At 132 Front Street, Greenport, NY 11944, Greenport Wines and Spirits is the most complete and knowledgeable source for fine wines for every budget. Mon-Thurs 10am-7pm, Fri-Sat 10am-8pm, Sun Noon-6pm.
Open later during the holidays.
Phone 631.477.6701 We deliver.
Sometimes our customers come in and ask us what wine is best to serve with some dish that goes on the table that evening - you know - the old meat/red and fish/white thing. Take today at our Saturday 3-6p tasting (132 Front Street/Greenport), we are sure to get the question in reverse, which is what food would go well with this wine. We want to think globally and here is our chance.
We were watching Jacques Pepin this morning on Create TV and he made an interesting observation about cooking. The meal isn't just on the plate on the table but it starts when the stove turns on and the first onion is chopped and goes until the dishes are cleared. Dinner is or perhaps should for most of us, a time to share the kitchen, to talk through the day, and to concentrate on each other and the ritual of an evening meal turned into a time to connect. We don't want to sound preachy about this but what wine to serve for dinner should be rephrased as "what wine to enjoy during the dinner process"; what do we open up that is both a prelude to the meal and what we take to the table.
A glass of wine while preparing and talking, chatting, unwinding is not a bad thing and we recommend it. Think of today's tasting as just figuring out what to bring home to make the dinner hour(s) special.
You have to be careful when our little brains start to whirl. Perhaps we should put a sign outside the door that says "beware, scattered thinking inside, enter with caution".
One of our friends popped in yesterday near closing and we talked for a minute about what was on tap (did we just make a pun?) for this Saturday's tasting (3-6p) as yet undecided. We are going to give it some thought this morning.
During our conversation, as he never just pops in silently, it was agreed that a wine tasting wasn't so much about the wine, but in learning about wine. Certainly some go to tastings for the bon vivant but others go because wine is discussed and what qualities one likes or seeks comes in sharper focus. People learn - and that is the point.
We learn something new every day because it is thrust on us. Sometimes out of curiosity we seek out stuff and now that the Internet is as much a part of our brain's life, well you get our point. Wine tastings are about curiosity.
Our friend, upon the discussion of 'learning' at the tastings was all enthusiastic and he wrote us later to note that he got in his car to drive home and flipped in a CD and this piece by Brahms came up during his drive. Out of curiosity, we found the label and the music - but you have to wait until the end to figure out the title of this thread.
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
First things first. You will note that we actually named our store (or part of the name) in honor of Halloween (or All Hallow's Eve). To get in the spirit (bad pun intended) one must get ready for Gate Night before All Hallow's Eve, which is Sunday before Monday's festivities. That means the dreaded trip to the pumpkin patch up the road to the west (we are lobbying for a pumpkin source here in the Village). To give you something to talk about at the water cooler before then, you can call a jack-o-lantern by its real name, Ignus fatuus. It seems the inhabitants of the Isles were keen on carving up gourds and poking light holes in the outer skin as kind of scary things to put out in the moors. To go futher into nonsense, Ignus Fatuus, is really a reference to swamp gas or a phosphorescent light that hovers or flits over swampy ground at night. Enough.
To fortify you for the nights that follow, our good friends at Lenz Winery will be at our shop from 3-6pm on the eve of Gate Night of this year's All Hallow's Eve (pssst that means Saturday the 29th) and we get to sample and taste their latest.
Come light our Ignus Fatuus, delight in a pre-Hallow bit of trivia, avoid the crowds to the pumpkin patch...
