Bless Me Free Rangers,
For I have sinned. It wasn’t until Tuesday that I realized I hadn’t sent an e-mail for the week. But I was also in Northern California, amongst dear friends and a copious pile of local bottles, on an emergency wine tasting mission. Nothing like the perspective of distance, and I hadn’t gotten away from here in any substantive way in longer than I can specifically recall. So, sorry for the failure to communicate. I owe you a drink.
I also just realized that Atlantic Antic is upon us. Bah humbug. Drunk out of town kids, get off of my lawn! … As most of you who have been with us since the Before Time are well aware, Atlantic Antic is a disaster for us, and given the limited options for retail booze businesses in an outdoor setting (we can’t legally sell anything), I genuinely believe they should pay us (and all other retail wine & spirits shops on the Ave) annual damages for the money we lose during this event, which is ostensibly to increase revenue to Atlantic Ave businesses. There’s a reason why Heights Chateau (who has graced Atlantic Ave many years longer than we have) simply closes that day every year. We spent the first few years here trying to find a creative way to use the space and do at least regular Sunday business, but it’s usually just us defending our territory from squatters and yelling at people to not leave their trash on our windowsill, while telling drunk out of town idiots that we have no public bathroom for them to defile. On top of this, increased regulations and corporate interests have turned what was once a truly neighborhood based street fair into the same temporary strip mall of tube socks, sunglasses, and the basic food stalls you’d see at any other, but also with corporate sponsor booths. I mean, who doesn’t go to a friendly neighborhood street fair to sign up for a new credit card and pick up a new wireless plan?!
So, tomorrow, per usual for the last few years, we will open as the chaos is winding down, for all of your dinnertime wine and spirits needs from 4:30 – 8:30pm. For those of you local friends who are deliberately out of town tomorrow, godspeed, we wish we were going with you.
On a brighter note, while in CA on an emergency wine tasting mission, I made a long overdue pilgrimage to St. George Spirits on the decommissioned naval air station island of Alameda. We have long carried many beautiful bottles from America’s original micro-distiller, and it was a rare treat to visit the mothership. Lance, Dave, and their tiny (though hearty) crew had just received their harvest of local dry-farmed Bartlett pears from which they were distilling their lovely brandy, which we tasted warm from the still. Huge batches of freshly roasted coffee beans had just been ground (for NOLA Liqueur), adding to the spectrum of olfactory stimulation swirling about the converted hangar. While they bottle and sell an eclectic array of spirits, I was floored by the sheer volume of barrels containing juice that’s never been bottled, or even intended for commercial use. Apparently, producing some of the worlds finest consumable art, and keeping enquiring minds engaged, requires a profound amount of constant experimentation. Roughly seventeen years ago, not knowing where else to acquire used port barrels in which to age whiskey, they located traditional Portuguese varietals in California and made a few barrels of port wine. Some of that remaining juice was one of the most balanced and pure tawny-like dessert wines ever to pass my lips. So many current and upcoming projects were mentioned that I genuinely don’t recall which are not yet public knowledge, so I won’t go into any potential spoilers here, but the level to which these accomplished distillers continue to explore their medium and challenge themselves is deeply inspiring. And I can give you fair warning that the disastrous raspberry harvest this season means that the little brandy and liqueur currently in NY is all we will get until at least next fall. It was difficult to resist the temptation to shoot a mojo wire back to Brooklyn letting Derek know that he’s the captain now, so I can post up in an abandoned military barrack and intern for the second assistant distiller. The stewed carcasses of all those pears aren’t going to shovel themselves.
Since we’ve suspended the in-store tasting program and can’t use this excuse to pour you a handful of St. George bottles side by side, we figured it would be cool to offer the discount anyway. So, this week only: 10% off all St. George Spirits on our website!
(!) Click here to view all St George bottles and add 10% coupon code (!)
*** This week only, as supplies last! ***
*** No other discounts apply! ***
Catch you on the flip,
Jack
Proprietor
Free Range Wine & Spirits
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