Judy's Newsletter : Ducking Success by the Tips of our Pinkies

Hi Friends!

Hope you're doing well and enjoying this tremendous Fall weather we're having. This, for me, is the happiest time of the year - I feel like I'm walking on clouds and a brisk breeze blowing up the hill and down the park could lift me up and pop me on the roof of my pre-war apartment building and then I'd probably need to call for help as I think they sealed off the staircase up there.

The big news this month is that we are OPENING EARLIER. Starting this Monday we'll be open for business at 7:30am, Monday through Friday. If you're shipping the kids off to school (good luck!) or are simply an early riser walking your dog or heading to work, I'm guessing you need coffee... well, we have AWESOME COFFEE. Come by and see what's up!

So much new wine is flowing through these days, about 3 to 4 new bottles a week plus our amazing weekend wild card wines. The beer has been rotating like a spinning top as well and watch out, dark beers are coming on draft very soon.

See you soon!

The last four weekends have seen a positively murderous row of wild card wines pouring across the bar and my fridge downstairs is chock full of really fun new bottles ready to go for the weekends ahead. We've barely been able to get through my stock of these before Sunday, which probably means I'm not buying enough, lol. If you're a wine enthusiast and haven't been partaking in our weekend Wild Card Wine, I'm encourage you to explore your curiousity and ask your friendly bartender what's pouring. These bottles have been FIRE.

A lush lemony sea salty explosion! Intense and zippy this super unique Txakolina (CHALK-A-LEEN-A) will have your head spinning like you took a ride on a Basque whirl-a-gig. Traditionally drunk in Basque bars alongside beautiful pinxtos snacks (think anchovies wrapped around spicy olives) Txakolina is commonly known as one of the most "fun" wines in the world. Go to any town on the North-West coast of Spain and it's everywhere being poured from high above the bartender's head. You'd think that other wine didn't exist cause who needs other wine! Bengoetxe's version is particularly unique in that it's grown organically and a touch inland and explodes out of the glass with freshness and zippy acidity. Ridiculously refreshing and thirst quenching. (2019)

Fresh, lively, and bright with a funky nose that is not kidding around. A summer wow-er, complex and sexy. One of my wife's favorite bottles! From Catalonia, Success Vinicola is amongst the first producers to make a still Parellada and is arguably the benchmark producer for the grape. Traditionally one of the main grapes for Cava, the young duo from Success saw potential for it as a still grape and they have been rewarded with a cult following for this wine. Interesting and unique. A thinker and a drinker. (2019)

Named after the winemaker's grandmother (!!) and vinified with grapes grown on both sides of the Austrian / Hungary border ("Syrah from from Hungary mingles with Sankt Laurent and Pinot Noir from Austria") this wine is almost too cute ... I was suspicious. But holy smokes one sip and you'll be all in. A "dark rose" this is a serious berry bomb with a creamy body and tight minerally structure. Dangerously drinkable, you'll think your glass has a hole in it. (2020)

The Duckman has arrived!! This legendary Portuguese natural wine producer (Maria Joao Pato, so technically the Duck-woman) is here to rock your socks and deliver the steal of a century. With unique and intoxicating aromatics you won't be able to keep your nose out of the glass. Think briney oysters, fresh herbs, citrus, and lemon curd and you're half way there. Made from the indigenous and rare grape Fernão Pires and a small amount of the 1997 vintage is used to get the fermentation started. Just like when you throw on Deee-Lite's "Groove is in the Heart" to get a dance party going. An outrageously delicious and one-of-a-kind Pet Nat at $20?! A French producer would be charging $35+ for this incredible bottle, but Portugal continues to be the land of incredible wine value and we are all so much better for it. A Spring / Summer crusher for sure. (2018)

Light and bright and fresh and crisp with the lightest touch of oak and a beautiful lasting finish. This is absolutely perfect for the beginning of Fall. Mega-refreshing, but with complexity and savory qualities that will warm you from the brisk breeze blowing off Sunset Park. This is a true Portuguese field blend from a winemaker that I'm growing very fond of. Antonio Lopes Ribeiro's "Maresia" was our "chilled Red" hit of the Spring and now here he comes with what I hope will be the "light Red" hit of the Fall. Yum! (2019)

Like a ripping refreshing pink lemonade, but wine! Crazy thirst quenching and full of fresh tart lemony pink fruit and pouring one of the coolest colors on the wine shelf, a vibrant neon pink in the glass. This is a co-ferment field blend (50% Muller Thurgau, 35% Sankt Laurent, 15% Gelber Muskateller) from Germany that just makes you wanna sing Cyndi Lauper (any song, they all work!). A one-of-a-kind hard to forget wine that will rock your socks. (2020)

Our launch Rozé, the "legendary" Dúzsi, that flew off the shelfs in the dead of winter is back (in a new new vintage) and it's a "Dúzsi!" What sets this Hungarian Rozé apart from other pink wine (besides the Z) is the dark-skinned variety of grape of Kékfrankos from Sióagárd - Lányvár, which gives it a unique fruity flavor. The new vintage has a bit more body and stoney minerals than years past with the signature zip. (2020)