Tink’s Reborn as La Poste

I love it when people I adore get it in their heads to open a new wine shop or restaurant. My friends Bryant Phillips and his wife Kelly Lough, along with Chef Dave Taylor, and previous wine rep/wine store owner and occasional wine blogger Jens Rosencrantz are sharing ownership of what used to be Tink’s in Clifton. It’s been renamed as La Poste, as the location used to be a post office.

You’ll recognize Bryant’s name from some of our more recent Wine Shop Wednesday posts, as both he and Chef Dave have been out at the Wise Owl Wine Bar in West Chester.

I got a call from Bryant this afternoon and here’s what I know so far. La Poste is looking to be a little of everything good, it sounds like. That includes having a “massive and all-encompassing wine list” that includes plenty of by the glass selections as well as by the bottle.

It sounds like primarily American cuisine. Bryant got excited as he described how they want to have a bit of the ambience of the a champagne lunch at the Waldorf in the ’60s, but don’t worry – they’re going to have primarily bistro fare and maybe a tasting menu so that Chef Dave can show off his stuff.

Tink’s is in a lovely location in Clifton on Telford and Ludlow. It’s a neighborhood restaurant and the owners want to cultivate that neighborhood feeling, hoping they have regulars. Happily, Bryant also told me he’d save a regular seat at the bar for me.

La Poste is set to open in Fall 2010.

United Slurps of America: Ohio Edition

Swirl, Smell, Slurp is a blog based out of Los Angeles that is trying to taste wines from all 50 states. Their original goal was to do it in 50 weeks, but the sample process does not work quite that quickly.

Thanks to Dep’s Fine Wines’s Kevin Keith, I was recommended to be the Ohio wine blogger with whom the Swirl, Smell, Slurp bloggers virtually tasted. I immediately recommended several Ohio wineries, including Firelands, Kinkead Ridge, Harmony Hill, and St Joseph’s. Kinkead Ridge got back to my new bloggy friends, but unfortunately, Nancy is seriously low on wine. Heck, I picked up one case of their second-label white and they’d only made 42 cases! Friends, the Ohio valley can be brutal on grapes some years.

However, my friends at Harmony Hill got back to the fine folks at Swirl, Smell, Slurp and I picked up my samples on Memorial Day Weekend. Bill provided us with four vastly different wines and you can read all about it – from She, He, and Me – over at the United Slurps of America: Ohio edition.

Oh, and my advice to He and She of Swirl, Smell, Slurp? Go sign up for the Wine Century Club. You’ll be getting all sorts of French-American hybrids at your doorstep if you’re trying all 50 states. Everything from the more common southern grapes of Chambourcin, Muscadine, and Traminette to crazy things like Teraldego. You’ll be in the Century Club in no time!

Sipping Summer Cocktails

Once again I’ve been deluged with press releases. This time, however, the makers of 1800 Tequila and Three Olives vodka sent me some recipes worth sharing. These cocktails, all of which can be made in bulk for your summer bbq, are the perfect antidote to a hot day.

If this Sangria doesn’t do it for you, I have recipes for Blush, Red, and White Sangria that I’ve made for years and that I swear by.

1800 Sunrise Sangria
1 orange
1 lime
1 750ml bottle pink Prosecco (or cava, or other sparkling wine)
1 cup 1800 Tequila
2 cups lemon lime soda (or ginger ale)
1 Bosc pear, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 pint raspberries

Slice half the orange into circles then slice in half to form half moons.  Squeeze the second half into a large pitcher filled with ice.  Do the same with the lime. Add the Prosecco, soda, and the 1800 to the pitcher and gently combine. Add fruit and serve.

1800 Sunrise Sangria

Mango Sweet Tea
2 ounces Three Olives Mango, chilled
6 ounces Sweet Tea, chilled

Add the Three-O Mango and tea to a tall glass filled with ice; stir well. Garnish, if desired, with a slice of mango.

Mango Sweet Tea

Minted Pomegranate Lemonade
1 cup (packed) mint leaves, chopped
⅔ cup sugar
1 cup fresh lemon slices
1 ½ cups Three Olives Pomegranate

Combine chopped mint and sugar in large bowl. Stir in lemon slices and Three-O Pomegranate. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. Strain mixture into pitcher. Fill six 6- to 8-ounce glasses with crushed ice. Pour mixture over. Garnish with mint sprigs.

Minted Pomegranate Lemonade

Tropical Tequila Punch
¼ cup pineapple juice
¼ cup 1800 Tequila
1 ½ tablespoons thawed frozen passion fruit juice concentrate
½ teaspoon fresh lime juice

In a highball glass, mix all ingredients. Fill the glass with ice cubes; stir to blend. Garnish with a fresh pineapple spear.

Tropical Tequila Punch

Wine Shop Wednesday: Bodegas La Cana Albarino

This week we again welcome Bryant Phillips to our occasional column Wine Shop Wednesday. You may remember Bryant from Sturkey’s or Chalk. Currently you can find him at the excellent Wise Owl Wine Bar in West Chester. If you’re anywhere near IKEA, you’re near the Wise Owl.  Stop by and have a drink – it’s worth it. I visit whenever I’m on my way home from meetings in Dayton.

This week he turns us onto an excellent white wine to kick off your summer.

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If you read last week’s post, you already know how I feel about Spanish Whites.  The Godeval from last week got me thinking about the region itself and Rias Biaxas was a logical next step.

Albariño is widely accepted as the quintessential cheese wine.  It’s typical round an juicy texture stands up the your triple cream cheeses like Camembert, while its medium acidity wont overpower sharper and harder cheeses.

So we know that Albariño works with cheese, what else?

For me the grape, and La Cana in particular exhibits some really great stone fruit notes, think juicy white peach that ends up all over your fingers and chin.  While it does have some pleasant floral aromatics, these wines are never incredibly complex.  I think there is more depth to the La Cana than is usually the case for Albariño, but I also believe the simplicity of these wines are profound in their understatedness.

Every Sunday for the last few weeks I have been at some friend or family members house nibbling on a selection of killer cheese before throwing some dead animal on a fire.  Every Sunday for the next few weeks I will be bringing a bottle of this stellar wine.

– Bryant