully crafted morsels of food and wine picked to complement Ms. Kitterman's creations.

Kermit Lynch is a hero in my book. He’s been blazing the trail for close to 40 years as a pioneer promoting his portfolio of authentic wine… the same type of wine we sell at 3CUPS. Like many others working in the food business, I made my pilgrimage to Berkeley in the late 1980s to visit the hallowed ground where he practiced his trade. In a small dimly lit wine shop on San Pablo in Berkeley, I was under whelmed by the physical space, the signage and merchandising and I remember thinking; wow, the product is good enough that the rest doesn’t really matter. I bought some wine from the enthusiastic staff person working the floor and went next door and had an eggplant sandwich at Alice Water’s Café Fanny.   

3CARD Cash Drawing: October 2009... And the winner is (drumroll, please...)

Julie Reed, #704834.

Eric Chevalier
Chardonnay
2008
$12.99
$11.69 (10% off this weekend)

The Wine... Eric Chevalier's Chardonnay is an amazing example of soil transmitted via plant to wine: it seems so utterly terroir-driven and of its homeland to me.  I got a nose-full of minerals from this Eric's wine. Chardonnay notes are in the wine, but I thought pure mineral really drove the flavor, made me want to have it in our shop. The source of this character is a vineyard full of sandstone, silex and quartz. An amazing value from Kermit Lynch who says, " It is crisp, clean, flinty and easy to down. Some folks buy cases at a time."

3CUPS Wine Series with Sheri Sauter-Morano
Class #12: Bordeaux 2
Thursday, October 15, 7PM - 8:30PM

Bordeaux is too vast to survey in one evening, so we split France's most commercially important vine-growing region into two classes. On our second night we'll taste great right-bank wines, bottles from producers from the eastern side of Bordeaux's famed Gironde estuary. If you haven't taken one of Sheri's wine classes, do not miss out on this fun and educational event. Having a local Master of Wine to lead us in this course is a sign of how great a food community the triangle is.

Grosjean
Torrette
2008
$22.99
$20.69 (10% off this weekend)

The Wine... Grosjean Freres is a small estate in the communes of Quart and Saint Christophe in the Vallee d'Aoste, Italy's extreme northwest. 90% of the region's wine is red. The soils here are glacial moraine which is rocky and semi-fertile which adds to the creation of quality wine.  The wine is spicy and aromatic and will appeal to lovers of Pinot Noir. Come by for a taste this afternoon and discover an under-the-radar wine... from Italy’s most remote wine growing zone, an area of the country better known to hikers, skiers and cheese lovers than to wine drinkers.

Bread and Wine Social with Rob Nichol
Thursday, October 8, 6PM - 8PM
$12 in advance / $15 at the door

Every day we get to enjoy great bread thanks to the hard work of Rob Nichol and his team at Weaver St. Market. Too often bread is relegated to a side plate, an afterthought in a larger food and wine context. But life in this community would be impossible for many of us if bread of this caliber was not readily available. We will show how great bread and wine are a match that needs little in the way of adornment. Come talk to Rob about his quality work at this casual event.

Shakisso
Ethiopia
Sidamo
$15.99/lb.

Finally, another African coffee on the line up.  And an Ethiopian Sidamo at that!  Sweet tea-like, we welcome Shakisso back to 3CUPS.  Last year it was in the natural sundried form, this year it is meticulously handwashed.  Stop by and give it a try.

The Coffee...  Shakisso is painstakingly hand-washed and dried by hand on wooden tables in the  sun, resulting in a remarkably fragrant coffee that is overflowing with notes of jasmine, sweet citrus, tea, honey, and strawberry.

Badi Bradley

Occhipinti
SP68
Rosso Vittoria
2008
$22.99
$20.69 (10% off this weekend)

The Wine...  A lively, delicious new light red from Occhipinti.  SR68 is named after a road that passes close to the source of the fruit for this new wine. As always Arianna uses grapes indigenous and well-suited to her home town of Vittoria in Southeastern Sicily. Combining the ease and elegance of her Frappato bottling with the darker richness of Nero d'Avola, this is an ideal wine to help navigate the change of seasons. Stop by  and taste for yourself!

3CUPS Wine Series with Sheri Sauter-Morano
Class #11: Bordeaux 1
Thursday, October 1, 7PM - 8:30PM

Bordeaux is too vast to survey in one evening, so we split France's most commercially important vine-growing region into two classes. On our first night we'll taste great left-bank wines, bottles from producers from the western side of Bordeaux's famed Gironde estuary. If you haven't taken one of Sheri's wine classes, do not miss out on this fun and educational event. Having local Master of Wine to lead us in this course is a sign of how great a food community the triangle is.

Finca Kilimanjaro Microlot
El Salvador
Santa Ana
$20.99/lb.

This week's Friday Fresh is a special microlot of Finca Kilimanjaro.  This is in very short supply, so pick it up before it is gone.  This coffee put Aida Batlle on the map when she won the Cup of Excellence competition in El Salvador in 2003.  She hasn't entered again since.  If you are hesitant to take home a pound, you should stop by the store and try a single press of this coffee, the aroma alone is majestic.

The Coffee...  Finca Kilimanjaro was planted with trees imported from Kenya in the 40s or 50s.  The climate near the top of the Santa Ana volcano, at 5000 ft, is not unlike Kenya, and the large oval coffee cherries are very distinctive.  This coffee usually goes to Norway due to Aida’s relationship with a Norwegian roaster.  We were fortunate to acquire this small microlot.  The flavor is unique and classic.

The citrus, black currant,  characteristic of Kenya is sweet, fruity, and juicy, which makes it mouthwatering and complex.  There is an underlying caramel-vanilla sweetness and layers of deep, silky body.

Badi Bradley

Chateau Le Bost
Bergerac Sec
2008
$9.99
$8.99 (10% off this weekend)

I had a party recently. I like parties, and I want to treat my guests well: after all, they've trekked for many miles to my isolated home in the wilderness. So I opened a bunch of relatively fancy wines and... you know, people weren't really there to analyze wine. They wanted to sip and socialize and eat, to have a good time freed from anything approaching pretension. This sustainably-farmed white from southwestern France should have been at my party, probably in case quantity. It's so invigorating, sunny and lemony and great for simply enjoying, whether at dinner with salads and grilled seafood, or as a "house wine" for raucous social events. 

The Wine... Chateau Le Bost is a great white for seafood courses, or for simply drinking as a refreshing pre-dinner apertif. Fermented in stainless steel, the wine tastes fresh and lively. It grows on steep clay-limestone slopes high above the Dordogne river. Fans of white Bordeaux will find a lot of happiness in this bottle.

Jay Murrie

The Long Table Supper with Anton Zuiker
Sunday, September 20, 5PM - 8PM
$35 in advance, 919.724.4220 for reservations

Erin and Anton Zuiker invite you to the inaugural event of The Long Table, an initiative to promote good food, good place and good conversation.

Throughout the years, their experiences at family holiday meals, Vanuatu village “kakais”, restaurant farmers dinners and impromptu tea parties have fostered in them both a strong desire to gather with friends, enjoy a good meal and engage in long, leisurely conversation. It’s in the sharing of food and stories and place that the bonds of family and community grow strongest, they have learned.  

Hich Elbetri, chef-owner of Sandwhich, and his mother, Naima Elbetri will prepare an authentic Moroccan meal,  Jay Murrie will choose the wine, and Erin and Anton will get the conversation started with a story or two.

This week we say farewell to El Lechero Microlot.  We've enjoyed the complexity and subtle sweetness of this select coffee and look forward to what Roberto can deliver next year.

The Coffee...  Exquisitely balanced with sweet, rich notes of vanilla, citrus, chocolate, and caramel. With impeccable standards of quality and a passion for developing coffees of the highest caliber, Roberto Salazar and his family have surpassed even their own high expectations with this standout lot.

Coffee Brewing Workshop with Iced Coffee
Saturday September 19, Noon-1pm, Free

A coffee brewing workshop fits the title, one coffee with many ways to brew it. Learn the difference between a press pot and a vacuum pot and how they brew the same coffee to taste different. We'll show you the procedures for each brewing method and discuss how the details effect the flavors. With the introduction of espresso, in the store, we've included the moka pot, also known as Bialetti, for stove top espresso at home. Noon to 1PM, FREE.

As I said last week, this weekly newsletter is our way of including you in our conversation about wine. If you really want to go further into the discussion 3BOTTLES (our monthly wine club) is the way to go.  Click here for more info.

3BOTTLES this month is about the wines of Italy and there are 3 very different and interesting wines along with a 5 page text and only costs $55. And the Weekend Wine is a part of the 3BOTTLES set and comes from Tuscany.

Here are two short paragraphs from this month’s 3BOTTLES:

There are 20 wine regions in Italy, and no two are alike. When you travel in France, from say the Rhone into Provence, there are many culinary and viticulture similarities. In Italy, these rifts can seem vast: wholesale changes occurring in food and wine as one passes across regional boundaries. For the curious drinker this is a very good thing. The wines of Italy are diverse, offering us an endless array of distinctive tastes and styles.

Lex Alexander

 

At The Center of Wine... It must be frustrating to be an Italian wine maker, or an Italian-born wine historian for that matter. For millennia, at least since boatloads of Greeks started rowing ashore and planting grapes, your homeland has been the cradle of viticulture. Vines are everywhere in Italy, and Italians beginning in the early years of the Roman empire pushed the cultivation of the vine outward across the continent. As an Italian, your wine culture should be (and probably is) a source of great pride. It is interwoven with dozens of regional culinary subcultures, traditions based on the tremendously diverse agricultural bounty of this arable land. Italy has at least 3,000 indigenous grape varietals to call its own. But someone else has owned the limelight...

Jay Murrie

Montesecondo
Rosso
Toscano
2008
$18.99
$17.09 (10% off this weekend)

The Wine... This wine is totally Tuscan in aroma, yet also fun, lively, fresh, easy-to-drink. It is a world away from big heavy dark reds that have driven Tuscan red wine prices skyward in recent years. Montesecondo Rosso is a blend of 80% Sangiovese, and the rest Cannaiolo and Colorino. It is aged in tank to preserve freshness. It's a real wine that remains totally unpretentious.

Jay Murrie