Some drunken Roman said that, but he was mostly right: “in wine there is truth.” It can mean many things, some of which aren’t so nice, but I prefer to focus on the positive. I use my drinking for the purposes of the greater good; to help spread knowledge and appreciation of that fine little fruit we call the grape.

It was for that reason that I found myself at Circa last Thursday, with Jeremy, from Country Vintner, tasting 36 wines. OK, the last one was a Champagne, so, technically, 35. For those who don’t know, Country Vintner was one of the original three vendors who visited us when we were getting ready to open. Although Jeremy was not our original rep, he definitely has the right disposition to deal with us. In other words, he is a very sick man.

Anyway, that night, he and one of his vendors did our tasting, and we had one hell of a crowd. Unfortunately for me, I had to attend a Planning and Zoning meeting, so I missed the bulk of the festivities. And, after the aforementioned 35+ wines, I was in no mood to legislate. But, alas, the common good and all…

Good weather led to a great weekend. We must be the talk of the town in Raleigh, because we had several groups in from the capitol city, drinking fine wine and listening to excellent music compliments of Dave and Jeremy. Oh, and Lou was involved, too. And by the end of the night, they actually weren’t booing; they really were saying “Lou.” I guess Dave finally impressed on Lou the concept of how much better the music would sound if Lou actually knew the songs. And Dave ran with it, since he was more comfortable with his baseline, he started belting out the vocals, and the music sounded fantastic.

Monday, Amanda, from Juice (another one of our original vendors), tasted us on some good wines, including a beautiful Cotes du Rhone, from Domaine de la Solitude. Rich cherry notes, light tannins, great balance…the French have been doing this for a few years. And at the price this is a great value for an excellent example of this classical style.

Amanda will be doing Thursday’s tasting, featuring the wines of Tarrica, a nice Paso Robles, Cali winery, that makes some really tasty wines. We will feature their Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio (yes, a California Pinot Grigio…don’t be scared), Merlot, Cab Sav and Pinot Noir. Now, those of you who have followed the blog know that we view Oregon’s Willamette Valley as the premier Pinot Noir region. However, for a California Pinot, this one is quite nice. They source the fruit from Monterey, which is a little cooler growing climate than Paso Robles, and Pinot likes cool weather.

Construction on the kitchen continues, and we hope to have our plumbing and electrical permits in the next day or two. It is quite strange to me that the permitting process takes longer than the actual construction, but I guess that is how government justifies its existence. Oops, did I just say that out loud? Darn, guess I did. Of course, if any inspectors are reading this, I was only joking. You guys are doing a helluva job.

Susan thought we should call the restaurant 2 Wine Guys @ The Grind’s “Treehouse Bistro.” We all liked that, so that is where we are heading.

On a totally unrelated note, several people have come into the shop to taste wine, and after the first sip, admitted that they couldn’t taste the wine because they had just brushed their teeth, eaten a mint, or chewed gum. Please, we don’t care how bad your breath is, only that you enjoy the wine we offer. If it is that bad, we will stand back while we pour. I’m just sayin.’

Our friends at the Weather Channel are forecasting sunshine this weekend, the shelves will be stocked with delicious wine, and the music will be awesome, so, come on out to 2 Wine Guys @ The Grind and let us pour you a glass.

Shawn

Post Date: 04/14/2009