Well, you missed the King

Well, color us pea green...we got fooled.  Last Saturday when a guy who looked so much like "The King" walked out of the Post Office and over to our store, signed a few photos and sang us a song...well we were convinced.  Thank you. Thank you very much.

Alas, it wasn't him.  We remarked about this to a local friend who said he was fooled too when he was in line for stamps across the street.  Fool us once. Shame on you.  Fool us twice...well.....

We notice a lot of things from our front window...speaking of our Elvis walking over from the Post Office on Saturday. We like slow walkers who are taking it all in as opposed to the fast run-walkers who are going someplace and can't stop, look or listen. Guess that is just us.

Our local wag who comes in on Monday to find out what we are pourin' on Saturday (3-6p 132 Front, Greenport) stopped in to tell us a story:

'How long will it take me to walk into the village from here?' inquired the English tourist.
'No idea,' replied the Kerry farmer.
Off trudged the Englishman muttering to himself.
'Come back, sor,' called the Kerryman.
'What now?' asked the tourist.
'It'll take you about ten minutes.'
'Why didn't you tell me that in the first place?' asked the Englishman.
'Sure I didn't know how fast you walked!' smiled the farmer.

Aha !! I figured it out!

Our rambunctious friend popped in just a few minutes ago, fresh from the Post Office, and flapping this folder of photographs at us while uttering hoots and hollers heard form miles.

"I saw the picture in your previous post and I got it", he claimed. "I know the wines you will be serving".

So he showed us this mustard picture - white mustard he claimed - to go with the clue on the table in the prior post.  But not just any white mustard...and then he proceeded to give us a couple more clues that he suggested for us to post up to see if anyone could tumble to the subject of Saturday's tasting.  Well, here they are -

He told us that you had to know your rivers and how you could actually get from the North Sea to the Black Sea and pass right though and sample the wines we were going to put out and instead of a rich rye bread to cleanse the tongue, we would do well with the food in prior post and the white mustard (NOT BROWN that we would use if we were hoitie toitie Frenchmen).

He went out humming a little song.  ....  See you Saturday. We'll drop another clue of our choosing tomorrow.

Tuscan Wine Tasting and we are all psyched up

We seem to be having some wind issues today so instead of having our Tuscan wine tasting outside, next to our 14th century palazzo (alla rustica), we are moving inside (132 Front Street across from the Post Office; 3-6pm) and we were just kidding about our palazzo - it is a tad more modest.

We have had a lot of fun with the Tuscan theme this week and urge you to read the next few blog entries. We learned a lot, remembered a lot, and mostly made a bunch of new friends online, through our Face Book, and with some dandy help from the North Fork Patch.  It has been swell.

It would mean a lot to us if you stopped by, listened to a few nice Italian arias, took a bite of bread and enjoyed some very nice Tuscan reds.  It would also be terrific if you stayed and chatted and we got to know you.  Selling wines and spirits is a business.  Enjoying the company of our friends is a pleasure.

See you later today

teatro del maggio musicale florentino - better known as my shower

We wish we could sing - not shower sing, or humming to ourselves in the stock room or lip sync time in the car. You know what we mean. That magic voice only we hear in our heads.

In this Tuscan week here at the shop we were thinking about this some when one of our local characters wandered in to enquire about the tasting (Saturday - 3 to 6pm - 132 Front Street here in Greenport - Tuscan Wines, Great Rustic Breads from Blue Duck Bakery, the view from the store window...and smiles, lotsa smiles....and some thoroughly Italian music

in the background.  He knew of our composer hero, Puccini,  who died half a century back.  Puccini was born in Lucca, Tuscany - a town just about due east of us (over the horizon) and found his way to New York after WWI - hopefully to Greenport on some vacation jaunt (now that would indeed be a neat thing). He promised to drop by a CD of our hero's music sung by people who actually can sing - wow! Just the ticket.

Hey! In for a dime, in for a dollar we always say. ... and by the way, we will be the store with music from heaven pouring forth along with bread and wine... This is gonna be fun.

Pssst...Valentine's Day Coming Up

We have one of the very big boys in our store today for our 3-6pm tasting (it is free and we are at 132 Front St. in Greenport across from Mitchell Park - repeat that 3 times and twirl around with your right index finger in the air; invite the crowd that gathers to come with you).

Seriously, Bedell Winery will be pouring for our tasting and their wine is just plain great, year after year, and it is always a treat to have Matt come visit us.  You'll like him and the wine. Cross our hearts.
Little sayings like Cross My Heart (meaning to pledge it to be true) has also something of a Valentine's bouquet to it. (we can't help thinking about Valentine's Day)...you make a Christian symbol over your heart and "hope to die" if it isn't a true pledge - the underlying heart will stop beating if it is false.  Don't you make that sign or think that ritual in some form when you first meet your significant other?  You are my Valentine, cross my heart and hope to die?

At first crush these are more bad puns than are necessary. We'll stop if you stop in.  Here's the deal and we will repeat it daily in some form from now through Valentine's Day:

The Bedell wines tasted today will be available 10% off but we will extend that to 10% off ANY wine in the store between now and then, if you promise to take your SO out for a Valentine's dinner at the restaurants .in town offering them (North Fork Oyster, Curvee, Noah's).  Just say the magic words at the register. 

Cross our Hearts.

Splish-Splash

Tomorrow (Saturday) at our weekly tasting (free!!!! frei!!!  libérer!!!) on Saturday from 3-6pm at 132 Front Street in Greenport (subtle hint), we are uncorking a pretty nifty red called Cannonball.

Many of us on the East End are familiar with "cannonballs" what with the war of 1812 history around us, the 4pm Friday LIRR "Cannonball" delivering the swells to the Hamptons and of course with all the opportunities for swimming out here there is the omnipresent "let's get everyone poolside all wet" cannonball - the subject of the wine label.

In diving the cannonball is the antithesis of competitive drives where the purpose is to maximize, rather than minimize, the splash.  We were talking about that with one of our friends today as he liked the label and thought it reminded him of some Saturday Evening Post cover.

He told us a story of his father in turn of the century Vermont jumping off a bridge into a mill pond and making a big splash and having a friend who, when he fell on hard times in the depression, started painting and from memory or something painted the scene, so lifelike and positively "imagination-true" that he waxed nostalgic over it until the day he died.

It was funny and a nicely sentimental story that evolved from a wine label but we like that - it makes our jobs and time go by fast when these short yarns are spun out for us.  We also thought that he wasn't telling the story, those few sentences, to entertain us but because he was just thinking out loud and we happened to be there.  But off he went, smiling, promising to drop in on Saturday and see how the Cannonball was doing and if was making a "splash" with our patrons.

We look forward to that.