I had a slow moving Kindergartener this morning. My countdowns ineffective, I kept finding her in front of the mirror, assessing her front teeth. It's wiggling... she says, testing the same tooth again. She lost her lower incisors in the fall and now one of the central upper teeth is indeed starting to give. She seems excited, or at least more resolved, about this eventual loss. You know what the best part about losing a tooth is? she asks me on the blacktop this morning, taking her place in line. You never have to lose them again, she concludes. I let that outlook linger for a few minutes while we look out on the other students assembling. 

I suddenly notice how my daughter has grown. This new being having replaced the smaller, wiggly version of her former self. The kid who once would only wear pajamas is now testing out other looks. She's been rocking earmuffs for over a month now, but there is no evidence of this being a common trend among her classmates. Maybe it's just winter comfort prevailing, but I didn't notice any discernible new fads for 2024 on the schoolyard. Mostly just holdouts from the past year. Thick bright headbands and bucket hats. Cargo pants are back in. And puffy jackets. Some middle schoolers wearing combat boots and Doc Martins again. So maybe more of a muted 90s collection overall than anything else.

Trends come and go in the wine world too. Most come in waves and never quite fade completely. Some emerge and remain. But pretty much everything gets cool again at some point. Regions like Sicily or Eastern Europe continue to enjoy new attention these days. Chillable reds remain indisputably cool even in this cold and rainy season. But the trend of the last couple years that is most reluctant to yield the spotlight is still Orange Wine. 

Far from mainstream a decade ago, we get the request with frequency each week for "orange wines' here. White wines made with skin contact, a method normally reserved for red wine production, but also traditional for some whites in parts of northern Italy and eastern Europe. Time on the skins leeches pigment, inducing in the juice a hazy amber glow, and so the wines are now commonly referred to as orange wines. These skin contact wines tend to be fuller-bodied and more textural than whites that go 'straight to press'. The extended maceration yields a complex and savory expression, sometimes with more structure and some chewy tannin that makes them excellent food pairing wines. 

Roll in SATURDAY from 2-6pm for a Flight of ORANGE WINES and see what the hype is all about. We'll be pouring:
2022 Maturana Naranjo Torontel
2022 Bannister Ribolla Gialla
2022 Gvino Tsolikouri 
2018 Paraschos 'Orange One'
Flights $18 from 2-6pm and wines by the glass all day.

But first... TONIGHT... Thursday Night Flights! French Whites and Italian Reds from 5-9.
2022 Eric Chevalier Clos de la Butte Muscadet
2022 Le Pigeoulet vaucluse Blanc
2019 M. Chapoutier Marius Voingier 
2021 Limonte "Braida" Grignolina d'Asti
2021 Tassarolo "Orsola' Monferratto Rosso
2021 Brovia Vignavillej Dolcetto d’Alba
Flights $15 from 5-9pm and wines by the glass all night!


See you soon,
Daniel