If you enjoy cooking like I do I’m sure you’ve had days where you feel the need to cook something for yourself (ie don’t want to spend the money on take away) but you are feeling way too lazy to put some effort into it. I had just such a day yesterday. I decided to heat up some Heinz beans from a can. I don’t even know why I had them because I hate canned beans; perhaps my subconscious mind made me buy them knowing I would be lazy enough to cook them one day. Anyway, I added some hotdogs and heated them over the stove. My first bite confirmed that my tastes have evolved tremendously since college, when I would have happily wolfed it down. Faced with the daunting task of finishing the meal (I wasn’t about to go to bed hungry), I decided to open a bottle of red Burgundy I bought from an importer who gave me an excellent deal on it. It’s from Domaine Emmanuel Giboulot and comes from the Cotes de Nuits, at the north end of Burgundy. Burgundy, for those who may not be aware, is the home of Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir as we know it comes from there, and many people (including myself) would argue that Burgundy Pinot is still the best. But back to my meal. The wine had fantastic candied cherry and wild strawberry flavors and bright acidity. It was very flavorful and aromatic. It made the beans not only palatable but good. I can’t wait to try it with some decent food.

I’ll be tasting this wine at our Plank Road location (next to Ukrops) tonight and tomorrow (Saturday the 14th) if you want to try it. If you want to know what Pinot Noir is meant to taste like here’s your chance.

The Master Gardeners are having a work day at the new botanical garden on Friday November 20th starting at 9 AM. They will be planting 7 beech trees. Bring a shovel if you want to help, or just come by and offer some supportive words. With this rain…

Like many consumers, there are certain products and services that I have used and absolutely love, and then there are those that I really dislike. Sometimes my experience with these products and services are so great, good or bad, that I feel compelled…

Like many consumers, there are certain products and services that I have used and absolutely love, and then there are those that I really dislike. Sometimes my experience with these products and services are so great, good or bad, that I feel compelled…

Yes, it’s been selling like crazy on our website but Fredericksburg is sleeping on it. This isn’t 94 points from some no-name, this is Robert Parker, the man who invented the point system. The man with the golden palate. Usually a wine that gets 94 points is $50 and up, so this is a crazy deal. We only have a little over a case left between our two stores so if you are interested you should act fast before somebody on the internet recognizes it for the spectacular deal that it is and buys whatever we have left. Click here for a product description.

I grew up in a family with grandparents and great-grandparents who had immigrated to the United States from Poland. Important ethnic traditions were not limited to holidays; we enjoyed being Polish-Americans everyday! Polish music, dancing, folk art an…

You should read this article about modern wine branding so that you know what you are getting. Some quotes followed by my thoughts:

“Customers should not look down on those scenarios as fraud; this is the reality of wine industry. All wine producers produce many their brands, large or small, the same way, “ says Jonathan Gelula of KDM Global Partners, a wine branding company.

Really? Were you aware, before reading this, that this was the reality of the wine industry? How is it not fraud to produce a mega-brand and market it so that it looks like it was made by a small family winery? Just because it’s the reality of the wine industry doesn’t mean it’s not fraud.

Similarly, if you walk into any wine shop—in any town, in any state—you will probably see Rock Rabbit, Mark West, Smoking Loon, or Pepperwood Grove.

Not us.

Whether you want value or authenticity is up to you. But you generally don’t get both.

Rubbish. This is repeated over and over and it’s just not true. Re-branding is just a way to make an extra buck, to pretend like you’re giving the customer great wine for a low price is deceitful. I can show you a bunch of wines we sell that are produced and bottled by the same winery that are not expensive, including the Cholila Ranch Malbec that’s been a big seller for us recently. In fact, look at our 6 for $60 wines this month. Every one of them is from a small or medium-sized winery that produces and bottles their own wine, and you get all six of them for $60 including tax. I’m not saying this to toot our own horn, I’m saying it to demonstrate that this idea that big brands are better values is not true. Plus value is in the eye of the beholder. I’d rather buy better wine and drink it less often than buy cases of super cheap wine and drink it a lot.

Interestingly, when it comes to Champagne the reverse of this scenario is true (ie the more familiar the brand is the more you have to pay for it). I’m often asked if I carry Dom Perignon and struggle to convince people that our $45 Champagne is better than the $140 Dom Perignon. Some people are not convinced, they want the Dom Perignon because they know the brand. It’s all about branding, not value.

Just a word to let you know we’ll be tasting out the Primitivo Quiles Raspay Monastrell at our Plank Road store Friday night from 4-8pm. I talk about it a few posts down. It’s also currently in our enomatic machines at the wine bar. Other great stuff will be tasted out as well at both stores. Click here to see the tasting line up.

That’s right…Orin Swift’s flagship wine is back. The 2008 vintage is available at both kybecca locations (and two days earlier than the rest of the country!)

We’ve made a big deal about natural wine here at kybecca. You may have heard us raving about the wines of Thierry Puzelat, one of our favorite natural wine makers. Here is an article in the LA Times explaining what natural wine is. This is important because I have found that when peopel ask me for organic wine what they are really asking for is natural wine. Organic wine is easy to find, natural wine is what you come to wine shops like us for.

A great example of natural wine is the Clos du Tue-Boeuf Cheverny from the Puzelat brothers, which is a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay (See Rebecca’s post a few down).