Post Update: some linkrot below has been fixed for the time being
Product Update: It’s official, when the few bottles of Moskovskaya vodka we have left run out, Moskovskaya is dead in South Carolina for the foreseeable future.
Spirits-wise we picked up Patron “Citronge” orange liqueur in the 375ml size, Svedka vodka in 375ml, and limited allocations of both Svedka 200ml and Trader Vic’s Kona Coffee liqueur (750ml).
In the wine department we added two new California cabs, the Sebastiani from Sonoma and the Glory Days from Lodi, which is a more value-priced offering. We picked up a new Cava (Segura Viudas Aria Brut) and a new pinot grigio (Caldaro “Sunflower” DOC Alto Adige).
The most interesting wines we added this week however were the Domaine Monpertuis (Paul Jeune) Counoise VdP du Gard, and the Gysler Silvaner Halbtrocken (in 1L size). Counoise is a pretty rare red grape, and is typically used for blending in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The silvaner is a a refreshing white, and as indicated by “halbtrocken”, it is off-dry.
In tales of the peculiar, we were able to get a good deal on a certain higher-end California pinot noir this week — but, per our distributor’s admonitions, we can’t sell it to anyone other than ourselves. Apparently this winery managed to have a few bottles escape the premises without *gasp* capsules. You know, the pretentious, useless, excess-packaging, instant-landfill-fodder, vestige-of-snobbism thingie covering the cork. In case you were wondering, yes, it tastes exactly the same as the bottle we last had which did have the all-important capsule. Yet the winery must think consumers are idiots who will automatically assume the quality level of this respected brand has fallen off a precipice (assuming they even notice the missing capsule). Ergo, they forbade the distributor from selling it to any retailer who would sell it to the public. But chances are, you will be drinking these same bottles in local restaurants that pour it by the glass, since in that scenario, you can’t see that the bottle has no capsule.
But on the other hand, perhaps one can empathize with the winery to some degree. After all, some consumers still think ethanol with a few antioxidants present is a vitamin[old link] a vitamin.
