04 25 10

Coming Soon our Outdoor “Tuscan Courtyard”

Filed under: Joe's Blog — vineyardwinebar @ 12:31 pm

Greetings Family and Friends,

For the past few months we’ve been actively designing an Outdoor “Tuscan Courtyard” to further enhance your dining experience at The Vineyard Wine Bar and create an open air, European feel.

We are pleased to announce that our plans have met approval with City and County Officials, and in the next week construction will begin on our “Tuscan Courtyard”.

With this “Tuscan Courtyard” we intend to create a relaxing environment complete with trees, flowers, shrubs, an outdoor fireplace, and other ambiance enhancing treats that will make you feel as if you’ve left the fast pace behind and stepped into your own little Tuscan getaway.

Stay tuned and we’ll update you on the build out progress as we get ready to open this little, outdoor, Oasis.

Opening date is set for Saturday evening, May 29th.

Ciao,

JL

04 17 10

Our Next Fireside Chat “A Taste of Northern Italy”

Filed under: Joe's Blog — vineyardwinebar @ 9:57 am

Be sure to join us next THURSDAY, April 22nd, for a Fireside Chat
with Filippo Lapides, and a taste of Northern Italy, as we explore the wonderful wines of the
Villabella winery of Verona, Italy

Our Fireside chat and tasting will start at 7:00 PM in the lounge and we’ll enjoy:

-Villabella ‘Vigna di Pesina’ Single Vineyard Pinot Grigio 2008
(This is not your average Pinot Grigio. Come see what real Pinot Grigio is all about)

-Villabella Montemazzano 2005
(This wine is 100% Corvina. One of the 3 red grapes that makes up Valpolicella)

-Villabella Valpolicella Ripasso 2005
(Ripasso’s are delicious, stirred with dried raisin-ated grapes for rich flavor)

-Villabella Amarone 2004
(Amarone’s are some of the most complex, and expensive red wines in the world. Come see what the fuss is all about)

About VillaBella:
Vigneti Villabella’s headquarters are at Calmasino, in the heart of the Bardolino Classico zone, on hillsides that look out over Lake Garda. Founded in 1971 by Walter Delibori and Giorgio Cristoforetti, it is still owned and run by their two families, in the persons of their children: Tiziano and his son Umberto Delibori and Angela and Franco Cristoforetti. The company produces all the major classic wines of the Verona area, such as Bardolino, Lugana, Bianco di Custoza, Soave, Valpolicella, Ripasso and Amarone, as well as fine red and white I.G.T. wines from grape varieties that are indigenous to the Province of Verona.
Today, Vigneti Villabella boasts some 220 hectares of vineyards, which are either owned or managed by the company.

The purchase of Villa Cordevigo at Cavaion Veronese, an eighteenth century manor house complete with a consecrated chapel and surrounded by 100 hectares of vineyards and olive groves, represents a synthesis of the Villabella project. The objectives of this project are to preserve and promote local culture and traditions and to draw out the full intrinsic quality of the area’s vines and wines – based on respect for the land and diligent care of the vineyards – with a view to offering consumers all over the world a selection of typically Italian high-quality wines from a unique location.

www.vignetivillabella.com

This tasting is limited to the first 20 people and the cost is $20 per person.

Please RSVP with name and phone number via email to Joe at
 joelertch@gmail.com or phone 443-502-2551

Hope to see you next THURSDAY, April 22nd

04 09 10

Our next Fireside Chat “Via Satellite”

Filed under: Joe's Blog — vineyardwinebar @ 10:14 am

Hey Wine Lovers….

Here’s one you’ve been waiting for….

Join us on Wednesday, April 14th, for a Fireside Chat

with reknown winemaker Chester Osborn and a tasting of the wines of

the d’Arenberg winery located in McLaren Vale, Australia

This will be a much different Fireside Chat than we’ve had in the past as we’ll be “visiting” with Chester, tasting his wines, and conferencing with him via satellite!!!

It will be Wednesday night here at The Vineyard Wine Bar in Havre de Grace, but it will be Thursday morning in Australia as Chester leads us through a tasting of the wonderful wines of d’Arenberg, direct from his winery

We will gather in the lounge of The Vineyard Wine Bar at 6:30 pm for an introduction to Bruce Wills, the Regional Director of d’Arenberg, then at 7:00 pm we’ll satellite connect to the d’Arenberg winery in Australia and “visit” with Chester on the wide screen TV for our conference and tasting.

The featured wines will be:

The Peppermint Paddock Sparkling Chambourcin

The Olive Grove Chardonnay

Hermit Crab Viognier/Marsanne

The Custodian Grenache

The Noble Prankster Late Harvest Chardonnay/Semillon Dessert Wine

This is the first time a tasting has been held via satellite, and it’s an event not to be missed.

The tasting/event is limited to the first 25 people and the cost is $25 per person.

Please RSVP with name and phone number via email to Joe at

joelertch@gmail.com or phone The Vineyard Wine Bar at 443-502-2551

Hope to see you on April 14th

11 04 09

The Vineyard Wine Bar Opens to Capacity Crowds

Filed under: Joe's Blog — Tags: , , , , — vineyardwinebar @ 11:10 pm

Well….. we’ve been open for one week now and what a week it’s been.

We opened our doors last Monday to a big lunch crowd, and an even larger dinner crowd. As a matter of fact we were so full that we had to turn away 10 walk-in’s, (which I hated to do), but when you make reservations at The Vineyard Wine Bar, the table, (or couch), is yours for the entire evening. Our reservation policy is based on the European reservation policy where we only have 1 seating for the evening, and the table is yours for as long as you want to stay…. No one is going to rush you. (The world slows down at The Vineyard Wine Bar.)

Tuesday was a repeat of Monday, and Wednesday and Thursday were the same…. packed full.

We had our ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, and we were full to capacity the entire day and evening once again.

Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening were once again full, and we got a brief break on Sunday with an “almost full” crowd that kept us hopping until closing.

One of the rewards about the week was experiencing our guest’s faces when they saw the food presentations arrive at the table. Some guests even took pictures of their food before eating.

Another reward was seeing many of the same faces throughout the week. We’ve had guests come back 2, 3, even 4 times during the 6 days that we were open. They brought different friends each time they came in, and their friends brought different friends each time they came in, and their friends-friends brought different friends each time they came in. It’s very rewarding, and you know you’re doing something right, when people come back 3 or 4 times in 6 days. Everyone has been telling us that they love the food, the wine, the service, the décor, and the music….. and it shows when they come back multiple times.

Retail shopOur Retail Store:
Our retail store is now open in our lounge and wine is ready to be purchased and taken home. In fact, our retail sales have been pretty strong over the past few days. I’ve heard customers comment that they have to purchase a full case at other stores to get the price that we offer by the individual bottle. We know our prices are at least $2 to $3 to $4 dollars a bottle cheaper, and our selection is, in a word…. “AWESOME”. Stop in and see our A to Z selection of wines.

Speaking about our wine selection…. The reason we’re able to offer such a great selection is because of being in the wine business for almost 30 years. During those almost 30 years that I’ve spent as an importer, supplier, wholesale distributor, wine judge, consultant, and educator, I’ve made many “wine friends”. These wine friends, (wine makers, winery owners, etc.); enable us to have access to many of the worlds great wines that other wine shops and restaurants rarely see.

As a result of our wine friends we are able to bring you the best of what is available in the vast world of wine. As you browse through our wine selections many will be unfamiliar to you because we search out the best that is available from small family owned, and operated, “winery-farms”. These “winery farms” are operated by families who have been making wine for generations, passing down their wine making practices from father to son… or daughter.

They are artisans, skillfully working their land, and tending to their grapes like children, to bring you the best, un-commercialized wines the world has to offer.

We are proud to offer you the best, and please feel free to ask questions about our great wine selection.

Upcoming events:
In the next few weeks we will start scheduling some fun and exciting wine-events that will help us get through the winter months. We’re planning to have a few “fireside chats” with winemakers as we meet them and taste some of their wines in our lounge. We’re also going to line up some “Skype” tastings with wine makers in Europe, and we’ll have a few private tasting events too. We’re also going to announce the beginning of our wine education classes, which will start after the first of the year. These education classes will be geared toward helping you understand wine, and enjoy it more. We’ll cover topics like “How to read labels and understand them”, (some of the German and French labels can be confusing), and “How to insure you’re getting what you’re paying for”, (you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get really good wine), along with “Organic wines and how sulfites affect in wines”, (this will be good for those of you that are affected by sulfites in wine). We’ll have many, many other fun topics to discuss, and of course there will always be a question and answer period so I can help take the intimidation factor out of wine. Stay tuned to email as we announce our events in the next few weeks.

Until the next email… stay well, and we hope to see you soon for lunch or dinner at The Vineyard Wine Bar…   The Destination for Wine Lovers.

JL

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