Thursday, January 29, 2009

Thanks for attending Super Brew IV

Welcome to Cork's weekly newsletter. This will be brief, as I'm a little under the weather and doing this from home. I did want to thank all of you who attended Super Brew IV and made it a huge success as always. Now if only the actual game and commercials can be entertaining.

We don't have any tastings scheduled for this week but will come back with some interesting wine tastings in February. Next Friday, February 6th we'll have John from Trio Wines here for a tasting. We will also have his sister there from 5 to 7 to do brief tarot card readings. We will also start our customer wine tastings later in February as well.

Be sure to check our new look website (corksfinewine.com) for details and updates on all upcoming events. Now that the big beer tasting is behind us we can look forward to our 5th Annual ? Grand Spring Wine Tasting. It will be on Thursday night, April 2nd from 4:30 to 7 PM. So be sure to save that date on your calendar.

Robert

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Welcome to Cork's Super Brew IV Newsletter

This Saturday, January 24th from 2:30 to 5 PM, will be our biggest beer tasting we do all year! The list is complete and we have 16 tables and over 80 beers for you to sample. There is a list of the breweries being featured on the website (corksfinewine.com) and we will post a complete starting lineup by the end of the week so you can strategize and make your game plan.

We will be running this event like we do our big wine tastings. You will be handed a sheet listing all the beers on it, and it will be numbered at the top. That is your # for the entire tasting. When you find a beer you like and wish to purchase just let the rep know and they will sticker the beer with your # on it. We will have runners grab the items and start a box for you at the front of the store. At the end of the tasting just tell the cashier up front what your # is and we will have your beers all ready for you. This is a lot easier than carrying a 6-pk around for the whole tasting, or trying to find the beer at the end of the day.

While we’re on it, how about a couple more tips and suggestions to make the tasting easier and more fun.

* Feel free to bring your favorite beer glass…but no…we will not fill your pint glass…you will get a normal 1 oz sample

* We will have lil tiny tasting cups for you to use…but don’t ditch the cup after every beer…that’s impractical and downright wasteful...there is no harm in going from 1 beer to the next in the same cup…just dump out the excess in the dump bucket or better yet your belly and move on to the next delicious brew.

* The good news is we will have our famous tasting pizza… and unlike the wine tastings you don’t run the risk of being trampled by Tommy Bolini as the pizza arrives…as for the rest of you pizza mongers (you know who you are)…relax…leave enough for everybody or better yet order Domino’s or Papa Gino’s and have them deliver a whole pie for you.

* I have on reliable sources that a Pro-Bowl bound member of the New England Patriots will be here at Cork’s tasting!!...so be sure to bring any Pats gear you have for him to sign.

* If you haven’t done so yet, introduce yourself to Josh (our new beer dude) as he’s done most of the work on this event, bringing in close to 50 new beers including a bunch of 64 OZ growlers.

So have fun...drink responsibly…find some new favorite beers…and load up for the big (yawn) game…I think I’m gonna need more than beer to get through this Super Bowl.

OK…let’s talk about wine tastings for a bit. We won’t have 1 this Friday or next but we have a special tasting lined up for February 6th. Our friend John from Trio wines will be here to sample you on some of his new wines from 4 to 7 PM…what’s so special about that you may ask? Well John’s sister Regina is a tarot card reader and will be here from 5 to 7 PM giving free mini tarot card readings. She can see what 2009 and the Obama regime have in store for you. This should be different and a lot of fun. She will do the readings on a 1st come 1st served basis so be sure to get here early. We’ll have a list of the wines John will pour and more info on the website by next week.

We hope to see you all here for the Super Brew IV tasting and have a great week.

Robert

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Super Brew IV and Customer Wine Tastings

Welcome to Cork’s weekly newsletter. We’ve had to make a scheduling change for our inaugural “customer wine tasting” event. Bill and Cherry’s tasting is going to have to be pushed back to February 21st or 28th. We won’t be doing any beer tastings until our Super Brew IV event which is next Saturday, January 24th from 2:30 to 5 PM. As far as wine tastings go, I don’t have any scheduled as we try to get through the dog days of January. But as most of you know we usually have a bottle or 2 open on a Friday night to sample, or with minimal coercion I will pop one open for you.

Let’s talk a little about Super Brew IV. We have the lineup almost set and will have a bunch of new beers for you to taste. After years of me saying no to vendors, our new beer dude Josh has talked us into carrying growlers. We have Berkshire Brewing in house now, and will have Opa-Opa and possibly Ipswich growlers in for you to try. Here’s a quick glimpse of who we have lined up for the event. Sam Adams…Arcadia Ales…Coney Island…He’Brew…Berkshire Brewing…Smuttynose…Belgique…Opa-Opa…Shipyard…Longtrail…Otter Creek…Mike’s…Peak Organic…Twaites…Southern Tier…Ipswich…Newport Storm…You can check the website (corksfinewine.com) for more info, and we will post the complete lineup as soon as we have it finished.

Good to see Jim Rice finally make the hall, and the Sox sign Rocco from my hometown of Cumberland, RI. With the addition of Smoltz, Penny, Saito, an d Kotsay, I think they’re set to overtake the upstart Rays and the overspending Yankees next year. And no worries, the Celts will get out of their funk in time for another Championship run. And how about those big bad Bruins bringing hockey to the forefront of the local sports scene for the 1st time in years. If only Brady and the rest of the Pats could have stayed healthy for another Super Bowl run…Oh well…next year.

Robert

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Newsletter changes...

Welcome to Cork’s weekly newsletter. Yes it is a day earlier than normal, and I’m going to try getting it out on Wednesdays from now on. There are 2 reasons for doing this. 1st, it will give you more time to read and react to Thursday night beer tastings. The 2nd reason will be explained below by our web mistress, but basically the new system we hope to use for getting you the newsletter would dump it in your mailbox about 4 AM Friday if I write it on Thursday. Now that would really put a damper on Thursday night beer tasting info… wouldn’t it? OK, so here is the technical stuff, and we’ll get to the fun stuff after this brief interruption.

As we mentioned previously, we are beginning the process of changing how we send emails. Why? Because even though everyone on our list asked to be on it, some of you are not receiving our emails because they end up as spam. The way email is being sent these days has changed dramatically so we have to keep up or we lose the chance to stay in touch.

Here’s what’s happening. We are adding you in gradually (there’s close to a thousand of you) to our new email delivery system called Feedblitz. They will send you an email asking you to confirm. Click on the link and you will receive our newsletter automatically without spamming out from now on.

Since we’re doing this gradually, you will still be receiving our newsletter the way you have all along until we have completed the transfer, even those of you who opted out (mostly students who no longer attend the local colleges). We apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you for your patience. We want to make sure all who asked for our newsletter actually get to receive it (how can you live without Robert’s sports analysis???)

Of course, you can always read our newsletter on our blog: www.corksfinewinenewsletter.blogspot.com

OK…Hopefully you didn’t nod off or get a popsicle headache after all that. Now back to the good stuff…ummmm…to be totally honest, there really isn’t anything new going on or tastings scheduled this week at all. Like you, we’re still recovering from the Holidays, not to mention that this a notoriously very slow time in the liquor biz. Having said that, we do have some pretty cool stuff happening in the next 2 weeks.

Our friend Bill and his wife Cherry will be doing our inaugural “customer wine tasting” on Saturday, January 17th from 2 to 5 PM. We talked a little about this in the past but here is a cliff notes version of how this will work. They will pick our 4 or 5 of their “favorite” wines…wines that they like, cook with, are good values, are different…whatever the reason... they like them. Cork’s and our suppliers will supply the wines, cheese, and crackers, and they will be the ones behind the counter pouring and talking about the wines. If you would like to host a tasting sometime, let me know. As well as the wines you choose, you can bring in a recipe or favorite dish that pairs well with the wine. I’d like to try to have them on Friday nights from 4 to 7 PM, but we can be flexible around your schedules as well. We’ll probably do a couple per month so please let me know if you are interested and when you are available.

Wow…this newsletter is getting way to long so let’s skip the sports stuff and I will leave you with this. Super Brew IV…Saturday, January 24th …2:30 to 5 PM. Check the website (corksfinewine.com) for details and lineups.

Robert