I know I have some issues. I'd like to think most are benign or banal: a brain rattling aversion to styrofoam, a disdain for the squeakiness of green beans, a particular satisfaction cleaning lint traps, a suspicion of sneezing in odd numbers. 

I'm not sure what this says about me, but I also have a curious proclivity to paint and repaint rooms and walls in every apartment I inhabit. Sometimes a color will stick - and then a new season, a new sofa, a new mood, and everything goes to hell. Over the years I've taken note of the bizarre color names. Most are painfully uninspired and uninspiring. Uncertain Grey. Anonymous Beige. Other get more psychological: Passive. Gateway Green (And you thought this was just recreational...). Some of the names are really out there, if not straight up creepy. Dead Salmon. Elephant's Breath. Mayonnaise. Lauren's Secret. Tony's Touch. 

I was thinking about this the other week, painting walls in the new place and tasting through a couple dozen wines with Max later the same day. All these wines with odd names, or odd varieties. Some blends with unusual accents. Whites with skin contact. Reds with light extraction. It sounds so very obvious, but ultimately, you don't really know what's in the bottle until you pop and pour. Like choosing paint colors, you can't truly form an impression until the color is up on the wall and all around, enveloping you, mingling and reacting with everything else. 

Thankfully tasting wines is far less time consuming and much more affordable than choosing the perfect color for your wall. Both exceptionally rewarding when they surprise and delight, when things mingle and react - and you smile and say that's the one.  

TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! We're pouring Sauvignon Blanc from around the world for our white flights this evening and bold and balanced Spanish reds. Come taste and explore with us. See what clicks, what surprises and delights. Hopefully nothing will end up on the walls. Flights $12 from 5-9 and wines by the glass until 9pm. 

SATURDAY: Rosé Flights. New pink arrivals from around the globe. All dry and delicious and all for you. Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 9pm

SUNDAY: Wines of LOIRE VALLEY. We are neither Passive nor do we keep any secrets about this being one of our most favorite wine regions. Come see (and taste!) why. Dry mineral Muscadet and other staff selections from Anjou and Saumur. Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 8pm.

Please note HOLIDAY HOURS: Memorial Day Monday we will be OPEN from 12-6pm. Tasting bar will be open all day and (of course) BBQ, picnic and party provisions sold here, always. 

See you soon, 

Daniel