Twin Beaks
Chardonnay
Merlot
Cabernet Sauvignon
Shiraz
Only $9.99 a bottle
Cabernet Sauvignon
Soft and long with casis flavors and a hint of mint and eucalyptus. Rich berry flavors, soft fruit and fine tannins.
Food Pairing: Red meats such as lamb or veal.
Wine Spectator Rating: 85 Points Issue: Sept. 30, 2004
Chardonnay
This wine demonstrates the blenders skill. The wine is lively with tropical fruit flavors and a long, creamy finish.
Food Pairing: Seafood or chicken
Merlot
Soft, round and flavorsome. Full-bodied and rich with a soft palate.
Food Pairing: Red meats and pasta
Wine Spectator Rating: 85 Points Issue: Sept. 30, 2004
Shiraz
Spicy notes with scents of vanilla.Full-bodied, rich with a soft palate and abundant blueberry flavors and a silky finish
Food Pairing: Red meats such as barbequed tri-tip or roasts
Another year is flying by; the days are getting shorter and soon we in the northeast will be spending most of our time indoors,
at least for a while. Each season offers something special, and December of course is a traditional time for catching up with
family and friends.
As you plan your holiday festivities and parties, please let us know if we can help you find a thoughtful gift to bring along to a
friend’s home. If you’re playing host, we can also assist with wine selection, cordials, or anything else beverage-wise.
As always, please stop by anytime just to say hello. We value our customers and are always delighted to meet new
neighbors and make new friends.
One of our special choices you might be interested in is our wine of the month from Twin Beaks
Mark your calendars for Friday, Dec 3rd and join Mr.Mike at 4:30 to 7:30, as he tastes you on these gems from Angelini-wine Estates.
Also take a look at our special recipes. "MARINATED SHRIMP WITH CHAMPAGNE BEURRE BLANC".
As always, in this newsletter you will find need-to-know information regarding our December wine tasting as well as a host of related tidbits. Through our website you will be able to access our archived newsletters, recipes, check our wine of the month, research wines and beers, learn about our tastings and other specials. We will aim to educate and inform and hope that you will come back to visit us online often. Give it a look and see what people are excited about. Visit us at Littleroosterliquors.com and enjoy!
The Guest
of the Month is a highlight in our newsletter where we feature knowledgeable
people in the wine, beer and food industries to help educate us with their
expertise.
This month I am pleased to announce that Mr. Michael from Banana Dog
will be our guest writer. I thoroughly enjoyed his
very informative article about “Wine doesn't have eyes, ears or teeth, but some say it has a "nose." ? ”. I
hope you do the same!
A big thanks goes out to all who have written to me with comments and suggestions about new wines, spirits and beer. Keep those thoughts and concerns coming. Remember, you, the customer, drive what we do here. This month, our Beer of the Month is Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome Ale Please check out our article by resident beer expert, Scott Brinckerhoff, for more details and a tasty recipe to go with this brew.
•
Fri. 12/3 4:30-7:30 pm – Wine of the Month! –
Twin Beaks Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot & Shiraz
• Fri. 12/10 4:30-7:30 pm –
Red Bicyclette’s Chardonnay & Merlot
• Fri. 12/17 4:30-7:30 pm –
M & R Prossecco ’s Mumm Napa Cuvee Merlot
• Fri. 11/24 4:30-7:30 pm –
Aqulia reflections’s DB yarra valley 99Cabernet
NOUVEAU
Nouveau in French means new and it also stands for a particular type of wine.
This wine is made to be drunk immediately rather than being aged. In fact due to its structure it will not hold up more than a year or two.
The origin stems from the 1900’s in a group of villages just west of Villefranche in France. The grapes from here matured
the earliest there. Because of that the producers were allowed to release a good percentage of their wine before most of the other
producers. At that point it was referred to as Premeur wines. From 1950 to 1970 these wines were released on December 15.
Due to its immediate use in many local restaurants the term "Le Beaujolais est arrive" was coined.
By the 70’s this wine was exported to the United States and Great Britain. It was so well accepted, that by
1980 Nouveau wine was exported to other countries such as Italy Australia and Japan.
In the United States Nouveau was a huge success. The original release date was November 15. It was
changed due to its popularity for the wine trade to the third Thursday of November.
Nouveau Beaujolais produce from the Gamay grape is the most popular of the Nouveau wines. Italy produces one
that they call Novello. England and the United States produce their own replica of the French wine.
These wines are produced by fermenting them as little a four days with the help of Carbonic Maceration a process that
initials using carbon dioxide in a large tank where whole clusters of grapes are stored. The weight of the grapes crushes
the bottom grapes and the yeast from the skins of the grapes start the fermentation process.
The carbon dioxide builds up and ferments the grapes from the inside. The juice is then drained off the skins and
filtered before its short aging process. This creates a light and fruity red.
Check out our Roosterwear.
Getting Your Nose Into Wine
By
Michael, Banana Dog
Wine doesn't have eyes, ears or teeth, but some say it has a "nose."
I won't say the term is snobbish, but I'd feel uneasy about standing around, glass in hand, chatting about a wine's nose. This one's aquiline, that one's pug, the one over there's had an operation?
For that matter, I'm not too comfortable with the distinction some tasters make between a wine's "aroma," referring to the natural smell it takes from the fruit, and its "bouquet," the complex overtones it may develop with age in the bottle.
Three terms to refer to one sense? It reminds me of the Eskimos, who reportedly have scores of words to define subtleties in snow, from snowball-packing quality to bricks for igloos.
So let's strike a blow for clarity in wine language by agreeing to use plain English here.
I'll talk about how a wine "smells," and if I feel the need for synonyms, I might refer to its aroma or scent. I'll warn you if I find one that stinks.
One thing makes common scents: Smell is important to the wine taster. Much of what we think is taste really comes through our noses. If you don't believe it, try to enjoy a wine - or a meal - the next time you have a bad head cold.
When it comes to smelling, we take a distant second place to dogs and cats. Still, we humans can train our sense of smell, and you don't have to be an expert wine taster to learn to sniff out the differences among wines.
The aroma of Cabernet Sauvignon and the closely related Merlot grape, for example, often reminds me of cedar wood and pine needles mingled with a good fruit smell reminiscent of currants.
Some add hints that wine tasters call "vegetal:" green olives, green peppers, tobacco leaves or grass.
Aging the wine in oak may add touches of vanilla, cinnamon, cloves and almonds. Extended bottle aging may lend a toasty quality and impart earthy scents as variable as mushrooms, old leather, roses and wildflowers.
Other grapes have their own trademark aromas: Zinfandel often evokes berries. Pinot Noir, the fine grape of Burgundy, may recall violets and spice. The pungently floral quality of freshly ground black pepper signals Syrah, the French Rhone grape.
Among whites, Chardonnay recalls crisp, ripe apples and may add notes of butter, coconut, figs and other tropical fruits, particularly if it's aged in oak.
Riesling, the queen of German grapes, may evoke apples, too, and sometimes citrus fruit, canteloupe and pine.
Sauvignon Blanc often shows a grassy smell and sometimes grapefruit.
Chenin Blanc reminds me of melons and, occasionally, orange blossoms. A smell of peaches identifies Muscat and Gewurztraminer; the latter may add elusive spice.
‘Winter Welcome’ Ale from England, a welcome guest at holiday gatherings
Crab cakes: a ‘no leftovers’ appetizer
Appetizer Crab Cakes
Remoulade Sauce
Did you know?
Scott Brinckerhoff
of Haddam is a freelance writer specializing in business communications.
He also brews beer, keeps bees and cooks "seriously." Each issue,
he'll provide offbeat comments on our monthly beer, long with a recipe.
Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome Ale is only available for a brief time each year, and now is the time.
It is our good fortune that this lighter cousin of Guinness, one of the best known brews on earth,
is now available in the states. In fact, it’s featured right now at The Little Rooster, where it’s
November’s beer of the month.
It’s the December beer of the month at The Little Rooster and is certainly worth a taste, since it differs in many respects from what most of use have been drinking the rest of the year.
First of all, it arrives in a clear glass 500 ml. bottle, or a little over a pint. Secondly, it’s 6 percent alcohol, so it packs more punch than most other beers in the cooler. Beyond these obvious differences, Winter Welcome is amber in color, produces only a slight head and releases a hint of perfume when uncapped. It follows through with considerable sweetness.
It’s creamy on the palate, crisp and surprisingly well carbonated for a beer brewed in England. It’s very drinkable despite the higher alcohol content, which can sometimes render an otherwise good beer tough to swallow.
Winter Welcome is attractively packaged for the holiday season. Guests will appreciate a short glass as an aperitif or a pleasant alternative to one of the heavier winter style brews.
Winter Welcome is a welcome addition indeed to the Samuel Smith family of fine brews from Tadcaster, England. I had previously only sampled the oatmeal stout, a dense and hearty brew perfect for sipping in front of a roaring fire with the snow falling outside the window. Now I’ve tried two from Samuel, and there are at least another four to go.
1 lb. crabmeat (I like the refrigerated canned variety in the fish department of the supermarket)
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
3 scallions (finely chopped both green and white parts)
½ cup red bell peppers, finely chopped
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 egg
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Dash cayenne pepper
Flour, for dusting
½ cup olive oil
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon stone ground mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Combine sauce ingredients in a serving bowl.
For Crab Cakes, mix all ingredients, except flour and oil in a large bowl. Shape into patties and dust with flour. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, put crab cakes in oil, in batches, and fry until browned, about 4-5 minutes per side. By the way, they can be made ahead of time, frozen and reheated on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.
Drain quickly on paper towels and serve with the remoulade sauce.
The brewing industry takes special note of the holiday season, just as the rest of us do. Look for seasonal beers at your favorite retailer (The Little Rooster!). Often, they are flavored with offbeat spices such as cloves, coriander, cinnamon, spruce or nutmeg. While these may sound more like appropriate flavorings for a holiday dessert, they are actually an enjoyable change of pace from beer’s usual ingredients.
The classic and amazingly easy French sauce made with butter and wine gets a glamorous makeover with Champagne.
Feel free to use less-expensive sparkling wine for cooking, but keep the blanc de blancs flowing as an accompaniment.
Sauce base
2 cups Champagne or other dry sparkling wine
1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar or other white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
Shrimp
1 cup Champagne or other dry sparkling wine
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons minced shallots
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
24 extra-large uncooked shrimp (about 2 pounds), peeled with tail left intact, deveined
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
For sauce base:
Combine Champagne, shallots, vinegar, and peppercorns in heavy medium saucepan. Boil until reduced to 1/4 cup liquid, about 20 minutes. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.)
For shrimp:
Combine Champagne, olive oil, shallots, and ground pepper in resealable plastic bag. Add shrimp to bag and seal; shake bag to coat shrimp evenly. Marinate shrimp at room temperature at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour, turning bag occasionally. Mix chives, tarragon, and parsley in small bowl.
Preheat broiler. Spray broiler pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Drain shrimp; discard plastic bag with marinade. Arrange shrimp on prepared pan in single layer. Broil shrimp until just opaque in center, about 2 minutes per side. Stand 3 shrimp, tails upright, in center of each plate.
Rewarm sauce base over medium-low heat. Whisk in butter 1 piece at a time, just allowing each to melt before adding next (do not boil or sauce will separate). Season beurre blanc to taste with salt and pepper.
Spoon warm sauce around shrimp. Sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve.
Market tip: Champagne and sparkling wines labeled extra dry are actually slightly sweeter than those labeled brut. The latter works best for this dish.
Makes 8 first-course servings