Marty’s thoughts on wine.
Everyday we are thankful to live in this state whose identity is associated with preserving both non-human nature and small communities. Just as non-human nature needs protection by humans (mostly from humans) to survive, small communities need the support of local residents to prosper. If we want to continue to celebrate Vermont’s small towns, to those volunteer efforts noted above we need to add mindfully shifting our shopping to support local merchants.
Did you know that no more than fifteen wine grape varieties “account for 90 percent of the wine grapes grown in the United States and France” (Ian d’Agata, Native Grapes of Italy, 4)? “Shop locally, taste globally” embraces not just supporting a local shop like Windham Wines, but because of our selection of small, family-owned […]
We are ending the season of tremendous growth and fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables. Among those fruits are grapes; it is harvest time in the northern hemisphere. It corresponds as well with our two seasons of industry wine shows, where we taste the new vintage wines and new wines that our distributors are bringing into Vermont. At the shop, our portfolio of wines shifts from mostly whites and ross, to about two-thirds reds, the rest whites, ross and sparklings.
We have a lot of regions and styles to cover in our wine journey together. As I was considering where to head after the February clubs, I was discouraged by some industry articles that pointed to trends in California that are recurring in other wine regions as well, namely, wineries being purchased by nouveau-wealthy people for whom a vineyard is a hobby-investment and the tension between wine industry interests and environmental concerns in developing wine regions. In a somewhat circuitous route, these led me to pay attention to and want to celebrate some really interesting producers from California’s Central Coast region whose fingernails are dirty from work in the vineyards and who are engaging in environmentally sensitive practices in both the vineyard and the cellar.
“I drink Champagne only on two occasions—when I am in love and when I am not.” —- Coco Chanel “I drink Champagne when I am happy and when I am sad. Sometimes I drink it when alone. In company I consider it compulsory. I sip a little if I am hungry. Otherwise, I don’t […]
One of the great things about owning a wine shop is that we have to try a lot of different wines. (I must say here that the greatest thing about owning a shop, hands down, remains our terrific, interesting and loyal customers. I am sorry if it sounds like pandering, but it is nonetheless true). […]
We are very excited about this list of winter favorites for $20 or under. We tasted throughout the fall, selecting wines for the season as we shifted the shop’s focus from the lighter whites and rosés of summer to the fuller-bodied whites, sparklings and especially reds of colder, darker months. As we mentioned in the […]
Ice Cider is a product unique to the Northeast, the process developed in Quebec and brought to the US by Vermont’s Eden Specialty Ciders. This is a piece about how ice cider is made, and about Eden in particular, that I wrote for a regional publication, Southern Vermont Arts and Living. Wine Observed: An Apple […]
A couple of times a year, Eric Asimov, who pens the wine column, “The Pour,” for the New York Times, assembles a list of wines that he buys in the New York area for $20 or under that he can recommend for seasonal enjoyment. Asimov is one of those wine writers who I really enjoy—always […]
Our new year starts with January, named after Janus, the Roman god of gates and doors generally depicted with two faces, one looking forward and one looking behind. Gates and doorways symbolize the transition to something new, to change. In the west, we have come to associate the new year as a time for reflection, […]