CLUB NOTES: Sweet Club March 2021

Hello club members,

Whether it’s early weekday mornings or hitting the pillow at night, we’re always thinking about wine — what’s new, what’s classic, what’s timely, what’s trending and what’s best going to serve our customers and club members.

Wine is more than just a retail job for all of us here at Bag And String, it’s our mission and passion. And we hope these things come through to you each time your club picks arrive!

It’s an exciting time for us at the shop as we continue to grow our several types of club subscriptions, and also improve upon the other services we offer — from curbside pick-up and delivery to website ordering and blog & newsletter content.

We hope you’re finding all this content fun and worthwhile, as it’s all part of our multifaceted plan to better serve all of you! 

So stop in soon and collect your club picks! And don’t forget, the day you pick up your club wines you receive 20% off two or more bottles!

Cheers!

-All of us at Bag & String Wine Merchants

SWEET CLUB WINE ONE

WINERY NAME: Red Newt Cellars.
VARIETAL NAME: Riesling
VINTAGE: 2018
REGION: Finger Lakes, New York

Tasting Notes:
Crisp with a touch of sweetness, showing orange citrus and stone fruit flavors with floral notes on the finish. This wine has notes of tangerine and honeysuckle.

Winery Notes:
Red Newt Cellars is located on the east side of Seneca Lake in the hamlet of Hector in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Red Newt Cellars was founded in 1998 by David and Debra Whiting. Wine production was started with the 1998 vintage with a mere 1,200 cases of Chardonnay, Riesling, Vidal, Cayuga, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The first white wines were released at the grand opening of the winery and restaurant in July of 1999.

Debra and David have received recognition from local and regional press as well as from national publications such as Food and Wine, Nations Restaurant News, and Wine Spectator. Recently, Red Newt Cellars has been named among Wine & Spirits Magazine’s 2011 Top 100 wineries of the year. The Wine Spectator describes David and Debra as “untrammeled lovers of the Finger Lakes scene,” and it couldn’t be more true. David and Debra Whiting met in the late 1980s. At that time David was working as cellar master at a Finger Lakes winery while Debra was supervising microbiology labs at Cornell University. Following a passion for food and wine, David continued his oenological career as winemaker at three different wineries in the Finger Lakes. Debra’s path led her into a gourmet cheesecake business and then an upscale catering business. When the opportunity arose in 1998, David started wine production with the 1998 vintage and the following summer Debra opened the Red Newt Bistro concurrent with the first wine releases in June of 1999. 

FOOD PAIRING
Orange Sesame Pork Chops

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/4 pounds bone-in pork chop, 3/4-inch thick (4 pork chops)
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Tomato Soup
1 tablespoon peeled grated fresh ginger root
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepperflakes
1/4 cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoons sesame oil
4 cups hot cooked white rice

Instructions:
Heat the olive oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork and sear until well browned on both sides.  Remove the pork from the skillet.

Stir the soup, ginger root, red pepper, marmalade and sesame oil in the skillet and heat to a boil.  Return the pork to the skillet.  Reduce the heat to low.  Cook until the pork is cooked through.  Serve the pork and sauce with the rice.

SWEET CLUB WINE TWO

WINERY NAME: Tussock Jumper
VARIETAL NAME: Moscato
REGION: Valencia, Spain

Tasting Notes:
Bright lemon colour with a light pearliness. Youthful with pronounced fruit and floral reminiscent of mandarin peel. Sweet lusciousness and refreshing airy bubbles. The small grapes for this wine are hand-picked at the optimum stage of ripeness from late August to mid-September. They give forth a more concentrated juice as well as more concentrated aromas extracted from the skin.

Winery Notes:
We love wine! That’s why Tussock Jumper brings you only the very best wines from the best known wine regions of the world. We don’t own any wineries or vineyards or anything like that.

We simply concentrate on travelling the world, selecting the best value for money wines we can find and sharing them. Each one bears the picture of an animal native to where the wine comes from!

What makes us truly unique is that all our wines are bottled at source – in the same place where the grapes are grown. And, because our producers appreciate the love we have for wine, they’re happy to pass on their very best quality wines to us.

FOOD PAIRING
Mandarin & Pear Salad

Ingredients:
DRESSING
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon thyme - dried
salt and pepper - to taste
1/4 cup olive oil

SALAD
1 red onion - cut into small wedges
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper - to taste
1 head Bibb lettuce, leaves apart but whole
8 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves
1 pear - cored, cut into small chunks
1 orange - peeled, segmented
1/2 cup craisins
1/3 cup smoked almonds, chopped
1/2 cup goat cheese crumbles

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400°. Line baking sheet with foil. Spread out onion pieces on foil. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix to coat onion pieces. Spread back out on foil, place in oven. Roast until slightly browned and tender (20-25 minutes). Cool slightly.

In small bowl, combine orange juice, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, honey, and thyme. Gradually whisk in oil. Set aside. In bowl, toss spinach with 1/4 cup dressing. 

Divide Bibb lettuce leaves among 4 salad plates (3-4 leaves per plate). Divide and place dressed spinach on top of Bibb leaves. Lightly toss roasted onion, pear, oranges, almonds, and craisins together. Arrange on top of spinach.

Sprinkle goat or blue cheese over each salad. Drizzle with remaining dressing.