This just came over my desk and I thought it best to share quickly. The Poggio Il Castellare Brunello di Montalcino 2005 just came available to me on a pre-sale. The going price will be $45.99 per bottle as opposed to the $72.99 it normally would be. Of course the 1/4 case, 1/2 case and full case discounts will be applied properly. Please contact me at Peabody’s,(828) 264-9476 or byemail.
Here are some accolades to whet your appetites.

—Out of 165 wines rated by Wine Spectator Magazine for the 2005 vintage in Brunello di Montalcino, only one wine was rated higher than the fantastic 2005 Poggio Il Castellare Brunello di Montalcino. Just a little over 3300 cases of this vanguard wine were produced in this vintage. (The 2004 vintage of this wine was ranked #11 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 wines of 2009 and each of the last 3 vintages have rated 92+ points). 93 points, Wine Spectator

June 2010 – Really powerful for the vintage, with plenty of ripe fruit and cedary new wood, yet balanced and pretty. Full-bodied, with polished tannins and a long finish. Needs a year or two to come completely together. Best after 2011. 3,335 cases made. -JS

Technical notes:
100% Sangiovese Grosso – Manual harvest when the grapes are perfectly ripe. Alcoholic fermentation with controlled temperature (26°C) for about 10-12 days on the skins. Malolactic fermentation in steel vats. Refining in 2500lt Slavonian oak barrels for 30 months and in 225 lt French oak barrels for 20 months. Further refining in bottles for 4 months before the sale

About the estate:
The Poggio Il Castellare vineyards are located in the hamlet of Castelnuovo Abate, next to the spectacular panorama of the Abbey of Saint Antimo, opposite the Val d’Orcia (Orcia Valley) from which Mount Amiata rises imposingly.”Castellare”, the name of the farming estate, originates from an old Etruscan settlement. Ruins of the houses and towers of this settlement can be found on this hill. Obtained from Sangiovese Grosso, a strong and generous vine, it is a wine that expresses the intensity and the strength of the soil where it comes from, areas rich in limestone mixed up with sand made by schist of limestone and clay.—

Best regards,
Kevin Burnette
General Manager/Wine Buyer
Peabody’s Wine and Beer Merchants

Saturday December 3rd 5-8pm
Release Party for The Event Horizon and App Ale w/ Olde Hickory Brewing
To Pour: The Event Horizon, Appalachian Ale, Imperial Weizenbock, Christmas Ale

Monday December 5th 5-8pm
North Carolina Release of 21st Amendment Brewery
Guaranteed to be the best beer you have EVER had out of a can!!

To Pour: Brew Free or Die IPA Back in Black Black IPA, Allies Win the War Collaboration Ale, Fireside
Chat Winter Ale

Tuesday December 13th 5-8pm
Freakin’ Firkin’s with Maddie Langley from Natty Greene’s Brewery
To Pour: Double Hopped Pale Ale with Coffee and Basil, Applewood Red Nose Winter Ale, Elm Street IPA, Something else seasonal!!

How about that for a lineup to get ya’ started on the season?! You WILL want to catch these tastings early because all the brews will SELL OUT! Prepare you Christmas Lists AND Calendars NOW!! You Don’t Want to Miss It!! Welcome Back, “Fantastic Tasting Lineup”, Welcome Back!!!! Email or call (828) 264-9476 for details.

MORE: Above, two very enthusiastic tasters, Ellen and Elaine. And just guess what may have been in their glasses. Probably the same kind of smile encouraging juice that will be in your glass on Thursday. I’m already thinking Talbott to spread the word of not only their quality but their affordability. Then after that, surprises abound as I pull out some special treats. Don’t miss it.

—Kevin Burnette
Winee Buyer/GM

Note: The Premier Wine Tasting is a weekly tasting every Thursday of higher tiered wines. A $5 per person charge is required. Bottles of wines tasted will receive a 10% discount at purchase.

MORE: It’s that time. Beaujolais Nouveau is here and Joseph Drouhin is on the top of the list. Join us with our friend Melanie Presson as we continue down the rabbit hole of Thanksgiving wines and her line of fine French delights to light the way. Joseph Drouhin Macon-Village, Laforet Pinot Noir and more.

Note: As always there is a 10% discount for tasted wines and 15% discount off full or mixed cases of wine!

Peabody’s Wine & Beer Merchants
Thursday, November 17, 2011 5-7 PM
LOCATION: Peabody’s

More: Dionysus’ priestess, Lynn Leare, begins our course of holiday wine tastings this Thursday. Thanksgiving is looming it’s big turkey/uncomfortable table talk/football and remote control encrusted head. Lynn shows us the way to sooth the awkward kitchen conversations with Tolosa Chardonnay (oaked version @$24.99) and Tolosa Pinot Noir ($29.99). While at the same time tempting us with another take of Pinot from Leveroni ($29.99), Palmaz’s little brother—Cedar Knoll Cabernet Sauvignon ($48.99) and a new favorite from Provence—Gassier Sables Azur Rose ($15.49). This will be an educational experience that can and will help us all survive next week’s turkey day.

Special Note: There will be a $5 cover for Thursday Tastings so Peabody’s may present next tier wines that would otherwise go unopened. Please join us for the next level of wine tasting. Peabody’s hosts a wine tasting every Thursday night from 5-7 PM. And as always 10% is deducted from tasted wines at purchase.
Call, 828-264-9476 or email us today!

By Gemma Price, Special to the Los Angeles Times
November 20, 2011

Reporting from Phnom Penh, Cambodia— Cambodia might not rank among the world’s brewery or beer garden capitals, but change is coming.

From its setting on the banks of the Tonle Sap river, Kingdom Breweries, Phnom Penh’s newest boutique producer, is gearing up to give local brands Anchor and Angkor a run for their riel, using only the best German and Czech hops, premium German malt and top-quality water to produce the brand’s flagship pilsner.

“Fancy one?” Chief Executive Peter Brongers asked me, offering a bottle of the brewery’s first batch from his office mini-fridge. “The locals think it’s a little bitter, but I think it’s perfect.”

I had to agree. Crisp, light and refreshing, the authentic Czech-style taste was the ideal antidote to Cambodia’s sultry summer heat. Although the taste is distinctly European, Kingdom’s branding is unmistakably Khmer: a mystical, protective naga serpent coils around every bottle neck, and four of the country’s more elusive and endangered fauna — the clouded leopard, impressed tortoise, pangolin and rarely seen kouprey, Cambodia’s national animal — have been adopted as its brand ambassadors.

Kingdom trades on nostalgia for Cambodia’s former French colonial heyday, with its elegant roof-deck bar and beer garden. I was introduced to Rolf “Lanzi” Lanziger, proprietor of Dan’s Meats and “the best butcher in town,” he claimed. His table was already littered with empties, and he was blissfully chugging another. “I love it like hell!” he said, raising a bottle in cheery prost.

But it isn’t the expats that Kingdom must convince. Kingdom’s bearded German braumeister Peter Haupenthal is charged with being faithful to his proud fermenting and filtering heritage while catering to Khmer tastes. “We’re now working toward the final recipe, and we think we’re almost there. Unfortunately, making a good beer takes time and we can’t speed up the process,” he said.

Annual beer consumption in Cambodia may stand at a lowly 7 liters a person (compared with 30 or so in Vietnam and Thailand), but Brongers said that means there’s money to be made. He plans to gradually expand Kingdom’s output from 150,000 bottles to about 1 million a month, and his grand vision is to raise the standard for Phnom Penh’s already buzzing beer scene.

Although Phnom Penh’s newest beer is making its way into bars, the small city already has two microbreweries with beer gardens that are growing in popularity. Man Han Lou’s brews are palatable, and customers don’t seem to be put off that one of them is acid-green in color. The waistcoated staff swarms the brew-house-themed restaurant, delivering pints pulled from plastic keg-like containers while metal brewing tanks against the back wall silently do their job. Man Han Lou produces four types of beer: Gold, Red, Green and Black stout, from 5% to 6% alcohol per volume, for $3 a mug. The Green, very light and easy to drink, tastes like the Gold (despite its alarming color), the Red has a delicate fruity flavor, and the aromatic Black gets the thumbs-up all round.

At the Munich Beer Restaurant on Sothearous Boulevard, self-proclaimed purveyors of “authentic German brew,” the beer is less flavorful. Both the Gold and the Stout — the only varieties offered — lack body and a decent head, but the Munich’s garden setting makes the experience. A striped awning provides shelter from sudden monsoon showers, and the terra-cotta patio tile, verdant greenery and potted plant hedgerow make the Munich a beer and barbecue oasis. The modest beer menu is accompanied by a heavy tome listing hundreds of delicious dishes, including beef with sesame for $4.95 and goat with Khmer cheese for $6.95.

Sovanna is a local favorite, where the grub is good and the fifth beer is free if you buy four. Another popular spot is the vibrant 54 Langeach Sros, which is always crammed to its blue-and-white-striped rafters with customers chugging beers as they grill their own seafood, meats and veggies. Here Angkor beer sells for just $1.75 and Anchor beer for $2.25, and you can order the usual international suspects by the can, bottle or bucket of ice.

travel@latimes.com

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-cambodiabeer-20111120,0,3169742.story?track=rss

AVERY COUNTY, NC (WBTV) – The sound of chainsaws are echoing through the hills and valleys of North Carolina’s High Country as Christmas trees are being prepared for shipments throughout the country.

More than a million Frasier fir trees are sent from North Carolina to as far away as California.

“It’s a big part of the economy up here,” said grower Doug Clark. In recent years, though, orders have declined and some growers have gone out of business “and we just haven’t had enough new orders to pick up the slack,” said Clark.

On Tuesday a large trailer was being loaded with thousands of trees that will be hauled to Columbus Ohio.

Another shipment is headed to Connecticut on Wednesday.

Crews are busy cutting, baling, and loading trees, though not as many people were hired this year. Clark said he normally has between 50 and 60 migrants on his farm but this year he cut back to 30 “because of the economy.”

With sales sluggish in many areas Clark said buyers should expect prices to stay the same or even drop compared to last year.

He believes most corner lots will have discounts available. Clark plans to keep prices down at his lot in Pineola with discounts depending on the size of tree a buyer picks out.

“It’s a good year to be a Christmas tree buyer,” he said.

http://www.wbtv.com/story/15991451/christmas-chopping-season-underway-in-the-mountains