Red or white? The quaint dichotomy is a convenient way to categorize fermented grape drinks, but, like most binary reductions, the choice is - thankfully - not so simple. The fruit itself wears skin of a certain color, but different winemaking methods dictate various flavors and appearances. Blanc de noirs, a common Champagne style, is a white wine made from red grapes. Very few ‘red’ grape varieties have flesh with color, so the juice is pressed, the skins removed, and the wine is clear, or nearly so.
And if the grape is pink, or greyish, then what do we call the wine? The berries of Gewurztraminer, Pinot Grigio and Trousseau Gris are a dark pink, almost reddish color, but pressed and vinified without skin contact, the wines are called ‘white’. in Italy’s northeastern province of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Pinot Grigio is macerated on the skins, as one would with red grapes, producing a style of light orange wine called Ramato, meaning auburn or copper colored. We have a sparkling Pinot Grigio from the Veneto right now with a dazzling crimson hue and a delicious balance of acid, tannin and fruit.
In the Republic of Georgia, it has long been the style to skin-macerate white wines, sometimes for many years, extracting colors from pink to brown to orange, along with tannins and other compounds found in the skins, adding structure and flavor complexity to the wine, and helping to preserve it without additives. The ‘orange wine’ style is as old as the hills, but it has been enjoying a newfound popularity as more of these wines are imported, and many of our American winemakers experiment with alternative methods of fermentation. We get a lot of requests, and we’re glad you’re curious. This Saturday, we’ll open several of these anomalies…and orange you glad I didn’t say ‘banana-wine’.
But first…Thursday Night Flights TONIGHT! 3 Italian Whites and 3 Spanish Reds. Flights $12 from 4-8 and wines by the glass.
SATURDAY 3/23: Skin Macerated ‘Orange’ White Wines
2016 Mocine Toscana Bianco ‘Alba’
2017 Salcheto Toscana Bianco ‘Obvius’
2016 Doqi Qvevri Mtsvane
SUNDAY 3/24: Wines of the Loire Valley
2017 Domaine de la Bregeonnette Folle Blanche
2016 Domaine des Aubuisieres Le Petit Clos Vouvray
2017 Les Athletes du Vin Grolleau
2015 Domaine de la Chevelerie Diptyque Bourgeuil
Weekend Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 9pm
Cheers,
Max
One frozen February night, just outside Carroll park in Brooklyn, I kissed a woman (a friend, and co-worker at the time). The kiss wasn't coldly received, but there was trepidation. Who falls in love in the winter? she asked. I didn't have a good answer for that. And this wasn't just any winter. This was 2010. The winter of Snowmaggedon in the Northeast. And a strange time for me. And for a lot of folks there, perhaps. Everyone seemed a little reckless, a little confused. Frightened maybe. But excited too.
But as the song goes, you can never hold back Spring. The world dreams. The sun comes out. She and I would kiss again, and carry on with more levity and leisure and warmth in the months ahead. Years later there would be a marriage proposal at the same spot, just outside Carroll park in Brooklyn. And the Spring before that, a proposal to open a wine shop in Oakland with our friends.
In Spring everything feels possible. Something palpable in the air. This past week there was a beautiful buzz about, and we were happy to see lively crowds popping in and out, and wandering the sidewalk outside. Folks stopping in for bottles or for glasses, some feasting on tacos, others running into each other unexpectedly here, exchanging hellos and hugs. At some point in the late evening, noting that the whole neighborhood seemed livelier than ever - the block bustling and bumping- I asked a young woman at the register if there was anything unusual happening that night.
She dropped her wine into her bag and looked up, grinning, her eyes lit up.
Oooh, I hope so... she hollered on her way out, beaming.
This weekend we welcome Spring and wish winter adieu. But we won't be pouring rosé all day quite yet. This is still the East Bay, with some inevitably cool evenings ahead. So let's sip and sample some hearty and earthy reds one last time (for a little while at least). A special spotlight on SYRAH and MALBEC this weekend, eight wines ranging from savory and satisfying to bold and balanced. Classic as well as 'hands-off' and natural expressions of these varieties- with some unusual and surprising delights in the mix - Syrah from Morgon? Malbec from El Dorado? Anything is possible.
But first.. Thursday Night Flights TONIGHT! 3 White selections from South America and 3 Italian Reds. New Spring arrivals and new vintages - and a couple old favorites. Flights just $12 from 4-8 and wines by the glass.
SATURDAY (3/16): Syrah Spotlight...
2016 Domaine Chambeyron Cuvee Clara VDP
2017 Laurent Combier Crozes-Hermitage
2017 Piedrasassi Syrah (unsulfured)
2016 Domaine Petit Perou Desir Syrah
SUNDAY (3/17): MALBEC from around the globe...
2016 Cosse et Maisonneuve Solis Cahors
2016 Don Carlos Calathus Roble Malbec
2014 Hinojosa H Malbec
2017 Windchaser Malbec El Dorado County
Weekend Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines by the glass until close.
See you soon,
Daniel
Oh, and a song for you.
I’d like to quote my favorite author ‘Rex’ from the esteemed manual, The Dangerous Book for Dogs, by Rex & Sparky when I say “owwww, ow, owwwww”.
If you haven’t yet read this genius piece of literature, I urge you to seek it out. For some strange reason my mom (she also ‘works’ at Oakland Yard) seems to find hilarity in all of the sweet golden nuggets of wisdom hidden throughout this mastery of writing. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t yet realize the joke's on her!
I started working at Oakland Yard several months ago and some of my duties include: cleaning up the bits of cheese and crackers off the floor, guarding the treat jar in the front of the shop, which I work hard each and every day to slowly empty, NOT peeing on the planters NOR the filing cabinet which as it turns out is a ‘no no’, entertaining all of the normal sized humans that everyone calls ‘children’ (they truly understand me) and finally... keeping my bed warm in case another dog wants to borrow it.
Back to the treats, this week we are featuring Banana and Peanut Butter biscuits from Trader Joes. By the way fellow pups, if you haven’t had a real banana covered in Peanut Butter you are truly missing out. At first I was skeptical but since each year I wake up with less and less teeth, I find them truly satisfying. The best thing about Peanut Butter is that when it gets stuck on the roof of your stinky mouth, you can lick your paws and keep tasting that wonderful nutty aroma with just enough sweetness from the banana to compliment the savory effect of the peanuts. I’ve truly learned a lot about flavors from the folks at Oakland Yard and I tend to agree with the ‘Natty’ crowd, the stinkier the better. My mom disagrees but I guess not everyone can get down with the flavor of lingering nutskin.
TONIGHT... Thursday Night Flights are on! My mom (they call her "Jessie", ha!), and Daniel and Max will be pouring a lineup of French whites and reds - and proceeds from tonight's tasting will help out some little folks who are closer to my size, the preschoolers at our local Duck's Nest school! Flights $15 tonight from 4-8pm.
SATURDAY (3/9) ... all New California wines! All dry, vibrant, low-alcohol and low intervention... 2014 Little Frances Semillon, 2018 Alfaro Family Vineyards Rosé, 2018 Gearhead Wines 'Simone' (chillable red!), and 2017 Piedrasasi Syrah. Flights are $15 from 2-6 and wines available by the glass until 9! I'll likely be tuckered out by 8 or so, but we'll see...
SUNDAY (3/10): French Gamay Tasting. Four wines ranging from fresh and easy-drinking to mineral and complex expressions of this delightful grape. Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 8pm.
OK, gotta go. My paws are killing me.
Ruff ruff and much love,
Turtle
If he hadn’t passed into another form in March of 1925, last Monday would have been Rudolf Steiner’s 158th birthday. We winos know Steiner as the father of Biodynamic farming, but he was also the founder of the Waldorf School, and a spiritualist who believed in reincarnation. A contemporary of Friedrich Nietzsche, Henry James, and Oscar Wilde, Steiner was born in what is now Croatia, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and gained early academic acclaim as a publisher, scientist, philosopher and critic.
At the request of a group of concerned vegetable farmers, Steiner delivered a series of lectures in June of 1924, in what is now Poland, in which he laid out the principles for a holistic, chemical-free, ecologically sustainable system of agriculture. These Biodynamic practices took planting and harvesting cues from cosmic motion, like moon phases, and incorporated the use of animal manure and natural botanical remedies made from nettles, oak bark, and dandelion.
There are now over 700 certified Biodynamic vineyards, covering over 25,000 acres, and while these techniques do not necessarily result in a tasty wine, they do ensure that the grapes are grown ‘naturally’ and sustainably, and I believe, as do many, that this engagement with, and respect for, the environment allows wines to speak of their place, to be wines of ‘terroir’. Happy Birthday, wherever you are, and thank you, Rudy, you wacky Austrian hippy, for getting us on the right track.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! FRENCH REDS OR WHITES: Wines from the Cévennes, the Loire Valley, Bordeaux, Alsace, & Gascony - $12 tasting flights from 4 to 8pm.
SATURDAY 3/2: CABERNET SAUVIGNON tasting flights – Sample Cabs from the Rhone Valley, the Languedoc, Bordeaux, and Mendocino - $15 tasting - Flights from 2 to 6pm and wines by the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY 3/3: ITALIAN RED TASTING FLIGHTS & WINE CLUB PICK UP - ALL NEW Etna Rosso, Schiava and Barbera – $15 tasting – FREE for wine club members - Flights from 2 to 6 - and wines by the glass until 8pm.
Cheers,
Max
I can tell you a story about being caught in a snowstorm. With a van full of frightened middle school kids. But there might not be time for such detours. The short of this first chapter was that I was a public school teacher in my 20s, and at this juncture was part of a school-sponsored Science trip to the Grand Canyon. From Los Angeles. 500 miles, 80 kids, a 10 hour venture just getting there. The plan was to leave the school at 7am and arrive at the camp for orientation and early evening activities - we'd explore the rim of the canyon first thing in the morning.
But on the way there, climbing to higher elevations, some of the kids in my van started going wild. I was naive and hadn't considered that many on this trip had never seen snow, let alone held it. Being a pushover, I pulled over, to let them make snowballs. Just for a few minutes. OK, maybe long enough to build walls and have an all out snow fight with the kids in the other van who joined us. It was a bad decision. The sky turned menacing and we got back on the road but the storm was upon us. A white knuckled drive, eventually tailing an 18-wheeler to the nearest town. We ended up having to call the school and the parents and explain why the kids would be staying in a hotel an hour from the camp.
We joined the other groups at the learning center in the early a.m., only to find the canyon completely fogged in. We were told it would likely dissipate by late morning. Disappointed visitors and tourists meandered about as teachers brainstormed a plan for the group. I'm not sure how it started, but some of the kids (out of boredom or necessity) started building a snowman and others joined in, adding to the pack, until the figure grew to a remarkable size and height. Over the next hour the group tripled. Random kids from visiting families joined. The snowman had become a towering Poseidon. Fantastic sculptures were erected, and a wild whimsical snowscape was on full display. At some point, there was a commotion - and a wave of noise from the crowds as the depth and splendor of the canyon came suddenly into view. A silence.
Then the craziest thing. None of kids wanted to stop building, playing, creating. They collectively looked up and (maybe) smiled into the distance - and then just went back to their frolicking and creation. I remember my frustration: Will you not pleease walk up and look at the fucking Grand Canyon, kids! We had driven hours and stayed overnight for this. But they were in their own element. Almost defiant to the incomparable expanse and wonder of it all. And every damn last one of them just getting along, quiet and cooperative, united. How the hell could I admonish such joy? I finally surrendered to the serene lunacy of it all when tourists started gathering - a large crowd now - snapping photos of the kids' "installation" piece. With the damn Grand Canyon at their back.
I joined Kenton and DeAndre, who were trying to make snow crowns.
For the mermen!, they said. Obviously.
This Friday, February 22nd, the neighborhood unites. Come build something with us. ALL are WELCOME*. Come for the majesty of it all, or to roll in the snow. Be a part of something. That matters. Our friend, Shimeko, is fighting Cancer and the neighborhood is making crowns for the queen. Shimeko has been our neighbor at Marquee Salon since before we opened. She is a force. A creative light, a single mother, a creator and collaborator, a mystic, a musician, a searcher, a scholar, a bold and bright soul. From 7-9pm, Marquee Salon will be offering donation based cuts (bang and beard trims) next door, and there will be a Silent Auction with all kinds of Gift Certificates and goodies from artists, artisans, and local restaurants and businesses. There will be a PopUp with tasty delights from MKGold Bakery and we'll be pouring special glasses and flights all evening to raise funds to help a friend in need. Come be a part of something good. Something grand.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights. French Whites and Italian Reds. Flights $12 and wines by the glass until 8pm. Joy will not be admonished. Come explore and connect with us.
SATURDAY 2.23 & SUNDAY 2.24: Pinot Noir Tasting Series. Dynamic expressions from around the globe. France (Alsace and Burgundy), California (Carneros and Santa Barbara), and selections from Oregon, Italy, and Chile. Eight wines over 2 days, All PINOT NOIR Tasting Flights from 2-6 both days this weekend. Wines by the glass too as always, until 9pm.
See you soon, friends.
Daniel
*If you cannot attend the event on Friday and would like to donate to a crowdfunding page for Shimeko: a link is provided here: https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/help-shimeko-survive-cancer
The fast-driving, hard patter of heavy rain on our tasting bar skylight, relentless as an Art Blakey press roll, is a newly familiar sound here at Oakland Yard, as the wettest winter in recent memory roars through town, throwing wind and water like a proper monsoon. Never have I been so happy to live above the store, as I was yesterday morning while I ambled dryly downstairs. It hailed last week, so steady that it coated the cars and sidewalk with a white sheet of icy pebbles, and customers returning from work across the bay asked if it had just snowed. No, just hail and rain here, but there was real snow last week up at Sky Vineyards, in the nearby Mayacamas Range.
It sounds like it’s not over yet, but thank you for keeping us company through the storm so far. Despite the dreary weather, we had a surprisingly fun weekend of wine tasting, with the shop full of locals looking to get out of the house, but not too far from home; the place felt like someone’s large and lively living room for most of Saturday afternoon, with friends gathering for wine and snacks, small dogs and laughter. It would have been a sad scene had you not come, the skylight drumming to an empty room.
Come join us again this week; we’ll be here - rain or shine - pouring the good wine to all comers of age. Speaking of age, if you see Jessie behind the bar tomorrow, be sure to wish her a happy birthday. We love you, Jessie!!!
But don’t wait until tomorrow; TONIGHT we’ll have THREE Flights, with a special additionalValentine’s Day ROSÉ FLIGHTS in the mix - and gorgeous Flower & Forage BOUQUETS from Alyson Vitt for $15 (while supplies last), as well as delicious, locally made Dandelion CHOCOLATE, and of course WINE (both in good supply).
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! FRENCH WHITES, GERMAN REDS, or VALENTINE’S DAY ROSÉS: Picpoul, Aligote, Cotes Catalanes, Spatburgunder, Dornfelder, and Lemberger - $12 tasting flights from 4 to 8pm.
SATURDAY 2/16: SICILIAN TASTING FLIGHTS - Red, White & Bubbly from the enchanted island – $15 tasting -Flights from 2 to 6pm and wines by the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY 2/17: ORGANIC FRENCH TASTING FLIGHTS - Natty Red, White & Bubbly – $15 tasting - Flights from 2 to 6 - and wines by the glass until 8pm.
Cheers,
Max
It happened at least three times. The first, as I recall, on a late night market run when I was out of coffee beans and milk for the morning. Driving along an otherwise sleepy strip of storefronts along Park Blvd. near the old Parkway theater, I spotted a couple folks out in front of a some new space, both laughing and sipping drinks. It seemed a new neighborhood bar had opened and I made a mental note to check it out. I make a lot of mental notes, by the way, and many don't end up in a mental drawer or mental file cabinet and are regrettably lost. So I forgot about that curiosity until passing in a shared Lyft one night after meeting a friend downtown, there was somebody out front again with glass in one hand, cigarette in the other. A third time- a young man outside the space once again, texting. I must have been driving awkwardly slow as he took notice and gave a friendly wave as I passed.
A guy entered the shop the other day, and with the sunlight behind him, initially only a silhouette. It may sound strange- but in that moment, just seeing the silhouette, his stance, his shuffle - I knew it to be the same guy as more than just his face came into focus. I asked if he lived near Park and he confirmed what I was clumsily piecing together at that moment. It was him all of the times I passed. Solitary or with company, chatting, smoking, texting - with a glass in hand. There was no bar, just someone stepping out of his apartment and enjoying the night air occasionally.
I told him how I had mistaken the spot for a new lounge, or gallery space. I even confessed to secretly hoping there was some sort of speakeasy or something of the sort above the record store.
He laughed. "A speakeasy? Ha, no no, nothing like that. Just me stepping out for a smoke. "
But then, a propitious pause, he lights up and says in earnest: "I mean, you're welcome to come up for a drink next time you're passing by. So, I guess... that's a sort of a speakeasy. Right?"
I love this town.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights at OAKLAND YARD. SPANISH Whites (Albarino, Rioja Blanco, and an unsulfured Xarel-lo) or ITALIAN Reds (Barbera, Gaglioppo, and Nebbiolo). Flights $12 from 4-8 and new wines by the glass.
SATURDAY 2/9: Cabernet Franc Tasting. An earthy and elegant Chinon (Joguet), an intensely mineral Saumur (Fosse-Séche), and a bolder domestic expression from Bennet Valley (Phantomé Cellars). Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines b the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY 2/10: Wines of PROVENCE. Both classic and natural expressions from Southeastern France. Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 8pm.
See you soon,
Daniel
Oakland Yard has a number of Fairy Godmothers to whom we are forever indebted, friends and neighbors who’ve helped us over daunting hurdles and raised our spirits when we were down. Perhaps the most helpful and reliable of these beneficent Godmothers is our good friend, Matt Guidi. Philadelphian by birth, warm-hearted and curious-minded, Mr. Guidi has been our landlord’s right hand man for several years, and our go-to guy for any problem outside of our realms of expertise. In fact, compared with Matt’s practical knowledge, we have not realms, but little circles, rather small areas, of expertise.
Matt was there when we signed our lease agreement, he helped secure our zoning rights with the city, and he insisted on being present to help us navigate our first inspection from the Department of Health. So, when he told us last week that he’d taken a new job, we were crestfallen. Jake from Tacos Oscar looked positively lost when we discussed Guidi’s departure. Not only did Matt recently usher them through the gauntlet of city requirements, Jake said Guidi had gotten his knives sharpened last week and spent his lunch hour chopping onions with him for Oscar’s dinner service!
The more I thought about how much we were losing in Matt, the more I realized what we’ve gained and will never lose: nothing less than renewed faith in humanity, and a friend for life. Thank you Matt, erstwhile mayor of 40th street, heavyweight lifter of spirits, fixer of four-twenty. We wish you well in greener pastures and trust you’ll come see us from time to time. We will still call you when we have an intractable problem, or a particularly amusing story.
This week, come to Oakland Yard – where the air is tinged with excitement - and raise a glass to Matt Guidi and Fairy Godmothers everywhere. Matt is also a devoted father, so he rarely attends the weekend tastings, but you may find him here late this afternoon, kicking off our Thursday Night Flights with a smile and a kind word.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! FRENCH GAMAY or LOIRE VALLEY WHITES: Beaujolais, Bugey, Folle Blanche, Sauvignon Blanc & Muscadet - $12 tasting flights from 4 to 8pm.
SATURDAY 2/2: SPANISH tasting flights - Reds, White & Bubbly – Cava, Txakolina, Garnacha & Priorat $15 tasting -Flights from 2 to 6pm and wines by the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY 2/3: CALIFORNIA TASTING FLIGHTS & WINE CLUB PICK UP - Red, White & Rose – $15 tasting – FREE for wine club members - Flights from 2 to 6 - and wines by the glass until 8pm.
Cheers,
Max
There is a billboard here in our neighborhood - maybe yours too - and it shows a man atop a ladder clearing away a pile of leaves from the edge of a rain gutter. Some creatives from Covered California are behind this one, and it mostly shies away from shock or much melodrama and, as such, it is not immediately clear on first glance that the ladder is falling back and away, though the man's extended hands and fingers (and his mouth agape) would suggest he has lost his grip.
I'm waiting to cross Broadway at the corner of 40th, just outside Clove & Hoof, and I notice this billboard for the first time. A dad and his child of maybe seven are a few feet from me, waiting too, and they are also looking up at it. The dad reads the giant text aloud, to his child or to himself or perhaps to no one in particular: Life can change in an instant. For a moment, I fix on the image and some adman somewhere gets his wings... I feel old and concerned and think about my back problems and odd health issues I've had in the past. That's when the kid speaks up.
Is he going to find some money hidden up there?
The dad and I smile at each other and there is levity. We feel excited about our week ahead. Invincible again. I step out first, crossing recklessly. Not looking any way but forward.
Maybe, the dad says, with a chuckle. Maybe...
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights. Italian Whites and all Malbec for the Red Flights. Wines by the glass too! Flights $12 from 4-8pm. All levity and all love here. Leave your worries at the door. Throw your homework onto the fire. Come out and find the one you love.
SATURDAY 1/26: Wines of Piemonte. Arneis, Erbaluce, Barbera, Nebbiolo! All vibrant, dry and exceptionally food-friendly wines from Northern Italy. Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY1/27 : Wines of Oregon! 2017 Bow & Arrow Melon, 2017 Kelly Fox Pinot Noir, 2017 Leah Jorgensen 'Tour Rain' Cab Franc/Gamay. These are three of my favorite wines in the store right now - come taste for yourselves and see why. Flights $15 from 2-6 and glasses until 8pm.
See you soon,
Daniel
I was rummaging around in our storage loft last week in search of a pair gardening gloves, and I came upon the trappings of hours of lost activity, the vestiges of countless hours spent, now relegated to the attic, distractions stowed since opening the shop, parts of me that I’d nearly forgotten. There are the many books, the pool cue, cello music, bicycle lights and clothing iron. Oh, iron, my old and neglected friend; how long it has been since I took you for a spin?
Tools of the trade, of course, vary with the trade, and some are more obvious to the outsider. Generally speaking, restaurant service requires a pen and pad, and a wine opener. Along with some degree of charm and attention to detail, add the uniform – apron, pressed shirt, pants, belt, socks, and black shoes - and you’re ready to roll. My first three restaurant jobs were in a beach town and called for khaki shorts and polo shirts, but when I came west to seek my fortune in Berkeley, and landed a bussing job at Chez Panisse, the shirt pressing began in earnest. For the next two decades, I was never far from an electric steam iron and a can of spray starch.
The power that be (there has never been more than one) understood that her bussers had neither the money to dry clean, nor the skills to make one presentable, so she enlisted the help of her dear friend, and tea consultant, Helen Gustafson, to educate the incoming class in the art of the iron. Helen gave very particular tea steeping classes, involving a thermometer, as well as detailed instruction for correctly pressing a long sleeved button-down shirt, and while my knowledge of tea service faded with time, this latter lesson proved surprisingly useful.
I can’t say I miss the daily ironing, but I did enjoy the neatening satisfaction, like the joy of mowing lawn, making something disheveled look snappy with a little heat and water. The shirt being the most difficult to prepare – and most visible - part of the uniform, made it a long time source of stress for me. Did I forget to iron? Did I forget my shirt altogether? Is it too dirty? Only in recent years have I gone unvisited by my most common anxiety dream: I am a waiter without the correct shirt. In this dream, I am late to the floor, having been sat several tables already in a sprawling, untenable section, and I can’t find my pressed white shirt. It is pure panic. I am looking forward to getting back to some of the activities I’ve stashed in the loft, but the nightmare of no shirt, I’ll happily leave behind.
Come taste with us this week at OAKLAND YARD – no dress code here, thought shirt and shoes are required, and maybe galoshes the way things are looking right now.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! GERMAN WINES, REDS or WHITES: Gutedel, Riesling, Dornfelder, Trollinger & Lemberger - $12 tasting flights from 4 to 8pm.
SATURDAY 1/19: EASTERN EUROPEAN tasting flights - Reds and whites from Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary and Georgia - $15 tasting -Flights from 2 to 6pm and wines by the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY 1/20: PORTUGEUSE TASTING FLIGHTS - Red, White & Bubbly - $15 tasting - Flights from 2 to 6 - and wines by the glass until 8pm.
Cheers,
Max
A few months ago a wayward charter bus became familiar with my old Honda Accord. A gentle grazing mostly, but an all too intimate shave along the driver's side from bumper to bumper. Thankfully the driver left a note and their insurance sent me a check a few weeks ago, allowing me to upgrade my wheels to a used CR-V.
Enter Kate. I found a 2010 for sale on Craigslist and drove out to Lafayette to meet her. For the record, the universe enjoys frequently connecting me with older women. Kate is just a hair past 70. She reminded me of my mother in some ways, immediately talking at length about her children, this crazy world, being at the wrong place at the wrong time, the dangers of strangers, coupons. A self-identified Irish Catholic with an East Coast earnestness and a youthful, if electric, appearance - her hair died a vermillion red and brows pencilled to match.
I spent what would be an unusual amount of time in a parked car with her, listening to her stories. Most of the recent ones were sad. Her husband passing. Her neck surgeries. Through some DMV hiccups we'd have to meet up again, recently in Oakland, near the Cathedral (Safeway on Grand is not a shopping center, FYI) and a third time at the AAA in Walnut Creek. She talked about an upcoming trip to Ireland she is planning, and about the 'bells and whistles' of her new car. And like my own mom, with all her talking she is an exceptionally good listener too: I drove all the way home before spotting a gift she left for my one year old daughter on the back seat, a connecting plastic chain of colorful animal silhouettes. You can even put it in the dishwasher, Kate just texted me. With a smiley face blowing a kiss emoji and another with a sun, wearing sun glasses. We both agree the latter is peculiar. What a crazy world...
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights. Greek Reds & Italian Whites. Come explore and connect with us this evening! I promise to have some exciting coupons for the first few lucky guests. Flights $12 from 4-8pm and wines by the glass as always. Tacos Oscar open next door too, slinging tasty tacos and other treats all night. You are most welcome to bring in anytime!
SATURDAY (1/12): Grenache Tasting. Four wines from France, Spain, and California. Flights $15 from 2-6 and new wines by the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY (1/13): RIOJA! From light, refreshing expression to bold and structured Crianzas. Dynamic and delicious Spanish Tempranillo tasting from 2-6pm and wines by the glass until 8pm.
See you soon,
Daniel
The most of us, or the fortunate among us, will reemerge from our holiday retreats and pick up where we left off last year. When we do, let’s do so with new eyes, bringing more hope than fear to this new year; not thinking that we made it through, that we endured the last, but that another approaches with unknown potential.
As a child, I passed many of these Eves in Massachusetts with family friends, sledding, ice-skating, and watching the ball drop on a fuzzy black and white TV. When I was twenty, I spent a bone-chilling New Year’s at the one ‘nightclub’ in Longford, Ireland, taken in at night’s end by a kind stranger whom I’d hoped had romance in mind, but who really just wanted to share the novelty of an American visitor with her parents and little sister, all of whom I met in the morning, having slept on the couch. A few years later, I found myself alone, with my bicycle, walking down Berkeley’s Shattuck Avenue. When the clock struck twelve, shouts and cries erupted from the surrounding buildings, as I strolled slowly and contentedly home.
For many years now, Julia and I have gathered with our oldest friends, for several days of food, drink, dancing, games, and conversation. This party has moved from Vermont to New Hampshire, Connecticut, and California. It has shrunken and grown, some years with more than twenty at the table, but the gathering always centers on the down time more than the countdown. We dance for ourselves, because it feels good, and for the others, showing off our silliest moves. We laugh a lot, and when the clock strikes twelve, we cue up the Rolling Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want, our Auld Lang Syne. My hips still feel the flossing I forced on them a fortnight ago, with echoes of Robyn and Carly Rae like sugarplum fairies in my head, and we’ve got another day of lolling away.
Thanks to Daniel, Jessie, Ofri and Brenda for keeping the ship afloat while we recharge, and thank you all for a great 2018 at Oakland Yard. We look forward to an exciting year ahead, and - at the very least - may you all get what you need.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! BORDEAUX GRAPES: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon from France and California - $12 tasting flights from 4 to 8pm.
SATURDAY 1/5: TUSCAN TASTING FLIGHTS - Rosso, Bianco and Rosato - $15 tasting - Flights from 2 to 6pm and wines by the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY 1/6: FRENCH TASTING FLIGHTS and WINE CLUB PICK UP with special guest TOM SWITZER - $15 tasting: Syrah, Mondeuse, and Jacquere - Flights from 2 to 6 – free tasting for members - and wines by the glass until 8pm.
Cheers,
Max
A regular stopped in one evening a while back, inquiring if his partner was here at the shop. Peeking around quickly and then noting the restroom was vacant, I told him I hadn't seen him yet. He explained that he was locked out of the apartment and was hoping his partner would stop here on his way home from BART. A couple weeks after that, a regular named Kim stopped in- she had the same inquiry, and I mostly the same answer. She had lost her phone and had no way of connecting with her husband. But it was simply understood, as she made her way to the bar for a glass of rosé, that he'd find her here, eventually.
It took me a few moments in both cases to realize what was was going on. But something resembling pride swelled when it clicked. Their understanding was this: If lost, or if all else failed... meet here. At OAKLAND YARD. This shop was their safe place. Their rendezvous point. Their fountain at 2 o' clock, their statue in an hour, their top of the empire state building. The simplicity if it really moved me and still does.
Funny enough, just this past weekend a dog was here making friends, and we had assumed it belonged to one of the guests here. At some point we discovered the dog had no owner present and so we called the number on the tag. Turned out it had gotten out of the house and made its way down 40th and, having recalled the good vibes here, just walked right into the shop with some evening customers.
Even dogs know this to be a happy haven. A warm and welcoming space. And It will continue to be in 2019 and beyond. The years change, but some things are fixed. This will always be your shop. A place to meet, to connect. And to reconnect again and again.
We are so honored to be your emergency contact. Here's to the warmth and holiday spirit never ending. And to a year of joy and wonder ahead..
An ALL SPARKLING weekend ahead...
Sparkling Flights to sample and savor, SATURDAY & SUNDAY! Saturday (12/29) we'll be popping corks and pouring dry, delightful bubbly from around the globe: Champagne, organic Prosecco, and a dynamic domestic sparkler from Anderson Valley. On Sunday (12/30) we'll be showcasing a stellar selection of Spanish sparklers. Flights $15 from 2-6 both days and wines by the glass until close (9pm SAT and 8pm SUN).
And first... TONIGHT (12/27): Thursday Night Flights! A crazy delicious lineup of 6 wines from Spain. Both Red & White Flights, just $12 from 4-8pm and wines by the glass as always.
Please note SPECIAL HOLIDAY HOURS:
OAKLAND YARD will be OPEN MONDAY (NYE) from 2-8 pm for all your party provisions and festive fixes! Bar will be open with drink specials too!...
We will be closed January 1st and 2nd and then OPEN again and back to regular hours and fun on Thursday, January 3rd.
Happy New Year, friends. Happy every darn day to you all.
Cheers,
Daniel
When Julia and I left Brooklyn for Berkeley, five years ago this February, the temperature was well below freezing, and the cobblestone streets met the sidewalk with a solid, sloping bridge of ice. If you’ve never been to New York City in the wintertime, it’s hard to imagine the initial calm, and the ensuing chaos, of a heavy snowfall. You wake to an odd quietude, city sounds fully muffled by the surrounding blanket, and through the window, where once were cars, trees, fences, and streets full of color, is a continuous, rolling flow of softly blinding white.
As a child, in western New York, I would listen intently to the morning radio on snowy mornings, as they read the list of schools closed for the day in alphabetical order. Our school, Victor Central, made for a long wait that rarely ended with the desired declaration. Apparently, it took a devastating storm to close Victor schools; even when countless others were shuttered, our buses powered through.
Smith & Vine, the Brooklyn wine shop where Daniel, Glenny, and I all met one another, did not close for weather, and the city required us to keep the sidewalk out front clear of snow and ice, so the first order of business in opening was the shovel and salt routine, sometimes repeated hourly throughout the day. We kept sidewalk salt in stock as diligently as we did dog biscuits, or wine openers.
There was never parking in Carroll Gardens, so I’d walk the half hour through the snow from Red Hook with doubled socks and long johns, past the vacant lot where the stray cats hang out. Each December, a nativity scene was installed in this lot, but this did not bother the cats, and many a morning, my sprits were buoyed, like those of countless other Red Hookers, by the sight of three tabbies, like sheep beside the wise men, or a calico in the crèche. I can’t say I miss the drudgery, but sometimes I miss the kitties in the manger.
We will be OPEN 12/24 for CHRISTMAS EVE from 11am until 4pm and we will be CLOSED on CHRISTMAS DAY. Happy Holidays to all y’all!
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! ALL FRENCH REDS or WHITES. $12 tasting flights of three wines from 4 to 8pm and wines by the glass.
SATURDAY 12/22: – CALIFORNIA TASTING FLIGHTS - Two whites and two reds from this great and temperate state - $15 tasting from 2 to 6pm and wines by the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY 12/23: $15 LOIRE VALLEY TASTING FLIGHTS - $15 tasting from 2 to 6 and wines by the glass until 8pm.
Cheers,
Max
For many, choosing a wine feels like a bit of a crapshoot. It’s hard to know what’s inside the corked bottle. Will it go with my supper? And will I also enjoy it? European labels tell you where the wine is from, but rarely indicate grape varieties, or methods of production. We learn all we can about the wines we taste from our vendors, importers, distributors, and winemakers, gleaning details of production from online tech-sheets and personal discussion, but these details do not answer the above questions, and so the choice remains inscrutable.
I recently helped my parents clean out their basement, and, among the rusted antique farm tools and half empty paint cans, I found some crusty, forgotten bottles along the bottom rungs of the rack: some ancient Dry Sack Sherry, a magnum of ’07 Beringer White Zin which had turned brown, and a dusty, squat 750ml of something from Italy that looked like Prosecco, or Spumante, with a crown cap. We put the Sherry in the cooking cabinet, the brown zin down the drain, and the Italian bottle into the fridge for later.
When my aunt and uncle arrived for supper that night, I popped the mystery bottle and poured myself a splash. Pale yellow and bubbly, but it didn’t smell like much. I took a sip. It was lacking acid and had a nutty flavor, more yeasty than fruity. “I think it’s oxidized,” I said “maybe over the hill.” My uncle asked to try it and declared it drinkable “it’s not bad; tastes a little like beer.” I examined the bottle again, brushing more dust from the back label, finally uncovering the word Birra. Well, that’s just what it was! And we decided it tasted much better, now that we knew it was beer.
Here at Oakland Yard, we have an active tasting bar, where the secrets of the bottles are laid bare. Come on out and ‘try before you buy’ every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, as we taste through our new arrivals, and this week we’ll stick to wine only.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! ALL FRENCH REDS or WHITES. $12 tasting flights from 4 to 8pm.
SATURDAY 12/8: ‘ZERO ZERO’ NATURAL WINES – no additions; only grapes - $15 tasting Flights from 2 to 6pm and wines by the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY 12/9: CALIFORNIA TASTING FLIGHTS $15 tasting, Flights from 2 to 6 and wines by the glass until 8pm.
Cheers,
Max
You've probably seen it on a mug, or maybe on your old music teacher's tote bag: If you can walk you can dance, if you can talk you can sing! Whoever said this hasn't met my family. To be fair, a handful can sing OK. But dancers we are not. We're not an entirely clumsy clan or anything - some at least have a certain sense of rhythm, others are actually quite coordinated - but it's fair to say we lack flow. Probably grace too.
My sister was clever. She countered this condition early on and applied her athleticism and gymnastic precision to choreographed dance. Enter Daniel, stage left. Early in life she was forced to share a room with me and two other brothers. To say we outgrew that house would be an understatement. Eventually she would get her own little room directly across from me and my younger brother. The particular proximity of our space growing up led to us pairing off frequently - and to her being a major influence on me and perhaps my character, for better or worse. Our mutual affinity for 80s power ballads really cemented the deal. I was 8 or so when I agreed to join her dance troupe. A company of two - or perhaps four, as she was lead dancer, choreographer and director.
Facing the full length mirror in her room she would take me through her elaborate routines, to be performed in unison, or sometimes with a playful "call and response" flourish. Solos were rare. As for music, everything was fair game. Cindi Lauper if we were just messing about. Maybe Debbie Gibson. Let's take it up a notch. Erasure. Whitney. Show some attitude. Eurythmics. Prince. Jody Watley. You get the idea.
But the most memorable routines for me to this day were the slower jams. Heavy synths. Ethereal vocals. Eternal flames. Love and life on the line. The torch songs of the tormented. The movements were simple with intentional long, broad strokes- a heartfelt pantomime. It's all in the face, she'd say, cueing up "You've Got It All" by The Jets for the 23rd time that day. Let's take it from the top...
TONIGHT we are thrilled to host a special THURSDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS fundraiser at OAKLAND YARD. Saving the world from the Schmidts, proceeds for tonight's tastings will support the Oakland Ballet School, providing accessible, relevant, and exciting dance programs and classes for our diverse community. The Oakland Ballet Company is committed to training the next generation of dancers, and to providing arts education and access to the arts for thousands of East Bay students and community members. Come join us in support of OBC and the arts in Oakland! Red & white flights, as always (Australian Whites, French Reds tonight)! Flights $15, from 4-8pm.
For more information on OBC:
http://oaklandballet.org/wp/theacademyatobc/
For a sentimental rainy day love ballad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a7dN52k_r0
Looking ahead...
SATURDAY (12/1): Sparkling Flights at OAKLAND YARD. The sun will be out this weekend and we'll be feeling bubbly, sampling sparklers from around the world. Come taste some fizzy lifting drinks from France, Germany, and Italy! Flights $15. Saturday from 2-6pm.
SUNDAY (12/2): California Flights & Wine Club Party. Brendan Willard of Phantome Cellars will be pouring his Touriga Nacional Rosé and his Cabernet Franc from Bennet Valley, along with a dry, vibrant white from Angeleno Wine Co. The tasting is FREE for Wine Club members (all are most welcome to join!). Flights $15 for the public, Sunday from 2-6pm.
See you all soon,
Daniel
Sometime around age 9 Thanksgiving superseded Christmas as my favorite holiday. By then a handful of family traditions had really set in - football at the park (Dad clearing most of us out of the house to preserve mom's sanity), the requisite stop for burgers at Tommy's - only a couple hours before the the early evening meal (challenging the limits of mom's sanity), and the eventual shitshow that was all 9 of us prepping our individual dishes for the great feast (claiming all that was left of mom's sanity).
Some years were particularly laughable - the year we had only two working burners on the stove top, the year nearly everything burned, the year the older siblings convinced a tearful, four-year-old Jeffrey (whose birthday fell on the holiday that year) that Dad was going to cook him that Thanksgiving (Happy Birthday!).
For me, like most things in life, it meant much more when I actually got to be a part of it all. Everyone contributed a dish- I made cornbread each year, always a hit. I'd been using the same recipe for years before someone intervened, objecting that it called for 2 and 1/2 sticks butter and a half cup of sugar. I was basically making cake for dinner.
When we'd all finally sit down - a time consuming spectacle itself - we'd go around the table, as most do, sharing something we were thankful for. The classics would be quickly claimed (this family, our parents, this delicious meal...), the older ones adding some gravity through the years (my health, my wife, etc). One year an uncle had joined us and he said he was thankful for toilet paper. My aunt shot an elbow into his ribs. It got a laugh that night, but the off-handed joke actually left an impression on me, as silly as that may sound. Where would we be without it? I still think about toilet paper this time of year, as I try to be grateful for the big things and the little things - or rather the little things that can be big things when you need them.
So here's to our health, but also to cough drops. To little ones - and to pacifiers. To our close friends and families, but also the anonymous neighbors who leave notes that our tires needing replacing. Here's to our pets, and also lint rollers. To our loved ones who stick with us through trying times, and also to a good pair of socks that don't quit on us.
ALL THANKSGIVING Flights all weekend at OAKLAND YARD. Wine for your feasts. Wines for families and friends and fun and fiascos. Come sample and celebrate early with us this weekend. Flights start tonight!
TONIGHT: THURSDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS! Gewurtztraminer & Gamay. Six wines that pair with turkey and duck and salmon and cornbread and apple and cranberry sauce and everything in between. Aromatic, complex and spicy whites... and light, fresh, vibrant reds. Flights $15 from 4-8pm
SATURDAY & SUNDAY: All Thanksgiving Flights continues. Both days we'll showcase Flights of 4 different wines, all food-friendly and festive. Flights from 2-6 both days. We'll sample some wines from our Holiday Six Packs and also some staff favorites from all price points. Stop in and stock up this weekend! Wine first - then butter and toilet paper.
See you soon,
Daniel
p.s. PLEASE NOTE: OAKLAND YARD will be OPEN Thanksgiving DAY from 10-4PM. Regular hours this weekend and the rest of next week - Thanks!
Two years ago this week, after years of planning, and several months of hard scrambling, Daniel, Glenny, Julia, and I opened our little wine shop on 40th Street. We named it Oakland Yard after the train station that spanned the block for much of the last century, hoping to maintain some of the energy of that hub; the spot where people came together, and a comfortable resting place along the way. Two years in, I think it’s really working.
Thank you all for making us feel welcome, for taking the ball and running, for breathing life into this box of steel, cement and wood. We bring the wine, but you bring the laughter. Sometimes you bring the sadness, or the anger, that can be hard to leave behind. Go ahead and bring it. Keep it real. Sometimes we can help; sometimes we can’t, but we’ll try. We are stronger working together.
Please come join us this Saturday, from 11am until 4pm, in a celebration of life’s great joys - new friends, old friends, beautiful strangers, delicious wine, raw oysters, groovy music, vintage clothing, original art, fresh flowers, cold beer, smiling children, stylish shoes, and amazing tacos!
But first...TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights. ALL SPANISH REDS or WHITES. $12 tastingflights from 4 to 8pm.
SATURDAY 10/10: OAKLAND YARD 2nd ANNIVERSARY PARTY - Wine, food and fun from 11am to 4pm and wines by the glass until 9!
SUNDAY 10/11: ITALIAN TASTING FLIGHTS $15 flights from 2 to 6pm and wines by the glass until 8pm.
Cheers,
Max
Birthdays were relatively low-key events for me growing up. No giant class parties at pizza parlors or anything- my many siblings already provided enough of a party atmosphere daily. But on birthdays my folks allowed us to invite our best friend to join, either for a dinner out or for whatever we wanted to eat at home that night). My parents were good listeners and gave excellent gifts for the most part. Every so often one of my older siblings would get moved by the spirit of it all and gift me something of theirs, often something grand like their bicycle. One year wrapped in newspaper (what could it be?), another year just a simple, tidy bow and a "Now, look out the window!...".
I'd ride the bike for all of a week or so before they would reclaim it, and I'd be left pouting in the driveway watching Stephen cycle away with our neighbor, Todd. And from a holler to a whimper: "But you gave it to me!". And then I'd fall for it all over again the next year with another brother. David, ever persuasive: "Yes, I did give it to you. And it is yours. I'll just be riding it when I want. You understand".
Sitting down this morning, while my daughter (who will celebrate her first birthday next month) naps, I'm trying to remember all of my birthdays but can only recall a few. It's funny, but one of the clearest, and one of my favorite birthdays was a simple one. It was after many of the older brothers moved away. My birthday fell on a holiday that year, and everyone was back in town. We all went to the restaurant where my sister worked and were probably louder than she (and the neighboring tables) would have liked. But for some reason I can access the laughter of that particular afternoon. And I'm nearly certain a photo exists of me, somewhere, blowing out a candle, with nearly all of my favorite people around me.
Next SATURDAY: OAKLAND YARD celebrates 2 years! We call it an Anniversary Party, I suppose, but it's more of a birthday I'd argue. And as it's my family's tradition... it's our birthday - and we get to invite our best friends to join the party. We want all of our favorite people around us. So come celebrate with us November 10th from 11-4pm! No take-backs. This is a party for you, for everyone. There will be music and food and osyters and bubbles, raffles and prizes, vendors and holiday vibes. And lots and lots of wine! The 2 Year Anniversary Celebration and Artisan Flea Market event is FREE! So spread the good word! Bring all your favorite people too. There's just enough room for all this joy.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights! Sicilian Whites and all Spanish Mencia for the Red Flight. Flights $12 from 4-8pm and wines by the glass.
SATURDAY November 3rd: Vermouth and Apertivo Tasting. Special guest tasting with HAUS ALPENZ at OAKLAND YARD!. Tasting Flights from 3-6 and wines by the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY November 4th: SYRAH! Tasting flights of satisfying and savory new arrivals. Flights from 2-6pm and wine by the glass until 8pm.
See you soon,
Daniel
Everyone has stories of brushes with greatness, moments when you’re close enough to touch someone who has changed the world, for better or worse. When my mother was a child, she met Marilyn Monroe on Fire Island, and my father encountered Jesse Owens, long after his historic Olympic victories, on a New York elevator. I once sat ten feet from Henry Kissinger at the Russian Tea Room, within spitting distance, as they say. And we had a couple of guys from Metallica here in Oakland Yard just last month.
But I learned this year that my greatest brush has been hiding quietly in my childhood home in rural New York. Around 1970, just before I was born, my parents bought six acres of land, with three barns and a two-story farmhouse, built in 1812. They spent years outfitting it with plumbing and electricity, uncovering near-antiques and old farming equipment at every turn of the earth. By the time I was in school, it was a cozy ‘modern’ home, with a wooden spiral staircase and two wood burning stoves. One of our old closets downstairs had a hidden door in the back that led straight to the basement, and my brother and I grew up wondering, knowing some of our local history and proximity to Canada, if our house was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
I believe our suspicions were confirmed this year by the Farmington town historian after my mother sent her some old photos from the previous tenants. She told us that from 1819 until 1912, the house belonged to the Hathaway family of Quaker settlers. Joseph Hathaway was an abolitionist with strong beliefs in anti-slavery and women’s-rights reform, and his sister, Phoebe Hathaway, who lived her entire life in our house, established the first female Western New York Anti Slavery Society chapter, right there in Farmington. She was very close with Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony, and the historian believes they were both entertained as guests in our home. I think that trumps the Kissinger sighting.
I have no idea who you’ll rub elbows with this week at the Oakland Yard wine tasting flights - it won’t be Phoebe, who’s not only long dead but also a founding member of the temperance society – but elbows will be rubbed, and unless your house has benevolent ghosts, like mine, you’ll have to leave it now and then to brush with greatness.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night Flights. ALL FRENCH REDS or WHITES. $12 tasting flights from 4-8.
SATURDAY 10/27: LAMBRUSCO TASTING! Sparkling Reds from Emilia-Romagna $15 flights from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 9.
SUNDAY 10/28: CALIFORNIA REDS $15 flights from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 8pm.
Cheers,
Max