Beer and Wine Weekly Update, October 27, 2014
By Josh Downs, Beer and Wine Manager
As a kid, Halloween was by far my favorite holiday. Nothing was more fun that dressing up, and running around town with my friends, seeing who could get the most candy. As an adult, Halloween is a little different, but still a pretty great time. It’s an excuse to be a little goofy when every day seems so serious, a chance for the inner kid in all of us to come out and play. Halloween also marks the beginning of the end of fall, at least in Vermont. The weather is getting colder, the leaves are changing from vibrant reds and yellows to earthy browns, and the urge to put on the comfy pants and spend the evening on the couch with a beer and a movie starts getting more and more appealing. Even though the pumpkin beers are beginning to reach the end of the line, we have plenty of fall offerings left at City Market to make that cozy evening on the couch perfect.
Changes in the Department
This week the department will begin to see a little bit of a transition in the amount and types of wine in Aisle Six. As I mentioned in one of my posts, we had moved the Tisdale, Pepperwood, and Pacifico Sur wines that used to live in the department to this space. We are keeping each of those vineyards, but letting a couple of the less popular varieties sell down to make way for a delicious wine at a great value that I’m really excited about bringing in. Tortito Bravo (Chardonnay and Red Blend) is a fantastic choice for an everyday bottle of wine. Both varieties are crowd pleasers, pair with a variety of food, and are a great price. You can expect to see them making their way into Aisle Six by the end of the week!
Keeping in the fall mood, this week we are drinking a fantastic cider from Shacksbury, out of Shoreham, Vermont. Shacksbury is dedicated to making fantastic, traditional ciders that are true to style. I’ve had the pleasure of tasting all they have to offer and there is not one cider that doesn’t impress me. If you are looking for a great end of fall beverage, make sure to give these a try.
Currently, Shacksbury offers four ciders: The Classic, The Hereford, The 1840, and the cider we will be tasting today, The Basque. The Basque is an unfiltered cider fermented with natural yeast. It pours a hazy golden apple yellow, with a rich, musky nose full of tart apple aromas. As you drink it, the dynamic flavors of tart apple, pie spice, and citrus acid blend together, leading up to a funky, earthy finish. This is the perfect cider for a cool fall day. I’d drink this while I was out in the cold, grasping for the last bits of fall, grilling a big piece of meat, but that’s just me.
Continuing the “keep fall as long as we can” theme of this post, this week we are offering a great fall Riesling and another local cider as the Weekly Winners.
Founded in 1982, The Houge Cellars are located in Columbia Valley, Washington. The location and climate of Houge produces ripe, fruit forward flavors that make for some great food wines. This week we are featuring their Late Harvest Riesling, a well-balanced, moderately sweet Riesling. Flavors of apricot, tangerine, citrus, and spice make this the perfect wine to drink alongside apple pie.
As for the local cider, this week we are highlighting Boyden Valley’s Ice Hard Cider. Boyden has always done a fantastic job at making great Vermont Wine, Ice Wine, and Ice Cider. The Ice Hard Cider is their “cider for the people” cider, in that it is extremely approachable, well balanced, crisp, and refreshing. Drink this with dinner, on a hike, on the couch, or anywhere really - it’s just that good.
Beer and Wine News
Speaking of Citizen Cider, we also have a new, limited edition cider from the Citizens Cellar Series: Addison Hop. This cider is infused with hops grown right in Addison County and is extremely flavorful. We only have a limited supply of it, so get it while it lasts!
As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or topics you’d like covered feel free to contact me at jdowns@citymarket.coop, or give me a call at 802-861-9730. Until next week, Prost!