Jeff L
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Posts posted by Jeff L
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Even though I live very close to the Newtown store and not too far from the Franklin Mills store, both of which typically receive plenty of the Chairman's Selections, I've noticed the online inventory doesn't always reflect their stock. The Il Futuro was a case in point. A week ago Monday I called the Newtown store, was told it wasn't in yet, and probably wouldn't be until Thursday, but to check online. The online inventory never included Newtown and when I went there on Saturday, I was told it arrived Tuesday (two days prior to expected delivery). They received 35 cases and it was going fast.
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We are meeting with friends this Saturday around where 202 and 287 converge. We've been meeting at the Ruby Tuesday around there for years and frankly it's getting kind of old. These folks prefer to bring their own wine as do we.
Any suggestions for good quality byo's in this neck of the woods is appreciated.
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I drank a bottle of the 02 LaTour Muersault tonight, well, half of one. It's a lovely wine, mellow and fruity, but not frivolously light. I could see drinking this on its own, but it's also very nice with chicken and lighter fish, say, a grilled branzino with a little lemon (I feel confident of this, having enjoyed it with chicken and a grilled branzino with a little lemon...)
At $20 per bottle, it's not exactly cheap, but it's an excellent value. I'm getting more.
GALLONS of it out here in Exton and West Chester....
Agree that this one drinks well all by itself. As a matter of fact, I drank about 3/4 of a bottle on its own last night. I love this wine, even more than the Domaine Michelot Meursault tasted here at the 2nd chairmans tasting event. Tough to top Latour in all varietals.
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TN: IL COLOMBAIO DE CENCIO,IL FUTURO 00
I couldn't wait, so we opened one last night. Decanted 4 hours.
This wine is all plums and spice with alot of oak. This is more oak than I like so the other eleven bottles are going in the cellar in hopes that the oak integrates with a few more years.
Best,
Mike
I too bought a test bottle yesteday and let it decant for about 1.5 hours. Super dark purple, agree with oak comment, fairly tannic but I like this 40/40 combo of cab and sangiovese 20 merlot too. $80? Never would I buy this. $18 - certainly worth a try. I will buy more but perhaps only a couple.
Evan
A follow up to include the inconsistent service in PLCB stores.
Went to Narberth as they had 30 bottles of the Futuro. Looked around and when I couldnt find them, I asked where they were. "These are the Chairman's selections right here". It was not there - I already looked. I told them I was looking for the futuro. He tells me he will ask someone who knows. She says "It's right there - the Latour". I said, no that is not it - I am lookng for the Futuro. She walks ove and points to the Latour and says "This is it. Right here". I kindly say that she is not correct. I am looking for an italian wine, chairmans selection, Futuro, 18 down from 85. The guy chimes in, thats not a chairman selection. Don't have it. I say "I saw you have 30 somewhere in this store". He asked a third guy who has no clue. I assure him that it probably came in that day or Friday and there are 30 bottles under his nose in the back. After 2 trips, he emerges with them. I buy one.
Part 2. Today, 1 day later, my wife goes in to get more. She asks for the Futuro. Guy shows her the chairman selections. She doesnt see it. He tells her they must be all sold out. She tells guy - "It is the Italian supertuscan, futuro, chairman selection and her husband was just here yesterday and there are definitely more here." Guy goes into the back and guess what..... out comes a box of em.
OK - maybe its not a premium store but these guys knew nuttin' about nada here.
Thank goodness for the website. I just feel bad for someone who really wants advice or counsel from these gomers. Or worse, coming in and asking for something they have and erroneously being told they don't have it.
This is pretty standard stuff - the cluelessness. Can't find an internet order after they call me that its in to pick up? That was a fun one. Can't find stock that you know they have? This wasnt the first time although this was the most entertaining.
Bryn mawr does not suffer from this illness and Robert at Ardmore is very helpful. Maybe if they would let me into the back room , I would only have to check out at the register.
Speaking of which, my kingdom for online ordering from the local store - when is that coming?
There (straightening out parted hair and wiping lapels), I feel much better now.
Evan
So after all that how did you like the Futuro?
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TN: IL COLOMBAIO DE CENCIO,IL FUTURO 00
I couldn't wait, so we opened one last night. Decanted 4 hours.
This wine is all plums and spice with alot of oak. This is more oak than I like so the other eleven bottles are going in the cellar in hopes that the oak integrates with a few more years.
Best,
Mike
I too bought a test bottle yesteday and let it decant for about 1.5 hours. Super dark purple, agree with oak comment, fairly tannic but I like this 40/40 combo of cab and sangiovese 20 merlot too. $80? Never would I buy this. $18 - certainly worth a try. I will buy more but perhaps only a couple.
Evan
I too couldn't wait to try the Il Futuro so we had some last night under less than optimum conditions: dinner out with 10 neighbors who all brought mediocre to bad wine and everyone wanted to try mine. I was unable to decant and don't really think this would have helped but the bottle at least had been open for a few hours.
What I did get to taste (in subpar stemware) was just an OK wine that I really hope is just not ready yet. I agree with you Evan, $80 bucks for this wine would have really pissed me off. I guess because we were all waiting so long for it to get to the stores and all the hype and all-I just had higher expectations for the wine. It seemed to me to be less tannic than you guys expereinced but certainly lots of oak present.
I am hoping as I know Mike is that the next 11 will cellar well and develop into what I hope is huge super tuscan. That said, toninght I will try another bottle with a bone in pork roast I am trying. I'll report back and see if under these much better conditions the wine notes change.
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I'm there.
OK, we are set to meet at Delorenzo's on Hudson Street in Trenton at 3:30 on Saturday, 11/19. So far we have:
Rich, Diann, Charlie, Chris, Katie?, Aaron? and myself.
Will Katie and Aaron pm me if you are planning to go? Also if anyone needs directions please pm me for them.
Anyone else interested should let me know
Jeff
I'm in? OK, I'm in. Are you setting things up with the other stops, Jeff? I did that the last time, so they knew we were arriving, and approximately when; I budgeted 90 min per stop. Last time we had 19 people.
I hadn't thought about that, I guess I'll wait until we get nearer to the date for a final count.
BTW, I thought you were in after your post stating it's about time Pizza Club was back.
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I %&@# *hate* this: not a drop of the Latour Mersault or the Colombaio near me; the allocations for the two area stores that do have the Mersault are absolutely ridiculously low, compared to what other parts of the state are seeing. *Four* cases per store, in Philadelphia, versus what looks like ten to twelve elsewhere in the area. It's going to get bloody out there, mark my words.
Gah! This peeves me greatly.
If I understood Chairman Newman correctly, the supply looks so thin in and around Philly because we have so many stores. So there's actually a large percentage of the stuff in our general area, and not as much out in other parts of the state. What stock there IS outside of the philly area tends to be concentrated in a few stores, because there aren't as many stores. Conversely, it's spread pretty thin around Philly.So if you add up all the smaller allocations among the many stores in and around Philly, we might have more of it than the rest of the state. This of course doesn't help you, and by extension, me, given that you might bring a bottle to a dinner I'm at. So I'd be happier if you had ready access to the stuff.
I don't want to sound elitist, but one would think that the interest in some of these wines would be more intense in the larger metropolitan areas, so they might want to weight the distribution that way a bit more. But then, there's a persistent stereotype in the rest of PA that all their money ends up in Philly, it could really tick them off if all the good wine goes here too....
Anyway, I'm going to keep an eye out for the arrival of some of this stuff out in Chesco...
Well Philadining, there is at least one interested person here in the downscale Newtown/Holland area..seriously though, I was having the same problem Pedro is having right now with respect to getting my hands on these particular wines. I was calling daily and finally, without notice rhyme or reason, they arrived.
To add insult to injury Pedro, Newtown has 35 cases of the Il Futuro and at least 20 cases of the Latour Mersault -also an equal number of the Latour Montrachet.
So Jeff, your point is taken about the high number of premium stores in Philly and it makes perfect sense. We have Newtown and 10 minutes away there are 2 smaller premium stores both in supermarkets. That it, next closest premium store is in Doylestown which is as bad to get to as the ones in Philly.
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so what, we're supposed to guess how Greg told you to make them? Pony it up please
Jeff
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I'm there.
OK, we are set to meet at Delorenzo's on Hudson Street in Trenton at 3:30 on Saturday, 11/19. So far we have:
Rich, Diann, Charlie, Chris, Katie?, Aaron? and myself.
Will Katie and Aaron pm me if you are planning to go? Also if anyone needs directions please pm me for them.
Anyone else interested should let me know
Jeff
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IL COLOMBAIO DE CENCIO,IL FUTURO 00
Collegeville got 18 bottles today, I got 12. I'll post a note as soon as I open one.
Best,
Mike
You must be reading my mind Mike. Newtown got 35 cases today, I got 12 also, bottles that is. Also picked up some of the lovely Latour Mersault along with that nice St. Frances chard we had the other night at RX. Next for me is a few bottles of the ridiculously priced Chassagne Montrachet.
Jeff
Pop 'em open gents. Let's hear it. Still waiting here.....
At Rx, Deidre told me the Il Futuro benefited from 2 hours of decant time when she drank it.
Evan
Also either Parker or the Spectator says it has 10 years aging in it. I truly doubt I'll hold onto any of it for that long.
If you're in the neighborhood, I'll pop one for you!
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IL COLOMBAIO DE CENCIO,IL FUTURO 00
Collegeville got 18 bottles today, I got 12. I'll post a note as soon as I open one.
Best,
Mike
You must be reading my mind Mike. Newtown got 35 cases today, I got 12 also, bottles that is. Also picked up some of the lovely Latour Mersault along with that nice St. Frances chard we had the other night at RX. Next for me is a few bottles of the ridiculously priced Chassagne Montrachet.
Jeff
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Correct about Conte's. Delorenzo's is open Sunday, closed Monday. Our last Pizza Club excursion we started at Delorenzo's on a Saturday at 3:30pm; that seemed to help us avoid tghe really bad crowds later in the day. We could hit all 4 places on a Saturday, I am confident. It's all about pacing ourselves and not gorging at any one place.
We did the three Trenton places in an early Pizza Club outing.
Now that we're a more sophisticated and experienced group, four stops should be a piece of pie.
Several people ate Nathan's hot dogs (a fourth stop) the last time we ventured out-of-state.
If we don't go Nov. 12 or 19, we probably should wait until January.
Let's try for the 19th, meet at Delorenzo's on Hudson at 3:30. This will be the hardest place to try not gorging!
I can give a ride to anyone coming from the western suburbs/Main Line/Center City (as long as "anyone" means a total of three or four of you). PM me.
Does this means the 19th works for everyone?
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Correct about Conte's. Delorenzo's is open Sunday, closed Monday. Our last Pizza Club excursion we started at Delorenzo's on a Saturday at 3:30pm; that seemed to help us avoid tghe really bad crowds later in the day. We could hit all 4 places on a Saturday, I am confident. It's all about pacing ourselves and not gorging at any one place.
We did the three Trenton places in an early Pizza Club outing.
Now that we're a more sophisticated and experienced group, four stops should be a piece of pie.
Several people ate Nathan's hot dogs (a fourth stop) the last time we ventured out-of-state.
If we don't go Nov. 12 or 19, we probably should wait until January.
Let's try for the 19th, meet at Delorenzo's on Hudson at 3:30. This will be the hardest place to try not gorging!
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Well, everyone is giving me far too much credit for merely introducing the right folks to each other and letting them take it from there. But I was certainly glad to facilitate and thought that this event went wonderfully. I hope we can do it again soon. It was lots of fun. My thanks as well to Jonathan, Dee, Greg, Chef Ross and the Rx staff for a lovely evening. And my thanks to my delightful tablemates for lively conversation and twisting my arm to go to Capogiro. I can hardly wait until next spring when the Honeysuckle gelato is back in season for those few short weeks and we get to make the moscato floats with that! YUM!
I really enjoyed all of the wines we tried, including the Beaune (which I must go find before Pedro buys it all) and the side by side comparison of the Sycamore and Bosche vineyard Cabernets. It isn't often that one gets to do that sort of lateral single vineyard tasting of one producer's wines, so I always find that quite enlightening. There is terroir here in the USA too, and it's nice to see fine examples of it from time to time.
Let's do it again!
So which did you like most Bosche or Sycamore?
Also, as I just learned what terroir meant several weeks ago after seeing it so often in France, I thought I'd post its meaning for others unfamiliar with this great word:
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I am certain that Conte's is closed on Sundays and I am almost certain that both DeLorenzos are also closed on Sundays. Getting into any of the three on a Saturday is usually a challenge.
I forgot this. Actually Delorenzo's on Hudson is open Sunday. Any suggestions for mid week as weekends are brutal at all places
Jeff
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Open post for all to respond for pizza club to Trenton and Princeton. How is Sunday 11/13 or 11/20? Please email or pm me if interested. Probably early (say 5-5:30) works best for those traveling from Philly. Let me know.
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Hey is anyone interested in a pizza club run to Trenton? We could cover the holy trinity (Rich P's monicker and an apt one) Delorenzo's on Hudson and Hamilton and Top Road on Brunswick Avenue.
No one is sure how long the Delorenzo's on Hudson will be there. As I mentioned in previous posts, the owners son Sam is opening a place in the Robbinsville NJ area and Gary may be looking to hang it up once he moves in there.
Anyone interested can pm or email me.
Jeff
It's about damn time we rev PIZZA CLUB back up!
I would, however, like to add CONTE'S in Princeton to that grouping; recently both Delorenzo's of Hudson St and Conte's made the distinction of rated 2 of the best pizzerias in the country in a new book out of Chicago:
Love Conte's and love the fact you can get draft beer to wash down the great bar pies. I'm game. Driving wise might be a hassle to get to Princeton from the burg but we'll figure it out.
Jeff
There is no draft beer at Conte's, only bottles.
There's no beer at all at Delorenzo's. I usually bring a bottle of nice red wine with me.
When are we thinking of an outing?
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Hey is anyone interested in a pizza club run to Trenton? We could cover the holy trinity (Rich P's monicker and an apt one) Delorenzo's on Hudson and Hamilton and Top Road on Brunswick Avenue.
No one is sure how long the Delorenzo's on Hudson will be there. As I mentioned in previous posts, the owners son Sam is opening a place in the Robbinsville NJ area and Gary may be looking to hang it up once he moves in there.
Anyone interested can pm or email me.
Jeff
It's about damn time we rev PIZZA CLUB back up!
I would, however, like to add CONTE'S in Princeton to that grouping; recently both Delorenzo's of Hudson St and Conte's made the distinction of rated 2 of the best pizzerias in the country in a new book out of Chicago:
Love Conte's and love the fact you can get draft beer to wash down the great bar pies. I'm game. Driving wise might be a hassle to get to Princeton from the burg but we'll figure it out.
Jeff
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I’ll echo the thanks for a truly enjoyable night at Rx. Of course, our gratitude to Chairman Newman for giving up his evening to eat and drink with us, and share some amusing and informative stories. At the end of the evening I was even more convinced of his passion for improving the wine experience here in PA, and of his devotion to giving people opportunities to try new and better wines than they might have. It was obvious that he takes a special glee in being able to wangle an excellent bargain, and it is a credit to him and the system in general that those savings are passed on to the consumers. The very fact that he’s willing to come out to these public events, give a talk, and take questions, bodes well for the future of the wine scene here in PA.
Thanks are due also to Deirdre Costello for getting this organized, under constantly changing conditions. Tracking the availability of wines, and Chairman Newman himself, was a challenge, and we appreciate the work she put into it.
…and to Katie for her part in getting all the parties coordinated, and to Evan for getting this whole concept going to start with!
And of course, huge thanks to Greg Salisbury and Russ Essner of Rx for a wonderful meal and the perfect setting for this event.
So, enough of the love fest, what did we think of the food and wine? My (usually) trusty Pentax is in the shop, so I’ll leave it to Evan to post some pics the two of us took with his camera.
Dijon/Lemon marinated Spanish Mackerel, Potato-garlic Skordalia, crispy capers.
St. Francis Chardonnay Behler Vineyard 2003
This was a very assertive first course: the fish had a strong flavor and the skordalia packed a punch, the smooth potatoes heavy with raw garlic and salty with capers. The first bite of each of these items felt a little over-the-top, but once that introduction was made, I found I liked both the fish and the potatoes, and the two together even more. I ultimately really enjoyed the crisp crunch of the fried fish and the skordalia was a worthy match, although the garlic was hanging on my palate a bit as I was trying to transition into the next flavors.
The St Francis Chardonnay was a good solid partner for this course, a bit of oak and smoke to stand up to the bold food, but overall clean and refreshing.
Handmade Fiorentine pasta, oxtail shortrib ragout, wilted chard, roasted tomatoes, Reggiano
Montes Alpha Syrah 2003
I loved the falling-apart tenderness of both the oxtail and shortribs, the extremely flavorful stewed meats creating a lovely sauce for the tender pasta.
The Syrah was good, but not knocking our socks off at our end of the table, so we jumped ahead and popped the Freemark Cab/Merlot, which we liked a bit more with this course.
Grilled Lamb Loin, Caramelized Brussels Sprouts, Bosc Pear-Parsnip Gratin, reduction of tonight’s wine
Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon Bosché Vineyard 2000
The lamb was very nicely cooked, tender, juicy, and drizzled with an intense reduction of one of these wines… But in the end it’s a loin cut: tender, luxurious, but a little safe. Raves all around for the Brussels Sprouts, sweet and creamy from their internal sugars caramelizing over high heat, nudged along by a quick hit of maple syrup. Even lifelong sprout-haters were converted by these! And the gratin was a stealthy little side, looking for all the world like another boring potato dish, but instead it showed a lovely mellow sweetness from both the fruit and the root. It played a perfect supporting role to the lamb, and was pretty darn tasty on its own.
The Freemark Bosché went pretty well with this dish, until some troublemaker opened a bottle of the Freemark Sycamore, which quietly blew the doors of the Bosché. And I actually ended up backtracking to the Syrah, often enjoying that grape with Lamb, and indeed that was a good partnership as well. I think the Sycamore was the winner here.
Although, there was a back-door challenge being mounted from another direction altogether: a bottle of Latour Beaune had made its way around the table as well, almost causing a fistfight mid-table. Peacekeepers were called in, parachuting-in some extra glassware, and nobody was hurt. After the dust settled, that fruity red Burgundy was quite a hit, going nicely with almost anything. Be warned, Capaneus is making a concerted attempt to buy ALL of it, so you’d better get to the state store, like, now…
Lancaster County Five Apple Cobbler, Cider Syrup, Vanilla Ice Cream.
This was a very nice fall dessert, with thinly-sliced apples, crunchy crumbles and a very rich vanilla ice cream. It was quite delicious as served, but Katie was passing around a bottle of Two-Hands Moscato, daring us to disassemble our desserts and make moscato floats with the ice cream. And it was freaking awesome! That moscato was light and fizzy and flowery, with a big fruity nose that, after a few coin-flips, we decided was white peachy. That bottle is a STEAL at $15 for a 500ml. Go get some. Now. Trust us.
We were also generously provisioned with another dessert wine, and I’m ashamed to say I’m not even sure whose largess to credit. I was thinking it was the folks at the PLCB, but it could have been Greg… In any case, thanks! I kept missing the bottle, so I never saw exactly what it was. It was a much bigger, thicker, stickier drink, that picked-up on the apple in the dessert very nicely. It was a good match, and I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I hadn’t fallen helplessly in love with the Two-Hands.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable meal, good wines, and great company. It was really cool to meet some more eGulleteers, and share a few glasses with some of the regular posse as well. Thanks again to everyone who got it together, I thought it was a great success.
(And just to head off any nasty rumors, NONE of us went to Capogiro afterward. That would have been sheer gluttony. )
OK I can also swear that none of us went to Copogiro after the meal. Not Capaneus, Katie, Diann, Philadining or I went.
I've said all along that I much prefer the Sycamore to the Bosce and it's nice to see some others agree.
I too would love to know the dessert wine that I believe Greg provided. It tasted like a nice port to me. Can anyone find out
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Hey is anyone interested in a pizza club run to Trenton? We could cover the holy trinity (Rich P's monicker and an apt one) Delorenzo's on Hudson and Hamilton and Top Road on Brunswick Avenue.
No one is sure how long the Delorenzo's on Hudson will be there. As I mentioned in previous posts, the owners son Sam is opening a place in the Robbinsville NJ area and Gary may be looking to hang it up once he moves in there.
Anyone interested can pm or email me.
Jeff
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Thanks to Katie and Dee for a great evening at RX. The food was great, the wines were good, and who'd a thunk the Aussies could make a moscato that nice. But the best part was all the great people who participated--thanks to all.
Best,
Mike
I must second Mike's comments and add that I was fortunate enough to position myself next to Jonathan and found the evening most informative. I was particularly interested in how Jonathan negotiates the various Chairmans Selection wines. He explained that he goes to California 4 times a year to buy wine. I was most impressed with his cleverness in making one of those trips coincide with end of fiscal year time when everyone is looking to pump up their numbers. Kudos Jonathan, that is brilliant!
Thanks for hosting such a great event and thanks to Greg and staff for the wonderful food and finally thanks to Katie and Deidre for their expert planning.
I hope we will be able to do these more often.
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Hello all,
I've been so busy lately that I feel like I've neglected you. Thought I would let you know about this wine alert!! I happened to notice that an incredible Chairman's Selection appeared on pawineandspirits.com on Friday, so if it is not in your stores this week it should be there next week for sure. The IL Colombaio di Cencio Il Futuro is an unbelievable deal for $18 I used this in our wine club a few month's back and thought I negotiated great deal to get this wine at $50. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that the Chairman's Price...believe me when I say that it takes a lot to floor me. This price floored me! Quoted at $85 Selling for $18... Let me know what you think on this deal. I pulled my wine club notes to tell you a little about this baby: "Because of this wine youth we decanted this wine about two hours before tasting, even then the wine seemed a little tight but opened up nicely as the tasting went on. Made with Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. The wine has a deep purple color, big tannins, good dark fruits with spice and licorice beautiful finish and a delightful wine."
I wanted to mention that the Rx dinner for Tuesday night is almost sold out! Don't wait if you are interested in joining in on the fun. Evan posted the information earlier (by the way Evan you set a record posting the e-mail you received I think you posted the information within minutes
) I'll just repeat the phone number to call: 215-222-9590 Deidre
Hello Deidre, I was thinking about you, wondering where you've been. So I've been waiting since I first saw the upcoming Chairmans selections for this Super Tuscan. What an unbeleivable price point for this wine. If you can believe, I was in France for almost 2 weeks drinking great Cote du Rhones amoung other wines and I was wondering when my Newtown store was getting this in. I was told just now they don't know but I'll be there tomorrow at 9:00 sharp and back on Thursday and if need be Friday to score some of this stuff.
I look forward to seeing you at RX Tuesday night!
Jeff
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i make my own. i get really frustrated that it's so hard to find a commercial stock that doesn't have a shitload of salt in it, so i gave up and just make a few gallons of my own a few times a year, reducing it really heavily for compact storage.
I kind of thought so, reading your posts and getting to speak with you at Evan's wine tasting. Good for you, it is time consuming but well worth it in the end. Do you roast the bones first?
BYO's in the Bridgewater, Raritan area?
in New Jersey: Dining
Posted
Rosie, thanks. Can you tell me a little about the others, what type cuisine. Why Origin?
Jeff