In all my life, I’ve never given much thought to Tuesdays. Mondays are a bummer, Wednesdays are hump day, Thursdays are the best night to go out, Friday flies by as the build up to the weekend, Saturday is always a blur and Sunday is family day. Tuesday has just always been a nothing day to me.

Then in January, TJ started taking Tuesdays off! Granted, most Tuesdays he’s still working for part of the day, but at least he’s sort of around. But every few weeks he’s just home putzing around, and we set off on grand adventures with Jason, who has never quite experienced anything like this in his life. Both parents doting on him, and his older brother nowhere to be found? He’s in heaven.

When yesterday dawned it became clear that Jason was pretty sick, so we settled in for a lazy morning at home. I decided to undertake some homemade chicken stock, that I would later turn into West African chicken soup.

By late morning, however, we were all pretty bored, so we went in search of a little fun, and found it at West Elm in the Fenway district. While I don’t love their furniture, I could re-accessorize my entire house from that store. We got so carried away that we almost replaced all of our glass and dishware, but then thought better of it and left with some pieces for our mantel and our dining room table top.

After that we found nirvana at Tasty Burger. First off, as soon as Jason heard there were hot dogs on the menu, he started yelling “HOT DOG!” at the top of his lungs. Always fun. TJ and I decided to split the Big Kahuna Burger, the Cheddar Jalapeno Burger and a basket of 50/50 fries and onion rings. The best part of all of this is that TJ and I had started our weight-loss challenge the day before. When I brought this up to him he said, “Well, you can’t be good all the time.” Okay, but apparently we can’t even be good for 24 hours. The burgers were awesome, and I love the whole feel of the restaurant. A definite keeper.

Speaking of our weight-loss challenge, TJ wants our goal to be that “we both feel good about ourselves.” Um, I’m sorry but is that the lamest goal ever? I’m thinking that we should come up with some better goals, or we may find ourselves at Tasty Burger a little too often.

After a killer mid-afternoon run, I got to work finishing my soup, and TJ declared it was officially warm enough to have our first bottle of Rose. We settled on the Villa Gemma Rose. It was a pretty intense glass of Rose, and a good choice for weather that had barely broken 40 degrees. It was a vivid raspberry color (the picture doesn’t quite to it justice), and had a lot of raspberry on the nose, but wasn’t sweet. It was, however, delicious. We have a lot of Rose in our future because TJ is sampling bottles to stock up for the spring. We should have over 50 different labels from all over the world in the store by our Grand Rose Tasting on May 7th. This is our summer of Rose, everyone!

Dinner turned out to be fantastic! A delicious chicken stock finished with sauteed onions, tomatoes, green banana, coconut milk and ginger. I served it with a little basmati rice in the bowl and cilantro on top. Could I have made it with chicken stock from the store and a rotisserie chicken? Absolutely, but my house wouldn’t have smelled so delicious all day.

We ended our day with a chick flick of my choice – Love and Other Drugs – which turned out to be pretty good. Another great Tuesday on the books!

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. We’re a Charles Smith house. High end, low end, it doesn’t matter – TJ has yet to run into a wine that he doesn’t like from this prolific and slightly notorious winemaker. Our customers feel the same way. We bring in a Charles Smith wine and you buy us out of it. One customer bought a bottle of Royal City Syrah, only to open it that night and realize that it was slightly corked. Even so, he said it was the best Syrah he’d ever had.

So you can imagine how excited TJ was to meet Charles this morning at the store, and to taste Charles’ new vintage of wines. This was TJ’s Superbowl. Despite the fact that I didn’t have a sitter today, TJ asked if I’d also come to the store to meet Charles and taste (nothing like wine at 10:30 AM!). I couldn’t resist the opportunity to meet TJ’s idol, so off Jason and I went – me bribing Jason with a promise of ice cream all the way.

Do I start with Charles or his wines? Both are unique and somewhat larger than life. Charles’ hair is epic. He had it back in a ponytail to start but I asked him to let it fly for me and he obliged. I know he’s often compared to Sammy Hagar, but Sammy’s hair has got nothing on Charles’. He’s funny, sweet and maybe a little shy? He said he never smiled as a child, but I saw nothing but smiles today. He couldn’t have been cooler about having a two year old at his feet while he presented his wines. He LOVES his wines, you can tell. He foot stomps the grapes for all of his higher end wines himself. He’s quick to point out that he’s not a traditionally educated winemaker, but feels his wines are getting better with each vintage. From what we saw today he’s definitely right. Oh, and he has the kindest, bluest eyes.

Now the wines. He is introducing two new Italian Proseccos into the market. Why Prosecco, I asked. It turns out his wife is from Rome and well…cue the sort of shy smile. From someone who is making Prosecco as a side project, he nailed it. Listen to me right now – you will be drinking this Prosecco all summer! You will love this Prosecco! Sweet but balanced, just the right amount of fizziness. We went back to them after trying all of his huge bold reds and they were still delicious.

On to his current vintage Rose. He believes this rose is starting where his last vintage ended up. It’s drinking beautifully and is very Provencal in style. Dare I say it? It rivals my favorite Commanderie de Peyrassol. It made me furious that it is snowing out today. I’d like nothing more than to be sitting on our back deck with TJ drinking a bottle of it right now. It’s going to be nearly impossible for us to keep this wine on the shelf this summer. In fact, I told TJ today to just go ahead and bring a case of it home as soon as he can. I don’t want to get caught without a bottle when this weather does break!

And then the reds…new vintages of Motor City Kitty Syrah, The Boy, Guido, K Syrah “Pheasant Vineyard” and K Syrah “Cougar Hills.” Motor City Kitty (MCK) usually never even makes it into retail. It such a small production and Charles loves it so much that he just keeps it around for friends or to give as gifts. The same is true of Guido. He’s been making it since 2003 (I believe he said) but very few people have even had it. It’s made from Sangiovese grown in Walla Walla, Washington. It’s Italian in style, but American in presentation. TJ and I both thought that it won all the cool factor points today.

All of these wines were bottled just eight weeks ago, and as such were drinking a little tight, especially the Guido. But the most ready to go were the two K Syrahs. They were so purple they were almost black – opaque and rich with a finish that just never ended. I mean, literally never ended. Even Charles kept commenting on how the finish just kept going and going. His Syrahs just blow us away.

When it comes to the reds, now all we can do is wait. We put in our wish list, and we could get one bottle of each or cases of each. But with the love all of you have shown Charles, I got the sense that he’s the type of man that will send a little love back our way. We’ll let you know the second they arrive.

I’m going to break my own rule about posting pictures of the kids on the site because something so adorable happened today I just had to share it.

First, TJ showed Jason how to smell a wine.

A perfect pupil, Jason showed that he’s more than happy to take over the family business as soon as he can.

Love!!

Last night, I had the pleasure of dining with some of my favorite people, my friends Emily, Gina, Lynn and Tara, at the Michel-Schlumberger dinner at Ten Tables. It’s safe to say that we laughed for three hours straight, occasionally at the cost of others (it seems that Emily’s husband couldn’t wait to share some big juicy gossip with her the other night – the amazing fact that Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen are brothers! We laughed about that one the entire night…did he miss the Young Guns era completely?).

The vibe at Ten Tables was jovial, in no small part due to the fact that TJ, Ryan Sansosti and Jerry Craven were visiting the tables throughout the night. Many of you know and love Ryan from the tastings that he does at UG. His energy was not only matched, but maybe even eclipsed by Jerry’s! As the National VP of Sales for Michel-Schlumberger, Jerry brings his passion to each conversation and I think everyone at the dinner tremendously enjoyed meeting him. Score another one for wine industry people from California…I’ve yet to meet one that I haven’t instantly liked.

Chef Punch’s meal was inspired, challenging, delicious and (despite the fact that snow is in the forecast) had hopeful signs of spring throughout. We started with a green garlic soup in which we broke and then swirled the yolk of a five minute egg. I am definitely not an egg yolk person, but once again I’m glad I put my pickiness aside and dove in. The soup was divine – light and flavorful while still rich and inviting. And when I discovered a crispy piece of pancetta at the bottom I almost squealed. We paired this course with the 2009 Pinot Blanc “La Bise,” which was a hit at our table and throughout the room. A really lovely bottle of wine.

At first sip I wasn’t in love with the 2007 Chardonnay “La Brume,” especially after the Pinot Blanc. But as soon as I tried it with the Pan Roasted Diver Scallop over Fingerling Potato Puree and Baby Spinach, the real beauty of the wine came through. It’s an oakier Chardonnay than I typically like, but it was paired perfectly and I ended up enjoying my glass immensely. With four moms at the table, we couldn’t help but remark on how nice it was to pair wine with something other than Annie’s Mac n Cheese.

Although I was already completely stuffed by this point, I did manage to eat my entire helping of Braised Short Rib with Spring Dug Parsnip Puree, which was paired with the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon “La Cine.” As you can see from my last two posts, my attempts at losing my winter weights are failing miserably. This was another lovely pairing that suffered only slightly for having to follow the scallop and Chardonnay, which ended up being my favorite pairing of the night.

Here is where things got interesting, and where I came to really appreciate how gutsy a restaurant Ten Tables is. The last course was a Savory Roquefort Cheesecake with Candied Walnuts and Saba. It was paired with the 2006 Merlot “Le Sage.” We all read that it was savory. We all knew it was Roquefort. But after three hours of laughing, you tend to forget these things and just expect cheesecake. The first bite was actually shocking. The roquefort taste was so powerful and while the texture was dead on cheesecake, the taste was so heightened it was almost extreme. Once we got over our surprise we took another bite and paired with with the Merlot. Exceptional. Unbelievable, really. It was such a nuanced pairing, such a risk to take when they knew a roomful of people would be expecting something sweet. While I can’t say that I really loved the cheesecake, I did appreciate it, especially with the wine. It just reinforced the fact that Ten Tables is my favorite restaurant in the city. And when all was said and done, the Merlot ended up being my favorite wine of the night as well.

We are hoping to do more wine dinners with Ten Tables in the coming months. I hope you’ll join us then and will visit Ten Tables in the interim. With spring finally on the horizon, I can only imagine the amazing dishes they will be coming up with!

If you missed the dinner but would like to order some Michel-Schlumberger wine from UG, please call the store in the next day or two so we can bring in the appropriate inventory.

A year ago, TJ took me to the W Hotel in Miami for my birthday. In anticipation of a long weekend by a Miami pool, and aided by the fact that TJ was no longer working at Ruby Wines but The Urban Grape had not yet opened, I got into the best shape of my life. It was a great weekend and I rocked a few new bikinis. Then we came home and opened The Urban Grape and I proceeded to eat a diet that consisted mostly of pizza and drink way, way too much wine. Things have since gone hopelessly awry.

I’ve spent the past couple weeks trying to dial it back, but nine months of eating fun cannot be solved in a few miserly meals, and I’ve realized that a long term strategy is needed. I cannot beat myself up for small hiccups in the road. Small hiccups like last night when I attacked a homemade meatloaf and ate myself silly. I wish I had a picture of it for you, but I was so busy eating it that I forgot to pull out my camera.

But once you make this meatloaf yourself, you’ll understand why. We paired it with the Ramey Syrah, but any slightly sweeter, bold style wine would work. Just don’t go for anything too dry – the meatloaf is spicy and you need a little something to cool down your mouth. (Speaking of Ramey, we only have a few…and I really do mean a just three or four…seats left to our Ramey dinner on May 3. Four courses, eight Ramey wines and an evening with David Ramey himself, all for $150. Call the Capital Grille to reserve your seats! 617.928.1400)

Jed’s Yankees/Red Sox ALCS Meatloaf (so named by my brother, who developed the meatloaf and made it in 2003 during the Championship Series)

1/4 lb. diced bacon
2 1/2 cups diced onions
3 T minced garlic
1 1/2 lb ground turkey
1 lb ground veal
1 lb ground pork
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup whole grain mustard
1/4 cup tobasco (you can really go heavier here…I always chicken out and wish I hadn’t)
1/2 c parmesan
1/2 cup green olives, chopped
1/4 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup minced herbs (I use whatever I have or grab the “poultry mixed herb” packet)
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 T cumin
1 T coriander 
2 large eggs, beaten 
S+P

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cook bacon in a skillet until most of the fat has been rendered. Drain the excess fat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until softened and translucent. Transfer bacon mixture to a large bowl and let it cool. (Ok, I don’t really drain the fat and I let the onions get a little color, and I never let them cool. Too impatient. It still works.)

Add the ground turkey, veal and pork, 1 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup of ketchup, mustard, tobasco, scallions, eggs, herbs and spices, parm and olives to the bacon mixture. In my brother’s words, “Mix that puppy well.”

Put it all onto a large hotel pan. Coat the top with the rest of the ketchup, a sprinkle of breadcrumbs and some parm. Cover with foil and cook for one hour, remove the foil and cook for another 1/2 hour. Although I will say, the last two times I made the meatloaf I made it longer and thinner and it cooked a lot faster, so keep an eye on it.

I served it with peas with mint and grilled potatoes in a lemon chive butter sauce. Cupcakes for dessert. And a nice 7 AM workout for myself this morning. It may not be bikini ready food, but it sure is good!

Enjoy!

Unlike everyone else at UG, I am not a die hard beer fan. I like beer and like drinking beer, but it’s not really the beverage that I reach for first. The big exceptions to this rule are the Hitachino Nest Beers.

We had a lot of them around this summer because one of my brothers loves them, and more often than not I would pop one open at the end of the day instead of a cocktail. They are flavorful, refreshing and, more importantly, really unique.

Now I have even more reason to love these beers. Following the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the brewery has made the decision to repurpose itself to distill and bottle water for the population surrounding the brewery. This will understandably disrupt their production, but I think we can all agree that this is a far more important purpose at the moment.

Here is more of the update we received from Toshiyuki Kiuchi, who owns the brewery and whose family has lived in the area for over 180 years:

“Everyone is Japan is discouraged by this big earthquake. Tokyo is far from the most damaged area…

Also, some oil plant which is located near sea was broken by big Tsunami wave and a lot of cars are waiting at the gasoline station.

At our brewery, roof of some building, some brewing equipment was damaged, and almost 500 bottles (only) was broken but everyone is safe.

Near brewery there are so many holes and cracks are on the road. Also when I visited sea area (20 min by car), I was so so surprised, I could not understand [that line breaks my heart...].

There are so many ships on the hill which were drained by Tsunami.

19 people were missed in this area.

Now we almost finished repair brewing equipment and ready for start brewing.

But electrical power was limited, also we are bottling water to supply everyone, and staff of our restaurant are cooking food for people who lost house.

I think there are 10 sake brewery and 5 beer brewery which was damaged so seriously.”

The brewery’s importer is putting together a shipment of rare kegs and cases, and 100% of the proceeds will be directed back to the Kiuchi family for them to help provide food, water and shelter to the people in their region. A shipment of their beer is expected in April, it was already on the water when the Tsunami hit.

If you see these beers at UG or at any other store, please consider buying them. Not only will you be pleasantly surprised by the beer itself, but you’ll be helping to support a family that is doing so much in their country’s time of need.

Tomorrow I’ll post a really amazing update from the Hitachino Brewery in Japan that tells of their work to get their production back up and running while also providing housing, food and water for those affected by the Earthquake and Tsunami.

For today, a bunch of exciting event details, starting with the tasting menu and wine pairings for the Michel-Schlumberger dinner at Ten Tables next Tuesday, March 22nd. Please call Ian Rose to make your reservation – 617.576.5444. The dinner is $65 per person.

You’re also invited to the grand opening and champagne toast for The Urban Hound Hotel and Daycare in the South End. We’ll be there pouring bubbly and we invite everyone to come check out this incredible space. It’s seriously like the W Hotel for your dog. You can take a tour, meet the owner, Rebecca Willson, have a glass of bubbly and check out the amazing interior designed by Phi Design Group. Please RSVP to Rebecca Willson at rebecca@urbanhounds.com by March 23rd. We hope to see you there!

Lastly, don’t forget to join us tonight from 5-8 at UG. Winemaker Herve Bizeul from Clos des Fees will be at the store tasting three of his spectacular and affordable French wines, and bottle signing your purchases.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

If I were the type of girl to rank my days, then yesterday would have ranked pretty high. It was one of those rare moments where I was able to seamlessly pass from one expectation to another while still having fun and feeling relaxed. The fact that my day involved a serious wine tasting right in the middle didn’t hurt either.

What makes a good day for me? It started with a little yoga in a quiet house while TJ dropped Noah off at school with Jason in tow. This is not what I look like doing yoga, but I’m fairly obsessed with Shiva Rea at the moment and this is what SHE looks like. Something to aspire to.

After a quick shower I spent the morning with Jason, who has transformed from an easy-going baby into a tyrannical two year old. He decided he was going to be the boss of the babies in his art class, repeatedly telling them “No babies, NO!!” and wagging his finger in dismay whenever they stepped out of line. This is the sort of stuff that mortified me when Noah did it, but with Jason it just makes me laugh. He is solidly in the freak phase and I’m loving it.

After art class I dropped Jason with his babysitter and made a two second transformation from mom covered in blue paint to business owner wife, and headed out with TJ to a fantastic Cade and PlumpJack lunch at Post 390. We were lucky enough to sit at the table with Tony Biagi, the winemaker for both vineyards. As with every California winemaker I’ve met to this point, he was a laid back, affable guy with a pocket full of stories and the personality to tell them. I let TJ quiz him on the wines while I spoke with him about the decision to start Cade. I wondered why they didn’t just expand PlumpJack, given the huge success they were having with the label.

It turns out the decision not to expand PlumpJack was very deliberate. They wanted to maintain the brand’s ability to produce primarily estate driven products, which limits them in size. By starting Cade, they could expand their portfolio and also introduce grapes grown on Howell Mountain. I got the sense that building the Cade brand has been challenging – one because it coincided with the economic downturn but also (perhaps) because with such limited quantities of PlumpJack available, buying Cade may seem to some like a consolation prize.

After trying many of the PlumpJack selections next to their Cade counterpoints yesterday, I can say that I personally found the Cade wines to be just as exciting and palette-friendly. The Cade Sauvignon Blanc is delicious and their Howell Mountain Cab is one of TJ’s favorites. Add in the fact that Cade is on the verge of receiving their organic certification (a designation they are not trying to attain for PlumpJack) and I think we will see the demand for these wines increase. They are really focusing on the Boston market, which is good news for all of us. We carry the full compliment of both PlumpJack and Cade wines, and they will always be a staple product at The Urban Grape. If you are a PlumpJack fan, I really urge you to try a Cade wine one night. You’ll be impressed.

After lunch we headed home and decided to get outside and enjoy the extra hour of sunlight. Noah has been itching to try out his new bike, so we followed him around while he pedaled back and forth up the Southwest Corridor. Jason would not ride his little bike because he was so mad that Noah’s bike is bigger, but he insisted on wearing his bike helmet anyway. When a fiesty two year old screams “No…Jacey’s hat! NO…JACEY’S HAT!” at you over and over again, you just let him do it. Turns out it was a good thing as he fell off the slide a thousand times at the playground. 999 of the times were on purpose. Like I said, freak!

While TJ gave the boys baths I whipped up a seriously incredible Chicken Chili from the Cook’s Illustrated Soups and Stews issue. Make this chicken chili recipe! It was so flavorful and satisfying without being heavy. I’m dreaming of it right now, but alas, I’ve already given away the leftovers. We paired it with the Robert Craig Cab from Howell Mountain, making it a Howell Mountain kind of day from start to finish.

Speaking of finish…we ended our day watching The Fighter on On Demand. Oh Mark Wahlberg, how I love you. What’s it been, almost 20 years now that I have adored this man? The movie was so good, and I couldn’t help bursting with Boston pride at the job Mark did. It maybe inspired me to start a boxing match with TJ before bed, but I cannot confirm or deny that.

All in all, a perfect day.

I could write a list a mile long of celebrities that have risen to the top, only to fall out of favor and see themselves torn down by the media. I could do the same with fashion trends, music trends, really any kind of trend at all. Always, part of the blame lays in the trend itself – the trend burns too bright, becomes insipid, and occupies too much of our mental space. We get sick of it and purge. It happened to leg warmers, and we can only hope it will also happen to Justin Beiber. Soon.

Wine also has trends – let’s raise a hand if we participated in the love of, and then bitter hatred of, the big California Chardonnay. I know I did. I used to drink them with my mother, and they were all I knew of white wine. Then the trend became too much, everyone was vying to make the biggest, oakiest Chardonnay possible, and the wine suffered. California Chardonnay became the butt of every white wine joke and I snickered when my mother kept drinking it. Now that a few years have passed and the trend has normalized, TJ has slowly been coaxing me back over to the dark side. I have found there is actually a lot of really good California Chardonnay out there. A few weeks ago my mother and I found blissful happiness splitting a bottle of Paul Hobb’s Crossbarn. There are just times when only a California Chard will do, but now we make sure it is a really good one.

So recently my question to TJ has been – what gives with all of the hatred for Australian wine lately? I noticed it on the night of the Superbowl when I mentioned on Twitter that TJ was drinking a Shiraz and someone tweeted back that Australian wine has lost its soul. The Shiraz we were drinking happened to be South African, but I filed that sense of discourse away in my mind and started watching and listening. Pretty soon, every time I was at the store I would hear someone bashing Australian wine. It apparently has been going on for a while (I’m slow on the uptake!), and TJ seems frustrated by it, but utterly helpless to stem the tide. The Australian wine trend continues to crash down around us.

Australians have been producing wine since the 1820′s. But for much of that time it was enjoyed domestically, or only made it as far as Europe. Historically, Australian wine has done well in relation to French wine, even beating French wines in international competitions throughout the late 1800′s.

It took a while for Australian wine to make it to America, but when it did it came on fast. In 1990 the US imported about 580,000 cases of Australian wine. By 2004 that number was up around 20,000,000. A generation of young wine drinkers embraced Australian wine, partially because of its predictability and certainly because of its low-end cost. The Yellow Tail era had started, and when one person sees a trend, a band of people beat that trend into the ground. Soon the shelves were lined with “Critter” wine – Australian wines that were huge, high-alcohol fruit bombs, lacking any distinction and all bearing a small animal on the label.

So what happens when a generation of wine buyers that liked cheap Australian wine grows up? They think that Australian wine shouldn’t cost a lot of money, and they are sure that Australia is not the region to turn to for serious wine. Also, Australia produces mostly ”brand name” varietals – Cabernet, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Merlot, etc.  With wine drinkers all looking for the next cool grape (Picpoul! Schiava Nera!), Aussie wine is seen as too generic. As a result Australian wine imports have fallen drastically in the last several years and the entire Australian wine industry is scrambling to re-brand itself.

I’ve never actually tried Yellow Tail, but some of my favorite wines that I grew up drinking were Australian – Elderton and Penfolds to name two right off the bat. These two producers still make amazing wines, especially if you stay away from their more mass produced labels and try some of their smaller lines. Eden Valley in Australia is producing incredible dry Rieslings right now. One of our favorites is made by Betts & Scholl and we literally can’t keep it on the shelves. There IS good Australian wine out there – lots of it! – but you won’t find it stacked five cases high with a $7.99 sticker on it.

So we come back to the question that started this all for me – has Australian wine lost its soul? No, not at all. Especially if you come to The Urban Grape and try some of the wines we’ve brought in from the region through smaller distributors such as Panther.  The Australian wine industry is course correcting and is working hard to regain their reputation. It may take time to build back our trust in the region, but given time we strongly feel that trust will not be misplaced.

What do you think – next time you’re in the store, will you try an Australian wine suggestion from one of our staff?

Imagine leaving work, going to the pub, throwing back a few beers, and then returning to your job to finish the rest of the work day. Nowadays, that has means for termination written all over it. But, believe it or not, not so long ago this was a norm. During World War I, laborers in Britain were designated licensed periods throughout the day where they could put their work on hold, amble on over to the saloon, and, to put it nicely, “hydrate” to the best of their ability. Though they were legally allowed to “hydrate” during these designated sessions, it was improper for them to get numbingly smashed. So, to maintain equilibrium and preserve a sense of responsibility and professionalism throughout these sessions, the laborers chose lower ABV ales so that they could drink steadily for hours without succumbing to complete inebriation.  From this the term “session beer” was born.

A session beer, in modern day terms, is a clean, evenly balanced beer that usually contains less than 5% alcohol. It’s a beer with a slightly different purpose than the blisteringly high alcohol brews that currently flood the market. Its purpose is not to intoxicate, but rather to refresh, to delight, and to invigorate. Sessions are manufactured for the drinker who seeks flavor and appreciation over ABV and inebriation. That being said, with the beer market becoming more and more focused on progressive, higher alcohol, “new world” beers over the last decade or so, the session beer has been somewhat forgotten.

But then a godsend in the form of a brewer emerged. His name: Chris Lohring—an expert brewer, and, just as important, an enthusiast to this session style of beer. After recognizing the session’s absent role in the beer market, Lohring decided to dig into the past and bring it back. And so, from that moment of recognition, he set off to create the perfect session beers—beers full of flavor that balance malt and hop harmoniously in one delicious union. Now, years and much hard work later, his company, Notch, is a reality, and his first two offerings—a malty style session ale, and a crisp, hoppy session pils—are available to the public.

In the past year, we have met a number of incredible people affiliated with the wine, beer and spirits industry. That said, almost none can hold a candle to Lord Henry Conyngham and his wife Iona, the owners of Slane Castle Irish Whiskey.

The first time Henry came to taste TJ on his whiskey, they had an immediate connection and last September we set up a date for Henry to sample to our customers. It was a pretty spectacular night, the recap of which I put on the blog the next day.

I pretty much thought that no tasting with Henry could ever compare to that first one, but now I’m not so sure. Because wherever Henry goes, magic seems to happen.

Late last year, Meghan Malloy, the food blogger at Travel, Wine, Dine, put me in touch with Valerie, a local chocolatier from Vianne Chocolat. Valerie and I chatted throughout the holiday season about working together and we finally set something up for Valentine’s Day. Somewhere during all of this, I noticed that Valerie’s last name was…Conyngham.

I knew from my discussions with Lord Henry that he was the head of the Conyngham clan and that there is a matter of pride among those that have kept the traditional spelling, and not Americanized it to “Cunningham.” Could it be, I wondered? Is the world really that small?

“By the way,” I wrote to Valerie in an email this January, “we work a lot with Lord Henry Conyngham who owns Slane Castle in Ireland and now produces Slane Castle Irish Whiskey (delicious and affordable). You must be a distant relative!”

I didn’t really think this would go anywhere. It was sort of an off the cuff remark.

Valerie wrote back, “Lord Henry Conyngham is a distant relative, at least of my husband’s. Perhaps I should start working on a Slane Castle Whiskey Truffle…”

And I, pushing it as always, wrote, “Henry is a big supporter of our store and is doing a tasting there before St. Patty’s Day. You totally should!!!!”

So, guess what? Valerie has developed not one but TWO Slane Castle chocolates – a Slane Castle Whiskey Truffle and Slane Castle Whiskey Caramel Cups. And she will be sampling them right along side Lord Henry this Saturday from 2-5 at The Urban Grape.

I asked her last night if her husband was coming to the tasting and she said he “wouldn’t miss Lord Henry for anything.” Word has also come down from Ireland that Henry is equally as ecstatic. This whole experience has me wishing I was a Conyngham!

Join us Saturday March 5th from 2-5 for Whiskey, Chocolates and a Family Reunion!