Blog – Page 14 – Mystic Wine Shoppe

Brewery of the Month: Harpoon Brewery

It’s almost that time of year again! Warm weather, blue skies, sandy toes, BBQ’s with friends and family. Summer is quickly approaching and what better way to kick it off than with Harpoon’s Summer Ale’s?

Harpoon was born in 1986 by three friends, Dan Kenary, Rich Doyle and George Ligeti. They all shared the same love: drinking beer. They realized that beer choices were limited and they quickly wanted to change that. The first Harpoon Ale was brewed in 1987 in a transformed warehouse space on the Boston waterfront. Here, the three friends took their love and passion for beer and created local craft brews for everyone to enjoy. The rest is history.

What’s better than enjoying good times with good friends than cracking open one of Harpoon’s summer brews? One of the hardest parts of the craft beer world is deciding which brew to choose. We know- it’s a make or break decision, so we’ll help you try to decide which one is perfect for your occasion. If it were up to us, we’d have them all.

Camp Wannamango: This pale ale brewed with mango begins with a subtle tropical aroma of passion fruit and mango. Golden-copper in color, it has a light body, slight hop bitterness, and malty sweetness, and finishes with a kiss of mango.
Hibiscus Cider: Hibiscus flowers give the cider its festive, effervescent deep pink hue, as well as a floral tartness that complements the sweetness from the freshly pressed apples.
Citra Sea: Citra hops provide a juicy citrus character in this grapefruit peel-infused IPA. The malt blend adds depth and a touch of sweetness and gives the beer its bronze hue and medium body. The finish is all citrus, all day. This IPA is easygoing and ripe with citrus flavor
Midsummer Fling: features a bright golden color, light mouthfeel, and citrusy aromas and flavors derived from the combination of Citra hops, elderflower, and lemongrass
Summer Beer: Their version of the traditional German Kölsch-style ale. This beer, which is light and refreshing, appears to resemble a lager rather than an ale. The body is soft and delicate with a dry, crisp finish.

Still unsure of which summer ale you want? Don’t fret, Harpoon also offers a Summer Vacation Mix Pack. Boston’s Harpoon Brewery has been a standout in the local craft game for years. Stop by Mystic to browse our Harpoon selection, and sit back, relax and crack open a cold one.

April 24, 2018/by Eric Faiola

Nothing dry about Dry Creek Valley

Wine tasting is an endeavor of sheer endurance. That is a lesson I have learned through sheer, hard work.

Let me start at the beginning. Sonoma County, 90 minutes north of San Francisco, is gorgeous wine country. Picture rolling, lush green hillsides, covered in orderly and beautifully staked and grown grape vines interspersed with aspens, sycamores, wild grasses, flowers of all colors and herbs of all fragrances. Driving through the winding roads, you roll down the windows and smell the fresh air as if it is something that reaches into your lungs and blows wonder into your every pore.

The morning temperatures are cool and breezy and perhaps a bit foggy. The perfect temperatures to put on a sweater, drink some hot coffee and set off on a day of exploration for the senses. The afternoon warms you up just enough to sun your face and make you feel like you should find the closest hammock for a nice little nap. And the evenings… are slow as molasses. Breathtaking shades of peach and lilac drift through the sky as the sun sinks lazily past the horizon, bringing that hint of chill, making you want to reach for your favorite bottle of pinot noir – or is it zinfandel tonight?

My particular adventure has been in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma Valley. I have never felt more whole as a person than I feel here. Life is relatively simple here. People work hard, they grow the grapes, they make the wines and they sell those beautifully labelled bottles full of dark magic.

Sonoma Valley is best know for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Russian River Valley areas and for their juicy, scrumptious Zinfandels along with world class Sauvignon Blanc (often called “Fume Blanc”) and Cabernets in the distinctive Dry Creek Valley style.

Ferrari-Carano is one of those vineyards that changes one’s life. You wander up to the Italianate facade and filled with wonder, continue through the magical gardens filled with spring blossoms of cherry and apricot, azaleas and tulips to the fountains and statues, wondering, why can’t I just live here? Can’t I just move here and leave everything else behind?

And all of this before you even taste the wines!

April 20, 2018/by Eric Faiola

Wine

Good wine for a great cause

Parkinson’s Disease is a neurodegenerative disease that slowly moves from tremors to stiffness to cramping, eventually leaving its sufferers entirely disabled – in a wheel chair or even bedridden. It is painful and horrifying, knowing that it will only bring more and worse suffering. The most famous face of Parkinson’s in our lifetime has been Michael J. Fox, who has been tireless in raising funds, awareness and supporting research to fight this blight. And one of his signature efforts has been the production and sale of 4 Foxes Chardonnay.

This wine was released by the President of Jackson Family Wines, Rick Tigner, whose wife also suffers from Parkinson’s. It is a wine typical of the storied Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. On the nose, you get delicious smells of lemon, pear, apricot, perhaps a hint of tropical fruits like mango. On the palate, you get a buttery mouthfeel with the oaky taste of vanilla and caramel. It has a soft finish that would pair well with everything from a simple white pizza to chicken with mushrooms.

A good wine for a great cause – cheers!

Seema 🙂

April 18, 2018/by Eric Faiola

Pairings, Wine

Crab Salad & Sparkling Wine

The warmer weather is slowly arriving and the Sophora NV Cuvee Sparkling Wine and crab salad (see below for recipe) combo is the perfect combo to welcome spring!

Sophora NV Cuvee Sparkling Wine Tasting Notes: Don’t confuse NV – non-vintage – with lower quality. Non-vintage just means that the wine in the bottle has been blended with a “reserve wine” during the second fermentation to create a house style. This wine is scrumptious. When the distributor came by with it for a tasting, I was blown away and asked to take it home that evening to share with my true love. And even my beloved, who for the past 23 years has professed indifference to sparkling wines, loved it. It is rich and full-bodied, being a combination of 52% Chardonnay and 48% Pinot Noir, with the best of both grapes. Crisp acidity, fruit forward off-dry taste and a round, soft mouthfeel aided by the very fine bubbles. Had I not known better, I might have guessed it was a champagne and twice the price. This wine will pair perfectly with an endive and crab salad.

Crab Salad in Endive Leaves

1/2 lb. crab meat, all cartilage removed
Dressing:
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 finely diced celery
- Grated zest of 1 lemon plus 1 or 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
- 1 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
- Salt, ground black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
12 to 18 Belgian endive leaves
To Make:
- In a large bowl, combine the mustard, mayonnaise, celery, lemon juice, chives and parsley. Add the crab meat and mix in gently. Season to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. When ready, scoop some crab salad into individual endive leaves and arrange on a platter.

April 17, 2018/by Eric Faiola

Weekly Wine Pick, Wine

Oak, smoke, toast…vanilla?

Wine makers and wine drinkers love to talk about oak. And given that oak-use is incredibly complicated, it is not surprising. Oak barrel fermentation, aging in oak, the flavors that oak imparts, the amount of oxidation you get through the porous oak barrels, the type of oak that is used – American, French, Slavonian – and the size of the barrels not to mention the discussions of how the barrels are made and who makes them.

Oak barrels are made in “cooperages,” and each cooperage imparts its own unique character to its barrels. The staves are the raw materials of oak. American oak is less dense and can be cut to size. French oak, with a tighter grain, must be split. In the most traditional (aka, “best”) cooperages, the staves are left out in the weather for a few years to “condition.” A lesser cooperage will kiln dry the wood. Then the staves must be heated to bend the staves into the characteristic shape for a barrel and then roasted for the desired length of time the right amount of “toast”. The toasting of oak is very important because it determines the flavors that are imparted to the wine. More butterscotch? Less smoke? That is all a function which type of oak and of how the barrel is toasted.

White wines tend to show more oak because the wine itself tends to have more delicate flavors and fewer tannins. The oak itself has tannins that bind with the proteins in the wine, so whites do not become more tannic with oak fermentation or aging.
Red wines on the other hand, already have tannins that have bound with the proteins in the wine. That means that non-neutral oak generally imparts more tannins to red wines than they have naturally. So, in addition to the vanilla / caramel / butterscotch types of flavors in American oak and the more coconut / hazelnut / smoky flavors in French oak, red wines tend to become more structured in oak barrels.

Two wines that display some oak character:

The Four Foxes Chardonnay is a moderately oaky chardonnay that has had a few years in the bottle. It is a mellow wine that has notes of apple, pear and apricot with a medium amount of oak. In contrast, the Treana Chardonnay has a bolder oak character – more rounded in the mouth with riper flavors of peach, apricot and honey. The dominant flavor of “creme brûlée” is a result of the distinct character of the fairly heavily toasted oak in the wine.

The Lopez de Haro Rioja Reserva is a wonderful example of a red wine whose flavors intertwine seemlessly with oak. The Temperanillo grape loves oak and as a “reserva,” this wine spends 20 months in a combination of French and American oak, smoothing out its rough edges, aging gently and becoming absolutely delicious. The Roots Run Deep Winery’s Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon is the equivalent of a big, bold wine in exclusively American oak that Napa is famous for. It is a burst of black currant and black berries with a deep, caramel, vanilla and leather set of flavors that lingers on the palate.

We hope to see you at Mystic Wine Shoppe soon,

Thanks for reading – Seema

April 13, 2018/by Eric Faiola

Monthly Cocktail

Our Mother’s Day Cocktail

New to Mystic Wine Shoppe is the fancy and oh so drinkable, Pommery POP Rose Champagne 4-Pack. These fun champagne bottles make a lovely Mother’s Day gift as well as the perfect addition to any spring celebration. We love these little Pommery Pop bottles not just because they’re adorable, but they’re also delicious, bright and lively.

Host a Mother’s Day Brunch with POP!

We think Pommery Pop Rose Champagne would make a killer addition to your Mother’s Day brunch… So, this month’s cocktail is more of a ‘make-your-own’ cocktail bar. Check it out and get some inspiration for your Mother’s Day gifts and celebrations.

What you need:

Setting up a Pommery Pop Champagne Bar is really one of the easiest options you can offer your guests. Not only do you not have to make the drink, but guests can customize their drink the way they want it.
We purchased fresh juices (OJ and apple juice) and fresh fruit (strawberries and blackberries) to create a nice display for our guests to choose from. You can use whatever juice or fruit you would like at your bar!
Thinking about feeding your guests? We recommend some delicious baked french toast and/or quiche to go with the champagne bar.

Feeling inspired for Mother’s Day?! Enjoy your day and don’t forget to stop into Mystic Wine Shoppe to grab all your champagne, rose, beer and liquor needs.

Thanks for reading –

Mystic Wine Shoppe

April 12, 2018/by Eric Faiola

Beer, Monthly Brewery

Brewery of the month: Cisco Brewers

Located on the beautiful island of Nantucket, Cisco Brewery is a must-see when visiting the famous New England Island. Guests are invited to sip their delicious Cisco beer, enjoy wine from their sister company Nantucket Vineyard, sample liquors from their second sister company, Triple Eight Distillery, and take a tour! It’s truly a great experience.

Can’t make it to the island? Stop into Mystic Wine Shoppe and shop Cisco Brewery products!

How Cisco Brewers was born: Cisco Brewers was founded by Randy and Wendy Hudson. Wendy started home brewing with some friends while living in California, but in 1992 she returned to the island and met Randy. Instantly, she not only knew that Randy was her soul mate, but that he would make a great brewer. And so she bought him a beer kit.

When Randy and Wendy started selling beer, the entire operation-except the cold room, which was cooled by an air conditioner-was outdoors in the backyard. Wendy always called the original setup a “nano-brewery” because although they dreamed about it, they certainly were not yet a “micro.” Many people thought it looked like they were making moonshine and they were right! Cisco Brewers had the distinction of being America’s Only Outdoor Brewery.

While Cisco has a wide range of beers to try, we’re going to highlight their Classics collection:

Whale’s Tale: An amber English-style ale that has a nice balance between hops and malt. It’s the most popular of their beers and the most versatile in terms of pairing with food or people.
Sankaty Light Lager: A light American Golden Lager. This delicious creation is light-bodied with tremendous balance and distinct hop character. At 3.8% alcohol and 126 calories, this light beer has true flavor and body while being easy to drink and easier on the waistline.
Indie I.P.A: This beautiful red-orange ale has a full malty body balanced by a fruity apricot/grapefruit nose. Mounds of dank Summit hops in the whirlpool and dry-hop additions provide a delicious finish to this East meets West-coast ale.
Grey Lady Ale: Named for the often-foggy island where it is brewed. This wheat beer is fermented with Belgian yeast and brewed with fresh fruit and spices. A unique ale that emits a complex, earthy nose and a soft, mid-palate maltiness with hints of tropical fruit. Dry and spicy.

Interested in learning more about Cisco Brewers? They offer tours and tastings for all three of their business’. The tour price includes a tasting glass and you will be able to sample two wines from Nantucket Vineyard, two beers from Cisco Brewery and two spirits from Triple Eight Distillery. Come out and enjoy their Nantucket haven- just prepare yourself in case your mind blows up from all the awesomeness.

April 11, 2018/by Eric Faiola

Wine

A Personal Journey

When I began studying wine several years ago, I really just wanted to know the difference between a Rhone and a Burgundy, a Napa Cabernet and a Bordeaux. I did not have any grand ambitions. However, as I progressed through the classes, I realized that wine brings so many subjects together – you have to pore over detailed maps to memorize appellations, you have to know the different character imparted by schist or slate or loam or limestone, you have to study how many hours of sun each zone averages to know which grapes are likely to ripen well or over cook in which areas. You have to smell your way through the world – what is the difference between black berry and black currant? What does acacia or hawthorn smell like? is there a difference between lemon, lime and grapefruit smells? Or apples, pears and quince? You also have to study the various ways that wines are made – when are they harvested and by machine or hand? How are they crushed? How is the juice handled before fermentation? What temperature do you ferment at and which strains of yeast do you use? Then there are complicated processes for filtering, fining, additional malolactic fermentation, blending, aging, bottling…

It is astounding how complicated the process is and how much of a bargain wine is at almost any price that we pay these days.

Wine is a second career for me – in the my previous life, I worked in international development and traveled the world. I have been to Mali and Malawi, Albania and Macedonia, India and Indonesia, Nepal and Mongolia. After having children, this sort of travel became impossible and it took me years to find something that was as absorbing and challenging, not to mention something that would give me enough of a reason to take time off from spending all my time with my children.

Who knew wine could be that thing? The more I learn about the wine world, the more I realize there are depths and nuances that I would never have guessed. Something relatively new to me has been the world of Wine-as-fundraising. The wonderful thing for me is that it brings my previous life – working with the poor and vulnerable – together with my new life – learning and teaching about wine. Therefore, the wine I am discussing and we will taste in the shop this week is a wine for a cause.

Thanks for reading, Seema

April 9, 2018/by Eric Faiola