First impressions can be misleading. My friend David snuck his first beer as a pre-teen at a party his parents hosted in the mid-seventies in rural Vermont, and the bottle he snuck had been spiked with LSD. The young fellow held it together, but wondered how his father could manage to drink as many as two or three of these in a sitting after work. It was a long time before David had his second beer.
Years ago, when my friend Stephane moved from Marseille to a garden apartment in San Francisco, he awoke that first morning, opened his blinds to an eye-level sea of leather chaps and genitalia, and thought: “I guess I’m not in Kansas anymore!” Stephane was unaware that his arrival coincided with the Folsom Street Fair, and that this was unusual, even for SF.
And our friend Natalia told me just yesterday that when she moved into her apartment off of 40th Street on a Friday last July, she was greeted Saturday morning by blaring electric guitars and whining, crunchy feedback. “Is this my new neighborhood? She wondered.
Yes and no. Natalia had gotten here just in time for the annual 40th Street Block Party, which will happen again, one week from Saturday, on July 14th. If you haven’t been, you’re missing out. They shut down 40th from Webster to Opal and there’s live music all day long, food trucks, and general merriment in the street. It’s usually hot (though always cool inside the shop), and very loud and lots of fun, and you won’t likely see any of us in chaps, but we may wear shorts for a change, and I promise we won’t put anything besides beer in your beer.
But before all of that…here’s THIS week’s tasting lineup:
TONIGHT: THURSDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS – Reds & Whites from AUSTRIA – Gruner Veltliner, Orangetraube, Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch – $12 from 4-8pm
SATURDAY, July 7th: CILIEGIOLO Three Ways – Tre Ciliegioli: Rosato from Liguria and reds from Tuscany and California - all from the Ciliegiolo grape - $15 from 2-6pm
SUNDAY, June 8th: 2017 ROSÉ FLIGHTS – 3 rosés from around the world - $15 from 2-6pm
See you soon,
Max
Most of my stories involve me making an ass of myself. But every so often my existence is validated. I was in my late 20s and road tripping with my friend through the Pacific Northwest. He had a small wedding outside of Victoria to attend and the plan at that juncture was that I'd hang back to explore Vancouver and we'd reconnect. The day before the ceremony I dropped him for a meet-and-greet and ended up hitting it off with the parents of the bride who insisted I stay for the weekend celebration. Cool beans. Flash forward to the big night: it's after the vows and dinner and speeches, and things start slowing down. For whatever reason no one is dancing and most seem content socializing and settling into the calm of the evening. The mother of the bride looks concerned and for some peculiar reason locks in on me. I'm paraphrasing her dilemma here, but something like: "Everyone seems so sleepy - I was going to make coffee - but I don't want folks to stop drinking or they won't dance. What can we do??..."
It was only beer and wine there, but I inquire anyway: "Maybe Irish coffee? Do you have whiskey?". In my head this was as straightforward as It's raining? How about an umbrella? She looked at me like I'd suddenly grown wings. This will sound incredible, I know, but she had never heard of Irish coffee. Maybe some of you are nodding yep, that's my mom. But here's the craziest part: I kid you not, virtually no one there had either. I'm not saying Twilight Zone, but it was odd. Even for Canada. It was like my friend and I were from the future. But a couple bottles do eventually materialize, and in short time both old and young folks alike are lively and giggling in disbelief. "Like this?" "How much do I need? "Yep, he said just pour it straight in!"
It would have been almost creepy if they weren't all so darn nice. Flash forward again. Music is blasting, and guests are twisting to this song and hopping to that, running all about and doing interpretive dances to "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by the end of the night. It was ridiculous. And pretty great. What? A hero you say? No no no. Please. Let's just agree on a very very great man.
SUNDAY at OAKLAND YARD. Chilled Reds Tasting. It's a similar dilemma. Some want to drink red, but it's so damn hot out. If only there was a way. What can we do?? Don't laugh, there are actually still folks out there who have not explored such a simple obvious pleasure. And I'm not talking just about Canadians. As Max once noted, the lower temperature brings out the fresh berry flavors, tightening and brightening the wine into a sharper focus. These are game changers: BBQ, picnic, summer wedding wines. And perfect for the 4th of July parties! We'll be pouring 4 light, fresh, chillable reds from around the world Sunday from 2-5pm! Roll in. Relax. Recharge. Refresh.
SATURDAY from 2-5pm: PET NAT Tasting Flights! Pet Nat, short for pétillant naturel which just means "naturally sparkling". Made with less-intervention, these bubblies are honest and unadorned. Bottled and capped while the juice is still fermenting, the result can be unpredictable - occasionally funky but normally delightful, fresh, fizzy and fun. Never heard of them? They'll have you dancing. Get up and get on down this Saturday, 6/30. Flights $15 from 2-6. Flights 20% off for Wine Club Members - and Canadians.
And first... TONIGHT! Thursday Night Flights at OAKLAND YARD. The evening it's French Whites or Spanish Reds. Your choice. Flights from 4-8pm and wines by the glass as always!
See you soon,
Daniel
Few foods afford the consistently reliable satisfaction I find in a simple tomato toast. I had my first of the season this week and was reminded that it is one of my great joys of summer. In fact, the promise of delicious, fresh tomatoes for more than one month out of the year made it easy to leave New York for California.. Of course, the bright green chives are only a buck fifty here, and stone fruits in season are unreasonably tasty - and let’s not even begin to compare avocados - but it could have been the tomatoes that sealed the westward deal.
Throughout my childhood, I helped my mother manage a sizable tomato plot in her back garden, and I remember her zeal in bisecting the grotesque, horned green tomato worms we’d find on the vines from time to time; they would ooze green slime after she snipped them in half with her gardening clippers. I learned early, there was little mercy for woodchucks, and clearly none for tomato worms. Most summers of my adult life, I’ve managed to plant a few tomato plants, and again this season I’ve got a handful of plants on the roof and am looking forward to the toasts. So far, we are wormless, with clippers at the ready.
It is fortuitous, or perhaps no coincidence at all, that rosé season corresponds with tomato season, because there’s no better accompaniment to a fresh tomato toast, than a glass of subtly fruity, dry rosé. We’ll be pouring plenty of rosé at our Sunday afternoon tastings over the next couple of months, but this Sunday’s lineup is especially exciting, with three dry pinks made from Cabernet Franc grapes by a few of our favorite producers in Chinon and Anjou. Hope to see you there!
But first…TONIGHT: THURSDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS – French Reds & German Whites –Syrah, Gamay, and Merlot, as well as Silvaner, Gutedel, and a Gemischter Schatz, - $12 from 4-8pm
SATURDAY, June 23rd: BEAUNE IMPORTS TASTING with special guest RACHEL GOLDMAN – Rachel will share her prodigious knowledge and pour flights of four classically-styled wines from Italy, Spain, and France - $15 from 2-6pm
SUNDAY, June 24th: LOIRE VALLEY 2017 ROSÉ FLIGHTS – Bernard Baudry, Chateau Soucherie, and Thibaud Boudignon - $15 from 2-6pm
See you soon,
Max
It's starting. At least a couple months of delirious and delightful déjà vu. Folks entering the store with an audible sigh of relief, the A/C washing over like a cold shower, everyone asking for dry rosé, crisp whites, and chillable reds. And yes, we have all of those. Loads. This time of year always brings a warm feeling for me, knowing that summer is arriving - my schoolboy heart still marks the calendar in semesters and quarters and I occasionally even slip up and call this season summer break. Being a teacher for a decade didn't help break this habit.
As a kid, summers meant pool days and weekend parties at the Gleasons, and frequent terrorizing of mom and the neighbors. On Saturdays we'd be torn from our morning cartoons and have weekend chores to get through before the endless party could begin. I remember one summer Dad gave me the nod. I was 10 or 11 and was ready for greater responsibility. So long vacuum! Adios, leaf raking! I have a date with a lawnmower. It was thrilling at that age to be in charge of something that (by a large stretch of my morbid imagination, of course) could indeed kill me. Dad showed me how to work it and I went to work. I had made several passes when I noticed there was a peculiar lever down on the side that when stomped on lowered the mower significantly. What? Did Dad even know about this?? First day on the job and I thought I was smarter than the boss. Poor old guy. He does this every couple weeks? Geez! So I thought I'd show him how the pros do it. I dropped it into the lowest position and proceeded to turn our lawn into a putting green. I was so proud.
Turns out dad knows a thing or two about mowers. And how grass grows. The next day was in the high 90's, as was the rest of the week. I killed the lawn. It was so dried and sun blasted it looked like hay. Short hay. The boss took me off that detail permanently. Oh, hi again, vacuum. I didn't mean what I said...
It's looking like a sunny Father's Day weekend ahead. We're pouring Pinot Noir and Rosé Flights and will have the shop and tasting bar chilled down for a relaxing weekend as always. Dry rosé, crisp whites, chillable reds galore. Tell your friends. Tell your dad. Tell your friends' dads. Happy Day to all of you out there, all you fathers and father figures. Put on some George Michael and enjoy yourselves. And if you need any last minute bottles shipped to yours - give us a call today and we'll make that happen! We can ship bottles overnight to California residents- including our monthly wine club (just $42)!
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! Italian Whites & German Reds. A stellar lineup up of crisp, dry whites and fresh, vibrant reds. Flights $15 from 4-8pm
SATURDAY: Pinot Noir Flights! Pinot from around the globe... 2016 Prisma (Chile), 2016 Anthill Farms Sonoma Coast (CA), 2014 Montebruno Mantazi Vineyard (Oregon). Flights $15 from 2-6pm.
SUNDAY: ROSÉ! Dry and delightful rosés from Germany, California, and France. Yes, all dry. And all crazy delicious. Flights from 2-6pm!
See you all soon,
Daniel
PORTUGAL vs. CALIFORNIA INDEX
Number of 750ml wine bottles consumed annually per Portuguese citizen: 72
Number of 750ml wine bottles consumed annually per American citizen: 15
Year in which Portugal became the 8th state to recognize same-sex marriage: 2010
Year in which California re-instated the right to same-sex marriage: 2013
Year Portugal outlawed capital punishment: 1976
Number of death penalty executions in the US since 1976: 1476
Year Portugal decriminalized all illicit drugs: 2001
Number of inmates in US prisons on drug related charges: 1,566,722
Average cost per year in dollars to incarcerate an inmate in California: 71,000
So, America may still be great in a lot of ways, but we’ve clearly got a few things to learn from Portugal. They obviously know how to enjoy themselves. They’ve got some of the highest ratings for moral freedom in the world and are ranked the most peaceful state in the EU. Who doesn’t want to be the most peaceful?
The Portuguese are also making some of the more exciting wines we’ve tasted recently. Winemakers like Tiago Teles, Luis Seabra, Vitor Claro, Filipa Pato, Sara Dionisio and Antonio Ribeiro are making transcendent, non-interventional, ‘natural’ wines that are expanding our view and enjoyment of Portuguese wine. They come to us in small batches and are difficult to keep in stock, but we’re always scrambling to find more. Come taste the excitement this Sunday, June 10th from 2 to 6pm.
But first…
TONIGHT: THURSDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS – Sicilian Reds & Sauvignon Blanc from around the world - $12 from 4-8pm
SATURDAY, June 9th: MEET THE WINEMAKER: COTE WEST FLIGHTS with BRET HOGAN– taste the new releases and chat with Bret - $15 – from 2-5
SUNDAY, June 10th: The NEW PORTUGUESE STYLE: Casa de Mouraz Dao Branco, Anselmo Mendes Contacto Alvarinho, and Luis Seabra Xisto Ilimitado Vinho Tinto $15 from 2-6pm
I was 8 when The Goonies was released, and like most kids then, I became obsessed with secret underbellies and buried treasures and I longed for adventure. My neighborhood seemed ripe for one, with hills all about and old little homes like crowded teeth rooted along the narrow, winding streets. I'd tag along with my older brothers, riding our bikes past various plots rich with mythology passed down from the eldest and other neighborhood oddballs and weirdos.
One summer day, having found nothing in Ms. Scarvacci's backyard and too afraid to explore the vacant garage of the supposedly haunted house on the next ridge, I begged my older brother, Stephen, to draw a treasure map for me. An hour or so later, to my extreme delight, he handed me the map- a strange and complex (and certainly not-to-scale) illustration of our home and the surrounding properties. A pointed peppering of identifiable landmarks here and there, and (of course)... the most palpitation-inducing detail: a large X in the upper left corner. I snatched it from his hand and sprinted out, with a warm feeling swelling in my chest.
I was too stubborn to ask for hints, and spent hours in the sun digging countless holes in the rock hard, barren plot that I was certain was the spot. Until finally, with weary body and weary spirit I collapsed to reason and returned to the source.
Life lesson in disappointment. Turns out Stephen never buried any treasure, or anything at all. He was actually surprised to see me, caked in in dirt, and was more indifferent than amused.
"You just asked for a treasure map", he said.
This SATURDAY, June 2nd: Enter through OAKLAND YARD. The big X will be in the lot behind the shop, and happily for you, you get more than just the map . The 420 FLEA will be an outdoor artisan market, with vendors, artists, and culinary delights from 11-4pm. There will be a beer and wine garden and abundant treasures from Owl & Wood, Pacific Wonderland, Miwak Junior,Charlotte Stone Shoes, Pablo Cristi, Westwind Succulents, Flower & Forage, Lucas Ahlstrand, Gold & Rust Finds. Bites from NOKNI Oakland, and MK Gold Bakery. Tea from Steep Tea Co. And... Wine Flights inside from local winemakers and shining stars, Trail Marker Wine Co.
And first... TONIGHT: THURSDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS! Italian Whites and Spanish Reds. Your choice of 3 wines from 4-8. Adventure awaits...
SUNDAY, June 3rd: ROSÉ FLIGHTS. Dry and delightful pink flights from around the world - and OAKLAND YARD Wine Club Pick Up Party! Flights $15 from, 2-6pm. Wines by the glass all day until 8pm.
Get on down here and be a part of this. Don't take Troy's bucket.
See you all soon!
Daniel
It's a special time for me. Some of you know about this tradition already.
I'm reminded this morning of my friend who is so ridiculously positive at times it ranges on absurd, but kind of amazing and admirable in a way. He once was parked in a sketchy part of town and had his stereo stolen from his car. A mutual friend offered condolences: "So sorry to hear, man, that stinks. Did they smash your windows or something?"
My friend replied: "No that's the good news, I was really lucky... I had all my windows down"
As I write this, I'm in the Sierras again but a multi-day thunderstorm is heading our way, an uninvited guest to this celebration. The fishing part of this fishing trip might be rained out. I'm struggling not to let it upset me nor allow disappointment to seep in after a full year of anticipation. Perspective is something I'm working on. I still have much to learn from my father and my brothers. They remain upbeat and unfazed. Their revelry is unyielding. It's beautiful and, happily, proving infectious. Because ultimately, there is still plenty of good wine and laughter to go round. And yes, an ample amount of whiskey too.
At the shop we're often asked by new visitors something along the lines of "What's the theme here?.." or "So, what kind of wines do you specialize in?" And while we frequently will talk about small producers who make wines with great care and integrity, or about wines that are fresh and expressive, or perhaps food-friendly, etc... I often think of our collection as wines meant to pair with anything. Wines that go with dinner parties, with weddings and graduations, with old friends in town or new promotions. Wines that go with playoffs or play dates, with coastal escapes and long afternoons in the park or on the patio - or on the pontoon. Wines that pair with awesome. Even if the occasional storm tries to disrupt that awesome...
Roll in to OAKLAND YARD and check out some of these wines. We'll be pouring flights tonight and this weekend - and wines by the glass as always. Come celebrate a revelry that is unyielding. Beautiful. Infectious.
Tonight... THURSDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS!
Come hang with Max and Jessie and enjoy a flight of your choosing. Flights $12 from 4 to 8.
Argentine Reds
2017 Serbal Pinot Noir
2013 Hinojosa 'H' Malbec
2016 Don Carlos Calathus Malbec
Loire Valley Muscadet
2016 Domaine de la Pepiere La Pepie Muscadet
2016 Metaireau Black Label Muscadet
2015 Claude Branger Gras Moutons Muscadet
SATURDAY FLIGHTS: Local Legend, Cory Gowan, of Mission Wine Merchants at OAKLAND YARD! Flights from 2-5... and wines by the glass until 9pm!
Flights $15 form 2 to 5.
NV German Gilabert Cava
2016 Domaine Seailles Gascogne Blanc Sauvignon
2015 Omero WIllamette Valley Pinot Noir
2016 Unturned Stone Productions The Stowaway Red
SUNDAY FLIGHTS 5/27: Spanish Mencia
2016 Bodegas Godelia Pilgrim Bierzo
2016 Raul Perez Ultreia St. Jacques Bierzo
2014 Fento Xabre Ribeira Sacra
See you soon (with some delicious trout, hopefully),
Daniel
‘We, mothers…’ begins the ancient Tibetan prayer recited by believers, regardless of gender or age. A footnote in this Tantric tome explains: through the innumerable cycles of reincarnation, we have all been mothers. A further footnote purports that not only have we all been mothers, but that every sentient being has also been our parents. This is a lot to wrap your head around, but it’s a good place to start when it comes to caring for others. Mother is just an other with an M.
After reading the Buddhist prayer as a student, and discussing the concept with my roommate, Seth, he began referring to everyone we knew as ‘mother’ or just ‘mom’ and I followed suit. It confused people to no end, but it drew us all a bit closer, laughably familiar. My good friend Gita, the architect who designed our shop, still calls me mom.
The power and significance of the word was not lost on Frank Zappa, who named his band the Mothers of Invention. And inventive mothers they were - in their memorable rendition of Stairway to Heaven at the Rochester War Memorial in 1988, the horn section played the ripping guitar solo. There was also enough pot smoke in the crowd to make one believe that everyone there was in fact one’s mother.
A few months ago, one of our generous customers gifted me a mother - a useful mother, but not a sentient mother - a mother of vinegar. No more dumping old bottles of red, or paying for the commercial stuff; I’m now on my third batch and happy to share the magical, gelatinous goo with you, if you want a mother too.
This Sunday is not just the ‘Hallmark Holiday’ when we acknowledge those who birthed us. It is a celebration of life, love and family, and we will raise a glass of Burgundy to all of us, to all of you, and to all of those crazy, sweaty, long-haired Mothers of Invention.
TONIGHT: THURSDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS – Spanish Reds & California Whites - $12 from 4-8pm
SATURDAY, May 12th: ROSÉ FLIGHTS around the world – delicious, dry, pink wine from France, Austria and Spain - $15 – from 2-6... to wash down some crispy shrimp Bao Buns or other satisfying delights from the Wezy Cuisine Food Truck serving here from 4-8pm!
SUNDAY, May 13th: The MOTHER of ALL BURGUNDY TASTINGS: Bourgogne Aligoté, Marsannay Rosé, Passetoutgrain, and Bourgogne Rouge! $15 from 2-6pm
Cheers,
Max
Let's get something straight. I'm a California kid, through and through. The rest of the gang here hail from various parts of New York state, and Max and Glenny and I met working together at the same shop in Brooklyn. But I was the one asked at that shop, several times each month Where are you from? And more than once followed by you're much too nice to be from here (full disclosure, I'm frequently asked if I'm Canadian).
Anyway, no one was likely to ask me any such thing this time of year. It's May, and for approximately two weeks this month in New York, Californians don't stand out. For a sweet spring spell, everyone is nice. There's a sudden pop and all are out and about, smiling, in their best moods and in their best sundresses and white sneakers, pants rolled above ankles, folks off to parks and skipping to cafes and bars, afternoon drinking, cappuccinos to stay. It's like an endless transition scene in a musical, someone about to break into song. It's pretty great.
This magical time of year is also marked by the arrival of new rosés, boatloads from France and beyond, reaching our shores and trucked to shops like ours. These towers of pink, brilliant beacons of sunshine, of joy,... of months of adventure ahead... picnics in the park and day trips to the coast, weekend getaways, unplanned parties, backyard BBQs and impromptu dance-offs, endless evenings of endless warmth.
A.A. Milne writes best about the anticipation of such promise: “Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best,” and then he had to stop and think. Because although eating honey WAS a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called...
It's May and the pre-party is on. And Rosé is the pre-party wine. Or rather, it's the pre-party is the party wine. And this week a boatload arrives to OAKLAND YARD. So SUNDAY, May 6th, we'll be pouring some new pink delights, from 2-6pm. It will be a hummy sort of day outside and the birds will be singing. Come on down!
And this SATURDAY, May 5th, we are thrilled to welcome Julie Tesar of Skurnik Wines! Julie will be here pouring a dynamic, eclectic selection of wines from around the globe. Four wines (Albarino, Montepulciano, Cotes du Rhone, and Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir), Flights $15 from 2-6pm!
But first... TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! Spanish Whites and French Reds. Flights just $12 as always, every Thursday at OAKLAND YARD. Come relax, enjoy and explore with us from 4-8pm.
See you soon,
Daniel
I'm a pretty happy adult. My folks did a commendable job denying me certain indulgences as a child. Junk food was scarce and gum was pretty much off limits. I was at Lucky's supermarket one time with my mom and a couple of my brothers. When dispatched to secure some Bisquick, we detoured and bolted for the dispensers up front, with barely a moment to choose a crazy ball or some candy before mom could catch us. My older brother was sly and seasoned and back at her side in 30 seconds flat.
I only had enough for the economy gumballs, the pre-war red white and blue marbles that brought no child joy, ever. They went from rock hard to a sudden flavorless sludge. They were mostly just something to avoid swallowing. I turned the knob when I saw mom approaching the checkout and we were out the door before I could discreetly load them into my pocket. Our Dodge Ram van exited the lot and my palms were already filthy with sticky patriotic stains. I couldn't hide these any longer. I decided my only play was to put them in my mouth. All of them.
This was not a sound decision. The explosive release of sugar and saliva was rough for my little mouth. Gum was supposed to be fun. After a few painful silent gulps I abandoned the plan. But seven year olds generally don't have exit strategies. I couldn't spit this out easily, the windows of our van had latches that only allowed the glass to push out from the bottom a couple inches. So I pretended to slink into a nap, with my face flush to the side at the corner of the frame, with my mouth just hanging open, meeting the air and letting gravity win... my tongue lazily shoveling the mess into the wind.
Daniel Matthew. My full name was used in serious situations. This turned out to be one of them. Daniel Matthew meant this would not be my day. When we got home my folks discovered the sensational streams of my colorful coagulated gum and salivary goo caked and glued, radiating across the side of the van, like ribbons of demon bile.
It was a hideous spectacle. But kind of beautiful.
TONIGHT... Thursday Night Flights! German Whites and California Reds in the lineup this evening. Your choice for $12. Flights from 4-8pm.
SATURDAY: Wines of Spain (and Paella!) Tasting Flights of Xarel-lo, Albarino, Txakolina Rosé, and Garnacha... and our friend and neighbor, Rob, has offered to make his famous Paella! Flights from 2-6 (and free paella samples while it lasts)!
SUNDAY: Rosé Flights! New arrivals from around the world. The sun will be out and we'll have some spring in our step. Get on down to OAKLAND YARD and taste some new pink delights from 2-6pm!
See you soon,
Daniel
As a kid, I shared a bedroom with two brothers and my sister. The room cluttered quickly so mom was always on us to pick up our clothes and toys and books and shoes and everything else one would imagine piling up. Being pulled away from my favorite cartoons (Thundercats Ho!) to clean my room was certain torture. My brother endured the same agony.
I don't know whose idea it was. Maybe that magical blanket was already on the floor, stretched out beneath the rubble. But the universe spoke to us one Saturday morning. Why not just pile the entire mess in the center of the blanket and wrap it up? We looked at each other silently and nodded, We came to appreciate a little known fact: under a bed or in the back of a closet, a blanket stuffed with toys and other nonsense looks just like a blanket. No questions. We admired our genius. We called it "The Bag of Tricks".
Mom was surprised to see us back watching cartoons so soon, and went to investigate. When we didn't hear from her again we knew our stratagem was sound. This became a regular scheme. The funny thing was, we would eventually require certain things from the "Bag of Tricks", be it a spare pencil sharpener or a matching sock and, as the week progressed, we'd gradually deplete and, by default, put everything in the B.O.T. away. Perhaps it wasn't that different than the actual closet. Life lesson. Also, looking back, I'm 99% sure mom could give a damn how the room got cleaned up. Not having to see our mess was enough for her. Maybe she had a bag of tricks too. Well played, mom.
Put your troubles in a blanket and stuff them in the closet. You'll get to them in good time. Come out to OAKLAND YARD for our weekly flights- taste and enjoy some delicious wines and explore and connect with us.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! We have a great line up of stony and dry Loire Valley whites and some stellar Spanish reds. Flights just $12 from 4-8pm. All wines in the flights are 10% off tonight!
SATURDAY: Wines of Sicily (part II). Frappatto, Nero D'Avola, Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio. Sicilian Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 9pm!
SUNDAY: Austrian Flights! Crisp, mineral-driven Gruner Veltliner, Dry Riesling, and Blaufrankish. Tasting Flights from 2-6pm and other delights by the glass.
See you soon,
Daniel
I spent countless hours as a child listening to my parents’ records. There were Beatles and Stones, Ike & Tina, Mamas & Papas, Miriam Makeba, and Otis Redding. There was also Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Mozart, and Bach, but my favorite, then and still, is the soundtrack to The Harder They Come.
The Harder They Come featured the driving rhythms of Desmond Dekker, Toots and the Maytals, and the Slickers, but the storyline hangs on the soulful and powerful tracks by Jimmy Cliff, the star of the film. Cliff wrote the stirring ballad, Many Rivers to Cross, in 1969, when he was a 21-year-old musician in England. The lyrics are simple, but the despair in those words, and the beauty of the music, brings me to tears every time I try to sing the song, either alone, or along with Jimmy.
Jimmy Cliff turns seventy this Sunday, April 1st, and while I don’t know if he is a wine drinker - Wikipedia says: Cliff is not a member of the Rastafari movement, although he briefly was before converting to Islam from Christianity. He now describes himself as having a "universal outlook on life", and does not align himself with any particular movement or religion, saying that "now I believe in science" - I hope you’ll join us this Easter Sunday, when we raise a glass – or three - of Gamay to the legendary Jimmy Cliff.
But first…TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights - Spanish Whites & Italian Reds - $12 from 4-8pm
SATURDAY, March 31st: California Rosé Flights – the 2017’s are rolling in, and the sun is out – Trail Marker, Bedrock, and Horse & Plow - $15 – from 2-5pm
SUNDAY, April 1st: French Gamay Flights – three fresh, fruity reds from Beaujolais, the Rhone valley, and the Savoie - $15 – from 2-6pm – & APRIL WINE CLUB PICK UP Party!
See you soon,
Max
They say it's spring, though winter seems reluctant to yield. This seasonal shift doesn't usually mean too much to me, but with a 3 month old daughter everything is kind of a milestone these days. Changing leaves turned to changing diapers in December, and that month the turning colors of poop became something to monitor, if not celebrate.
Thankfully, we are now on to new and more meaningful firsts these days. Ellery made her first friend this past month. It's a rusty chandelier (whom we now call Shandy). Shandy is greeted daily with more warmth and joy than she could muster for me in a month. But that's ok, I won't get in the way of love.
Pretty much every new something feels significant. A first trip to the coast, a first time seeing rain, a first time hearing french. We just heard her very first laugh, full and rich, during her last bath. I should note that I was in the tub with her - apparently the sight of me nude elicits this response.
Watching the shelves here at the shop - with the colors and labels changing, some disappearing for good, others falling off for a spell and returning the next season - is a certain subtle and significant celebration. Our weekly tastings yield an ever-evolving cycle of firsts, of new selections and new arrivals to OAKLAND YARD. They are occasions to greet old friends and make new ones, to recall a trip to some foreign coast, to practice french pronunciations, to escape the rain. And, above all, to laugh.
Tonight: THURSDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS. Whites from Croatia and Hungary & Spanish Red Flights. Choose your own adventure every Thursday night. Flights $12 from 4-8pm!
SPARKLING SATURDAY: All Italian Bubbles... Sparkling Natural Garganega, Organic Prosecco and Lambrusco! Flights 2/24 from 2-5pm.
SUNDAY: PINOT NOIR TASTING. Pinot Flights from Around the globe. Jane et Sylvain (Bourgogne Rouge) B.Kosuge (Sonoma Coast), Moutin Noir OPP (Oregon). Flights $15 from 2-6pm.
See you soon,
Daniel
Ten years ago, Julia and I enjoyed a honeymoon in France and Italy. We drove through the Alps from Lyon to Cuneo and stayed in a tiny hilltop commune, called Bene Vagienna, where we were bit by miniscule, striped mosquitos while we drank Barolo Chinato and watched the local elders play bocce after sunset, mixed doubles under the lights on the public courts.
From Piedmont, we traveled to an agriturismo in Emilia-Romagna, where we were welcomed by the young and vivacious Valentina, who was using government subsidies to revive a small organic farm in Gorzano. One morning, we heard shouting in the field near our room and inquired about the noise. Valentina explained that her father was a retired public health bureaucrat who was so excited to be replanting the vineyard, so happy to be working outdoors with his hands, that the shirtless sixty-year-old let loose a howling ‘YEAHHHH!’ as he completed each row.
After a week of day trips to Modena and Bologna, we bought a half wheel of Pecorino from Valentina’s neighbor and drove south to the picturesque seaside villages of Liguria: the Cinque Terre, Lerici, and Tellaro, where stone steps, alleyways and hobbit homes hug the rugged coastal cliffs. The early mornings there were especially magical, as the still and quiet darkness gave way to the soft pink light of dawn, a rooster crowed once, twice, three times, and the wind off the water would pick up, loudly flapping colorful lines of hanging laundry. One morning, as I lay in bed, awoken by indigestion and mosquito bites, and with that first light, several swallows flew in through our French doors, and swiftly and silently circled the room before exiting through various windows.
Come join us for a wine tour of Italy this weekend - we’ll be pouring flights of new Italian wines both Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
But first…TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights: French Reds or California Whites $12 from 4-8pm
SATURDAY: Northern Italian Tasting Flights – Garganega from the Veneto, Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, Tuscan Morellino, and Piedmontese Barbaresco - $15 from 2-5pm
SUNDAY: Specifically Sicilian Tasting Flights – Grillo, Frappato & Nero d’Avola - $15 from 3-6pm
For as long as I can remember, I really just wanted to belong to something. Looking back, I'm fortunate I wasn't approached by a gang or any such thing. I likely would have jumped myself in. I wanted a crew and was always on the lookout for adventure. I was into Goonies and Time Bandits and intrigued by the G.I. Joe cartoons I was forbidden to watch.
By age 9, I spent most of my summers getting into trouble with my best friend, Jeff. Or, more often, getting him into trouble. He had a small basketball hoop in his backyard and we'd pass time playing H-O-R-S-E, attempting most shots with a low degree of difficulty but high flourish. The ball would frequently go over the wall separating their property from the rear yard of an older house.
We took turns hopping over and eventually met Tony. Tony was cool. Tony smoked cigarettes. Tony drank beer and worked on his motorcycle. Tony was in his 30s and wanted to hang out with us. He showed us his throwing stars and his hunting knives. After a few hangouts, he invited us on a secret mission. So cool. We snuck in through the metal bars of a private garage and let Tony in from the other side. Level One: Completed! We snuck into an office building with him and kept lookout. All part of our mission. We were "his eyes and ears". So cool.
You are smarter than a 9 year old, you know the ending. These weren't missions. Tony fooled two little kids into helping him burglarize spots in the neighborhood. Tony was eventually arrested. Not cool, Tony.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! Come be a part of something. Come drink delicious wines with me and Max and Jessie. No tricks, no fooling. Just delicious wines and good folks and good vibes, always. Tonight we're pouring French Whites and South American Reds. Choose your own adventure from 4-8. Flights $12.
SATURDAY: LOIRE! Come sample some of out favorites from France's Loire Valley. Four wines. All dry, mineral-driven and delightful. Flights $15 from 2-6pm and wines by the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY: MEET THE WINEMAKER... Massimo Alois (Fattoria Alois) at OAKLAND YARD! Massimo has travelled all the way from the Caitini Mountains in the province of Caserta, and will be here sharing his dynamic wines from ancient Italian varieties of Campania! Flights Sunday from 3-6pm.
See you soon,
Daniel
If you’re reading this, congratulations to you, you’ve made it to the month of March. And if you’re in California, the first of the 2017 rosé wines are hitting the streets, but around the bay, the streets are cold and wet. Now, this is what we said we wanted, so let’s buck up, watch the water fall, and let those rosés settle for a week or two while we drink some of that big, warm, native bear hug of a wine we call Zinfandel.
We may call it Zinfandel, but the Croats call it Tribidrag, and have for hundreds of years. Californian Dr. Carole Meredith and couple of her clever Croatian colleagues discovered a genetic match for Zin in just nine surviving vines of Crljenak Kastelanski, AKA Tribidrag. The variety was grown widely along the Dalmatian coast in the 1400’s and the wine was traded with the Most Serene Republic of Venice across the Adriatic Sea. Italian Primitivo, once thought Zin’s twin, was found to be a slightly mutated clone, but our American Zinfandel is the real Croatian deal.
Tribidrag vines from the Imperial Austrian Plant Species Collection were brought to New York in the 1820’s and then to California in the 1850’s, where they made themselves at home. Grape vines can live a long time if they don’t get mites, or disease, or torn up by humans; there are a number of vineyards in California that include vines planted in the 1880’s. These sturdy-looking ancient vines yield precious few bunches, but the fruit they manage to bear is more concentrated and full of complexity than that of younger vines. The popularity of White Zinfandel - a sweet pink wine made by a penicillin-like stroke-of-genius accident at Sutter Home in 1975 – saved most of these old plantings from being replaced with more fashionable varieties, so we have White Zin to thank for our distinctive old vine red Zins today.
Throughout the 80’s and 90’s the dominant style for Zinfandel was ripe, dense, and powerful, and many of us walked away from our introduction with black teeth, and a headache, and kept walking; but over the years, tastes have changed, techniques refined, and Zins with subtlety and finesse have become less of a rarity. Come taste a few of our favorite Slavic transplants this Saturday from 2 to 5, before the sun comes out and dries up all our fun.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights: French Reds or Whites $12 from 4-8pm
SATURDAY: California Zinfandel! Tasting Flights $15 from 2-5pm
SUNDAY: Italian Tasting Flights and Wine Club pick up $15 from 2-6pm
I moved back to California six years ago today. It was a homecoming for me, but leaving Brooklyn for a tiny cottage in Occidental was certainly something new. Glenny and I would become regulars at Barley and Hops tavern and would frequently drive to the coast on our day off, up and over majestic Coleman Valley Road or cruising through Freestone for Wildflower Bread fougasse and eventually making our way to Spud Point for crab sandwiches or down to Tomales Bay for fresh oysters.
These outings proved an adequate remedy to missing Brooklyn and our routines there - weekly Wednesday pizza at Lucali and live music at our local joints, Smokey's Roundup at Sunny's or Roots & Ruckus at Jalopy in Red Hook. The oddball characters we passed crossing over Summit bridge and the BQE, were now mostly replaced with hermits and hippies, off-the-grid sorts living up in the hills or deep in the redwoods. Characters with names like Dr. Lunch, our neighbor. No joke.
There would be the occasional Tom Waits sighting, but my favorite recluse was an elderly woman who could be spotted sometimes on the way into Graton, just off the road, wearing a bathrobe and a wolf mask, pulling it up occasionally to take a drag from her cigarette. Like Little Red Riding Hood in reverse.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights...
This nostalgia calls for an all California lineup, six wines - all vibrant and delightful and delicious. Flights $12 from 4-8pm.
White Flight
2017 Folk Machine "White Light"
2016 Teira Sauvignon Blanc
2016 Luuma Chardonnay
Red Flight
2016 Folk Machine Valdigue
2016 LIttle Frances Merlot
2015 Helmet Red Grenache
SATURDAY FLIGHTS; Wines of Spain. Four Wines, including a White Rioja, new Spanish Rosé, and two new exciting reds! Flights $15 from 2-6pm and wines by the glass
SUNDAY: Bordeaux Tasting, Flights from 2-6pm! We'll be opening up some top shelf, heavy hitters. Roll into OAKLAND YARD to taste these beauties - perfect wines for this cool winter weather. Wines by the glass too, as always.
See you soon,
Daniel
Language is an awkward and slippery thing. Words inform our thoughts, and divide the world into discrete bits, but these symbols have no intrinsic relationship to the concepts or objects they represent. According to Ferdinand de Saussure, words derive their meaning solely by their relationship to each other – that is, they are what the others are not. We think they will convey our message, but they often do more to confuse matters. See this and several of my previous newsletters as proof.
Pianist Eubie Blake once said, “As soon as you’ve got to explain it, then you don’t know what it is,” and Lao Tzu wrote that true words are not beautiful, and beautiful words are not true. Plato believed the art of poetry was the greatest danger to society, but that beauty in its pure form was the greatest good. In our line of work, we are faced with the impossible task of conveying the flavors and sensations of wine with the clumsy tools of language; a fool’s errand, similar to describing music, or visual art. Beyond the technical details, like color, form, or pitch, there is only a relative response, as varied as the nature of the beholder.
Wine importer Terry Theise wrote about the 2015 Muller Catoir Haardter Herzog Rieslaner Auslese “You can’t miss this! You don’t dare. It gets 13 out of 10 points on the priapism meter. Structure as firm as steel rod just leeches away the sweetness; the mutual orgasm of concentration and transparency is astonishing; the candied banana aromas are head-shaking, and the whole thing is a goddamn peyote high of power both seething and weirdly tender. An unfathomable masterpiece.” (Three half bottles of this mystical love potion currently available at OAKLAND YARD.)
Oxford don and godfather of Aestheticism, Walter Pater wrote: “While all melts under our feet, we may well grasp at any exquisite passion, or any contribution to knowledge that seems by a lifted horizon to set the spirit free for a moment, or any stirring of the senses, strange dyes, strange colours, and curious odours, or work of the artist's hands, or the face of one's friend.”
This weekend, and for the coming weeks, we’ll festoon the shop with the brightly colored paintings of distinguished visual artist, opera singer, and Oakland Yard Wine Club member, James Stahlman. I will not attempt to describe his work, but invite you to come and enjoy it in your own personal way. James will be here this SATURDAY from 2 to 5pm to drink rosé with you and appreciate your appreciation.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! Spanish Xarel-los & Italian Reds. Flights $12 from 4-8pm
SATURDAY: ‘Summer in Winter’: Opening Party with artist James Stahlman and Tasting Flights of newly released 2017 Rosé wines for $15 from 2-5pm
SUNDAY: Orange Wines: Skin-macerated white wines from Portugal, Italy, and the Republic of Georgia. Flights $15 from 2-6pm
See you soon,
Max
I can't say I remember my first valentine. It's a peculiar thing for children to celebrate anyway, the awkward ceremony of passing out those cards. We'd even get one from our teacher. Looking back it was a considerate gesture, making sure every child got at least one. But it was always obvious. Who else would write From: Anonymous, let alone spell anonymous correctly? To their defense: Secret Admirer would be creepy as hell.
We'd all load up on Sweethearts (aka Conversation Hearts in more platonic circles). By middle school troublemakers would enjoy carving away letters in crude ways (ADORE ME became DO ME). By that age I'd have secured some See's chocolates or a Mrs. Fields heart-shaped cookie for my crush, and by high school it would be flowers and an original poem if it was the real thing.
My first proper Valentine's dinner was rather ridiculous. I was 22 or 23 and thought myself serious enough to make a reservation for a prix fixe (that was fun to say at the time) at an upscale Italian restaurant in Glendale.
My girlfriend, Sandra, and I started with fritto misto and then a shrimp bisque and both chose the lobster ravioli in cream sauce as our mains. Perfect for a night of romance ahead! I am not proud to confess I ordered a Napa Cabernet to compliment that meal. She opted for chocolate fondant for dessert, I had tiramisu (my metabolism just called to say it misses me). We argued all night about whether tiramisu was invented in Italy or here in the states.
There are many things to love and to celebrate this month at OAKLAND YARD.
Here's just a few this week:
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! Loire Valley Whites & Spanish Reds. Flights $12 from 4-8pm!
SATURDAY: Italian Flights! Wines of Piedmont. Vibrant, aromatic, and elegant. Sorry, no tiramisu.
SUNDAY: New California Wines. Lower alcohol and less manipulation. Balanced and electric. Come taste and see!
FEBRUARY 13th and 14th: Valentines Bouquets from Flower & Forage here at OAKLAND YARD! Skip the See's and dazzle a friend or a loved one with stunning local, wild and gorgeous arrangements by Alyson Vitt (F&F).
And the pink party continues... SATURDAY February 17th: Artist James Stahlman at OAKALND YARD. For one month, it will be "Summer in Winter" here in the shop with original painting by James Stahlman illuminating our shop space. The Opening Party for the gallery will be Saturday 2/17 with the artist here from 2-5pm! All are welcome!!! We'll be pouring ALL NEW ROSÉ FLIGHTS and other delights by the glass. The exhibit will run through mid March.
More to come! Let's keep the love going.
BE MINE,
Daniel
I often complained of boredom as a child, but it feels like ages since I last felt bored, and I can stare at walls for hours now, reveling in the slow passage of time. With age, life moves ever more swiftly before my eyes, and I’ve made attempts to slow it down. I find a practiced mindfulness can focus my thoughts on the moment and remove imagined troubles of the past and future. There are no problems in the present. Nor can problems exist outside of one’s concerns, so a regular step outside of oneself can eliminate many worries. These are tricks of the mind, but then, what aren’t? And they keep me sane, or at least calm.
Like Wendell Berry, the Transcendentalists, and countless others, I rely on nature and science for a sense of perspective, and for a view of the world that is not a ‘grind’ but rather a wonderment, a whirlwind of constant change, of cycles and entropy, of unseen forces. I am both frightened and inspired by the fact that each night, we leave our conscious minds and travel at least five or six thousand miles on our backs or our bellies. Lately, I’ve been flying feet first, with my head to the ocean behind us. Travelling at nearly a thousand miles an hour, we reach the morning - along with California - at that place where the sun returns to sight. We then come to our senses and remember who we are and what we are doing here. This is nothing short of amazing, and it’s only the beginning of what’s really going on.
Come celebrate the wondrousness, the strangeness, the uncommonness, and the newness of it all with us tonight at THURSDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS, when we taste NEW ARRIVALS to our shelves – 4 to 8pm - $12. *Live music tonight with Justin Brown on piano at 6!*
Tomorrow, Friday, February 2nd, we will be CLOSING EARLY at 4:30 for a private event.
SATURDAY, February 3rd:
MOUNTAIN WINES: Tasting Flights from the French Alps – 2 to 6pm - $12
SUNDAY, February 4th:
FOUR SHADES of TEMPRANILLO: The Pepsi Challenge of Spanish Tinto and Oakland Yard WINE CLUB PICK UP PARTY – 2 to 6pm - $12
See you all soon,
Max