We are gonna help you out just this time...

We get it that you are not much into making toasts at the witching hour, but there is absolutely no reason that you shouldn't be prepared. If you stop in after 3pm today we will be tasting various "bubblies" and you should be able to find something to your liking to take home for later.

And to further smooth the way, here are some toasts for the "speechless". Pick what's appropriate. Raise a glass. Happy New Year.

Here's to the days of good will,
cold weather, and warm hearts.

A health to you,
a wealth to you,
And the best that life can give to you.

We've Holidays and happy days, and memory days galore
And when we've toasted every one, I offer just one more
So let us lift our glasses high, and drink a silent toast
To the day, deep buried in each heart
that each one loves the most

You, like many of us, might have a little "making up for some earlier-in-the-year errors" sometime this evening .  So in the interest of romance here are the words to the appropriate song and your favorite band playing further on down. To the light of the computer screen, sing along, hold hands, knock yourselves out.

Auld Lang Syne
by Robert Burns

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne

We twa hae run aboot the braes
And pou'd the gowans fine;
we've wander'd mony a weary foot
Sin' auld lang syne

We two hae paidled i' the burn,
Frae mornin' sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin' auld lang syne

And here's a hand, my trusty friend,
And gie's a hand o' thine;
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne



What's a nudge between friends?

We certainly don't want to be nudges but New Year's Eve is 2 nights from now...2 shopping days .... and we will taste some sparkling wines Saturday, New Year's Eve from 3-6. 132 Front St. Greenport.  Got it.
'nuf said.

If you stay home that evening about 10pm or so the NY Philharmonic and the Vienna Symphony will be doing their special New Year's Eve concert and they are fun to watch.  One of our friends was actually in Vienna and went to one of those some 20 plus years ago. It was fun so he said. He recounted the following:

Across from the concert hall and over a bit was a real Vienna champagne bar where one went after such concerts. They served chocolates and champagne - by all accounts a dandy combination.  Our friend went to the bar to order and had some musician friends from the event with him. He asked information as in " how much" (wie viele ist es) but his German was nicht gut and the bartender said "viel??" and our friend thought he said vier (as in the number 4 not how much) so our friend gestured to his 2 guests and repeated "vier?" which in the din of the place came out "vier jaja!" or 4 and 3 of us so 12 glasses appeared. Dazed and confused our friend paid the 120$ bar tab and and everyone drowned in cheap champagne.  The only solace was that Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Mahler had drunk champagne there on New Year's Eve - records meticulously kept - so that was kinda neat.

Venus

We happily spend long hours at this time of year and it seems we come to work with Venus setting and leave with Venus Rising - the proverbial morning and evening "star". 

It is just past mid-day and our bright little friend is nowhere to be seen and additionally it is far to early to play "did you know that..." but remember that old ditty "star light star bright first star I see tonight..."? It is the evening star "Venus" which, by some celestial magic turns into the morning star in the east.  It is regular and something of a comfort. Think about it. The moon all but disappears regularly - fading in and out - but this gentle orb shows up on time and shows us west at night and east in the morning as if following and then dragging up the sun.

Poe wrote a poem (yes that Edgar) wrote a poem called "Evening Star" as part of the published set we know as Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827).  Folks have been writing about Venus or discussing it and have noticed it from antiquity (Hesperus in Greek mythology), biblically (How Brightly Shines the Morning Star), and spiritually (wow! lookatthat!) and an occasional musician captures it perfectly like this:

Its Christmas by the Fire...

Simple Gifts

We gift wrap.

You still have a day and 3/4ths.

We smile and talk to you and don't need an elf standing outside our door to make you feel welcome.

Share a moment with us.

Give a gift that inspires the appreciative "ahhhhh!!".

Evening on the First Day of Winter

We like our view down Front Street.  About closing time the Village goes through a transition between bustle and repose..things slow down...and night just settles in.

We have a lot of store visitors right about now - someone on the way to a friend's home for dinner and needs to bring a bottle of wine while others just have picked out what they are going to eat and a glass with dinner or appetizers changes things from ordinary to a little more special.  We have a nice shop so we can learn about that as our customers generally like to chat a bit and it is more that we sell to friends than just "wonder who that was".  We learn about that when we do the gift wrapping and look forward to listening.  People are friendly and like to talk a bit.  It is very nice.

Everyone's taste is a bit different and we try and remember about each person in that way. Also nice. We have so many friends. So many.

We are so blessed.

Upright or on its side???

We are of course referring to storing sparkling wines and not the condition of the consumer.  In our never ending quest to keep you informed of things...(we are kidding here!)....one of our readers asked about champagne and keeping the bottles on their side or sitting them upright. Does it matter? Do you care?  We personally think that storage shouldn't be a problem if consumed with diligence.  Sparkling wine is like a an old friend who should never grow old.

This applies to sparkling wine generally so here goes -

1. If you have a plastic "cork" then it doesn't matter at all.
2. If you have a cork/cork - you know the type - then there is a debate that says if you rest the bottle on its side the contents come in contact with the cork and that may change the wine but not in a good way like other types...the fine line between keeping the cork moist and therefore airtight v. just plain old cork contamination.
3. The CO2 helps keep the seal (pressure) and if stored upright, it shouldn't matter a whole heck of a lot.

BORED YET???? Well, you had to get me started....

Yardsticks

On this Sunday morning, just turned that day now, and before we trot off to sleep, with visions of sugar plums dancing, the stockings washed and folded, we in our "kerchief" and cap,  and no clatter yet out on the front lawn...this time... a week out...

With all the plastic commercialism that bombards us and that we decry, there are things true and beautiful in this time. That sincere smile of greeting, kids laughing and eyes twinkling, a held door or coat or chair, a helping hand and just that casual nod of greeting.  Nice things.

We all need to (and we won't preach another word - promise) have a yardstick or two in our lives against which we measure how we are acting. If we select something of near transcendental beauty or peacefulness, calmness or even a spoonful of melancholic introspection; against that yardstick we can see how other things measure up.  If we don't have that one standard, well, it's a yardstick with no inches.

So in this little period before the reindeer land on the rooftop, it won't hurt to reassess our yardsticks - to see if our "nice" measures up, if we go to the right length to be considerate, if we inch our way to a more  courteous way of thinking - simply if we have a grip on those things that are the best and we appreciate most and then hold ourselves to that end.

Night.

An addicting game for a "no snow" Saturday

Winter is flirting with the edges of our village and if you know where we are (132 Front Street across from Mitchell Park  hint hint - Tasting today at 3pm...last one before Christmas Eve) sorry, couldn't resist the colors! - we thought it would be fun, along with the Whyligyges in the window to trot out this VERY addicting game. Let us know if you get to level 9.

Bet ya' can't play just one (link here)
We think this to be a great opportunity to pass a few minutes while your mind races toward mittens and boots and the days long gone by. 

Hustle Bustle Time

We are the first to admit that we haven't ever met a gift we didn't like and, for the sake of argument, is there any such thing as a bad gift? Inappropriate perhaps but even then unless it is a sack full of snakes, the intention was probably good even if misdirected.

Sometimes we are so caught up the fray of "the season" that we get a little out of whack. We wonder about what the less fortunate think about a shiny new car with a red bow when indeed a soup kitchen with richer broth would equally suffice.  Our point is put in extreme terms but in truth there are extremes and it is good to keep that in mind.
We enjoy it a lot when folks come in our store and spend a little time and thought on a bottle of wine or spirits to be given as a gift.  We imagine a visit, dinner perhaps or just a "thinking about you" drop by, taking something to the business friend next door or across the hall; a hail "well let's open this up" and share a dram response, all jolly and smiles, a hearty and well meant handshake or kiss on the cheek in thanks that isn't at all for the gift but for the thought.

When we are doing that also remember that the soup kitchens are in tough spots, the food pantry has some holes on its shelves, and generally one man's rags are another man's riches.

Great Sunday - The Market, Parade, and Us

Some pretty big doings today at the Market as you can see by the poster to the right. Shelley has been up doing her thing from right about now (6am).

It is a bit too early to crack open some bottles of sparkling wine but we assure you that they are well chilled and ready for you.

Most of all, this will be fun. The food is always great, the crowd is a real "Market" crowd and Deb, from Greenport Wines and Spirits will be in full smiles which, along with Shelley, is enough to light up a room.

Come, knosh, watch the parade at 1pm,
taste and say hello.

If you can't go to the choir, then we bring one to you

On this Pearl Harbor Day, 60 years ago about now, it isn't a bad thing to think of things more gentle than war.  Good day and good spirits. Don't forget the past but keep it with you as you smile, think good thoughts, and move forward.

Just some happy music for you today

Michael Pratorius wrote this nearly 500 years ago..well not this arrangement of it..but the theme...and this performance is "sparkling" like our wine tasting this week and the event at The Market on Saturday at 10am.

Have a nice day.

Big doin's at The Market

Sunday Bruch...come eat, sample, watch the parade...knosh with friends.

We will be there, decking the halls so to speak. What a great morning it will be.

Bright Lights and Whirligigs

Sometime during our wine tasting this afternoon (3-6pm 132 Front St. Greenport hint hint), it will be dark enough outside and we can turn on our little whirligigs in the window.

We are using our term "whirligig" a little loosely but to be somewhat correct they aren't just those things that spin on Antiques Roadshow after spending a century on a barn - they are anything that spins.

Whyrlegyge, chyldys game...is the oldest reference we can find and that's from the middle 15th century. One of the words, gyge, is old English and probably French in origin, and it means to spin.  The gigue or jig, the dance itself, comes from this word and spinning about.  Too much? OK.

Anyway, about halfway through the tasting our little Whyrlegyges will start their work. You can bask in the soft lights and the motion and all this new found knowledge....and if you don't remember Fantasia from your Childhood, you might like the lights in this. Magic. Pure magic.

A little waltz music

We think that a waltz is something to imagine as much as "do".  Men in their formal evening wear, women in long gowns, champagne, couples swirling about...it is like a fairy tale that we never grow tired of even if we can't waltz worth a lick. A lot of us grew up to the Nutcracker Suite at this time of year and the Waltz of the Flowers was like a bit of that magic.  Some of us owned great big picture books that had snow scenes and glowing windows, horses and sleighs and all kinds of folks on skates on frozen ponds and creeks.  To memories!



Just a nip of winter

We are all decorated out for the holidays - lots of lights and flashy things in our window, the Village tree across the street, the carousel and its lights at dusk...well it is mighty festive.

In case you haven't ventured out, there is a hint of what is in store for us in the next few months.  Some of our thoughts turned to sleigh rides and snow, perhaps a twirl around the ice rink when it opens.

We were talking to a friend this morning who recounts sleigh rides in northern Michigan and the horse, all tinkly with the bells, making a great deal of noise when things started up and then, momentum gained and the riders snuggled in under the blankets, snow falling slightly faster than the sun setting - and it becomes all "winter quiet".  We liked that phrase, "winter quiet".

We liked it very much.

Bubbly Season

For good or for bad, better or for worse, lean times, hard times, good times, perhaps all times - there is something about popping the cork so to speak and pouring a toast.

The period between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve seems to be ripe for this. Uncle Ned, wobbly to his feet and raising a glass in praise of the Turducken or mom and dad watching the presents being ripped apart and treating themselves to a mimosa so artfully hidden in the OJ.

Whatever it is, the bubbly associates itself with this time of year and before you go out and get some for a friend's gift or for lugging home to chill until New Year's, we recommend you taste some and learn some about it - why it isn't champagne for instance - and why we have, on Long Island, some of the best sparkling wines going.

Or you can just drop in and say hello and flash a smile and get it returned.

We promise not to play Lawrence Welk and his Champagne Music Makers but then again we just might.