We call the signs under our wines shelf talkers, and they list the winery, the region, the grapes, and the price, and we usually manage to add a sentence or two describing the wine, or just a few words to try to make you smile. My favorite shelf talkers include some useful information, but also take a surprising turn. Like eating pear sorbet with a limestone spoon is a classic from a coworker at Smith and Vine, still a memorable description fifteen years later, so simple and with that Haiku twist. Who does that? And are there spoons made of limestone?
I think my finest work in the shelf talker department here at Oakland Yard was for a skin-macerated Georgian white: This wine tastes like tea, but we’re not sure what kind of tea. Are you comfortable with uncertainty? This question has been much on my mind this past, particularly chaotic, week. Will we have electricity tomorrow? How long will it be out? Might the ground beneath us roll and buckle? Why did my phone suddenly send emails stuck in my outbox from over a year ago? What’s that cloud of black smoke billowing out of Crockett? And are we really going through with this tariff business? I could go on, but I’d rather think of Marvin Gaye’s sweet voice singing “Change what you can, and what you can’t leave it alone and have the sense to know the difference between the two.”
Benjamin Franklin wrote to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, in 1 789, “Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Barring any unforeseeable disaster, I can confidently add to that short list that we at Oakland Yard will be pouring surprisingly delicious wines, from unexpected places, with flavors you can’t possibly imagine, all week, starting tonight, regardless of what else happens, or doesn’t happen. Be sure to join us!
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! LOIRE VALLEY WHITES & GREEK REDS: Folle Blanche, Muscadet, Quincy, Agiorgitiko and Xinomavro. Flights $12 from 5-9 and wines by the glass until 9pm.
SATURDAY 10/19: WINES of SICILY: Frappato, Etna Rosso, Grillo and Catarratto. Flights $15 from 2-6pm and wines by the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY 10/20: AUSTRIAN Tasting: Arndorfer Gruner Veltliner, Weiderstein Harslevelu and Blaufrankisch by Moric and Schiefer. Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 8pm.
Cheers,
Max