We stopped by the farmer’s market Saturday — very little corn, very few tomatoes, plenty of pumpkins. It’s officially Fall. My daughters picked out their front porch pumpkins, and I had to start thinking goodbye to meals built around fresh vegetables.

Time to look toward throwing a dozen things in a pot, cooking them for a good while and seeing how they all get along. Something like beer-braised sausages with caraway, fennel, juniper berries, McIntosh apples and sauerkraut. Beef stews with red wine broth. Roasting things that go well with riesling. Barbecuing meats that go well with football games and make men feel manly. Yeah! Pass the beer.

Comfort food. I read something recently about economic hard times. People eat more comfort foods, drink a little more wine. After all, it’s an investment with a guaranteed return.

We know the wait has been long, but we are finally OPEN on the inside!

When you walk in the door, one of the first things you may notice is our Enomatic machines, which are filled with various bottles of wine. Now the way this works (for now) is that you can purchase an Enomatic card for $2.50. This is your card to keep, and you can load it up with any amount of money you would like ($10, $43, $100, etc). Place the card in the Enomatic machine and it will show you how much you have on the card. Then you can choose your wine and pour size (1oz, 1/2 glass or full glass). Place your glass under the spout, press the button and voila! You have a perfect glass of wine.

Welcome to the College Terrace Neighborhood Association Blog.College Terrace is a neighborhood in downtown Fredericksburg Virginia, encompassingapproximately 300 homes. It is bounded in the south by William St., to the north by the canal and the colleg…

We just received a batch of beer from France. Why is this special? Because French beer other than Kronenberg is very difficult to find. Not only that, but what a lot of people don’t know is that France is one of the world’s greatest beer producing countries. France is like Ireland – it makes great beer but other than the big brands you never see it here. A wine importer (originally from France) that we work with noticed this and decided to import some beer himself.

I have had the chance to taste some of these beers and was pretty impressed. I was expecting the beer to taste just like Belgian ale. Not so! These beers are not as malty as Belgian ales and have other special qualities. One thing I noticed about all of them was a strong floral quality that was very attractive. Here is a description of each:

Brasserie Bourguignonne Ambree – This craft brewery is located in Burgundy, better known as a place that makes the world’s best Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. This amber ale has much of the floral characteristics I mentioned, is very soft and subtle on the palate but very complex.

Mandrin Biere au sapin – This beer is brewed with pine needles. Now before you make a face and go ‘yuck’, let me explain. My expectation was that the beer would taste like pine resin, but it didn’t at all. It was very floral in an unusual but delicious way that I can’t quite put my finger on. This one is for the beer lovers who think they’ve tried everything.

Brasserie D’oc La Mouska – This is an ale brewed with Muscat grapes. The Muscat gives it some sweetness and intense fruit flavors. I had this last night and it is amazingly delicious.

St. Rieul Grand Cru – A “Tripel” style ale, much like the Belgian variety. If you like Chimay or Tripel Karmaliet you really must try this.

La Sancerroise au Gruyt – From Brasserie Sancerroise, located in Sancerre in the Loire Valley, a place better known for making amazing Sauvignon Blanc. This dark ale is a secret recipe based on a medeival brew made with herbs and spices.

By the way, did I mention that these beers have never been imported into the U.S. before? The La Mouska and Mandrin au Sapin will be open for tasting at both stores this Saturday starting at noon.

Took some pictures of a group identifying fungi in quiet Virginian forest. This is also my 200th post. It prompted me to look back through the archives, going all the way back to my first post from my first internship. Little did I envisage the things …

If you haven’t been by yet this week, just follow the noise! Lots of exciting changes taking place…among them, breaking through the wall where the beer cooler used to be. Sounds of sanding melodiously remind us of the beautiful hardwood floor that is being revealed. The paint is on the walls…the lights are hung…and a beautiful rounded countertop adorns the cool steel wine bottle shelves. It’s all very exciting and coming together at last (the floor is stunning, by the way!)

And yes….we still have the beer cooler. It’s right at the bottom of the steps, still full of your favorites (FYI – Borman’s Belgian is BACK!!!)

Those of you who were wondering where the Blue and Gray Borman’s Belgian went, well, the brewery was working on seasonals. But they’ve brewed a new batch and it’s back (already in at Plank Road, will be available at William Street from Friday). If you haven’t had it, this is Fredericksburg’s local brewery’s version of a Belgian ale. It just came in today so I haven’t tried one from this batch, but I’m told by master beer judge Lyle Brown that it’s a bit hoppier this time and the brewers did a great job. I can’t wait! Oh, and the only place you can buy this other than the brewery is kybecca. David, I hope you don’t mind me ripping off this picture you took of the beer.

Also back in is the always popular Dogfish Head Punkin Ale, another pumpkin beer for you to try. Dogfish Head uses real pumpkin in their version, rather than a bunch of spices and nothing else. Available in 4 packs or by the bottle. Better get it while it’s around, because once it’s gone it’s gone until next year.

Don’t worry. I am not going to waste this space or your time with a rant telling you who you should vote for, or against. This is much more importent than that. It is safe for you to read-on…Are you tired of hearing about the upcoming presidential e…

From a huge celebration festival for the re-opening of the newly restored Montpelier, James Madison’s famed home in Orange County, Va.entertainment color guardcut that ribbon, mr. governor star

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending a special tasting event for retailers and restaurateurs in Washington DC. We were tasting wines from Torbreck, one of the most highly regarded wineries in Australia. David Powell, the owner and winemaker, led the event. He came across as a very likable guy who clearly has a passion for wine. His wines aren’t cheap (the least expensive is about $22 and it goes way up from there), but man are they good. Part of David’s success comes from the fact that he secured contracts to source grapes from some of the oldest vineyards in the world. The oldest is 149! Just to put that in perspective, 30 years old is considered a pretty mature vineyard (age of the vines is important because as vines grow older they produce fewer grapes but the grapes they do produce are of a higher quality). It’s also the second oldest vineyard in the world (the oldest is also in Australia). Here were some of the highlights:

Marsanne/Roussanne – Two grapes found in the Rhone region of France. Some are grown in California and Australia and a little bit elsewhere. This was the best Marsanne/Roussanne blend I’ve ever had that wasn’t French. Deep and rich with ripe melon, pear, and citrus flavors. Very well balanced. I remember tasting it and thinking, “oh, Rebecca will love this.”

Struie Shiraz – Probably the best wine for the money (retail about $55-$60) out of all the wines. David likes to make powerful but structured Shiraz, rather than the over-extracted, viscous style that’s more common in Australia.

The Pict Mataro – Mataro is what they call Mouvedre in France. Apparently this one is twice as expensive (about $160) as the next most expensive Mouvedre. Mouvedre is more often used as a blending grape, but this one was worth the money all on its own.

Run Rig Shiraz – This one was the star of the show. A shiraz blended from the grapes of 8 different vineyards, including that 149 year old one. Wow! This was one powerful wine. Aromas and flavors of blackberries, blueberries, licorice, some herbal/earthy notes, and lots of other stuff. David said it would peak in about 12 years but I thought it was pretty drinkable now too. We have a couple of bottles of this in stock right now.

All in all it was a great experience – it’s not too often that you get to taste several wines of this quality. Look for some of these wines to appear in the future. Possibly a gift for a shiraz lover when the Holidays come around?