Sun Singer Wines "It's News"

SUN SINGER WINES & SPIRITS NEWS

April 8, 2011 Volume: # 4 Issue: # 14

"Here's to the corkscrew -
a useful key to unlock the storehouse of wit,

the treasury of laughter, the front door of fellowship,

and the gate of pleasant folly."

~ W.E.P. French

As we're writing this week's newsletter there's one thing that's a constant about Sun Singer - there's almost always someone laughing. As you scan the tables around the room, they're filled with the smiling faces of friends enjoying themselves. I think that means alot to all of us who work here and it's contagious because we're smiling too!

This weekend April 8 - 10 will have the an invasion of Moms (and a few Dads) for U of I's Moms' Weekend. Be prepared for congestion and delays on campus and elsewhere in shops, restaurants and at Sun Singer!

Best bet is to come in for Saturday dinner and on Sunday all day.

Mark, Jackie & the Sun Singer Staff

Highlights

At the Wine Bar

Easter Thrills

Green Wine Part 2

Schmaltz Brewing

Wine Lover's Guide to Cheddar

this week At the Wine Bar!

Sun Singer offers more than 30 wines by the glass every day of the week.

Here's two highlights for the week:

White

Shannon Ridge Sauvignon Blanc '09

Lake County, California

Fresh scents of lime, mineral and cut grass. Crisp acidity and juicy flavors of lemon and lime with hints of grapefruit on the close.

Red

Andezon '08, Cotes du Rhone, France

The 100% tank-fermented and aged blend of 90% Syrah and 10% Grenache (from 40 and 60 year old vines respectively) offers copious quantities of black cherry fruit, licorice, pepper, and spice. One of safest, most reliable Cotes du Rhone cuvees

The Wine Bar Cafe offers 2 ounce sampling sizes on all of our wines-by-the-glass. You can create your own tasting every day of the week.

this week's WINE BAR FEATURE

Explore the rest this week's complete wine selections.

retail feature Easter Thrills

Easter hops in exceptionally late this year on Sunday, April 24th. For those of you who enjoy the traditional celebrations of Spring, Jackie has stocked us brimming over with treats for young and old to help celebrate the occasion.

From one of our favorites chocolatiers South Bend Chocolate Company our very first treat is

Bunny Crunch and Easter Pretzels. Bunny Crunch Popcorn is a seriously delicious holiday treat that kids of all ages will devour with delight. This mouth-watering blend of caramel corn, chocolate and amaretto-flavored almonds will have your Easter guests grinning from ear to ear.

Religious Interlude

Did you know? Within the Catholic church, pretzels were regarded as having religious significance for both ingredients and shape. Pretzels made with a

simple recipe using only flour and water could be

eaten during Lent, when Christians were forbidden to eat eggs, lard, or dairy products such as milk and butter. As time passed, pretzels became associated with both Lent and Easter. Pretzels were hidden on Easter morning just as eggs are hidden today, and are particularly associated with Lent, fasting, and prayers before Easter. I'm not sure that the monks in France or Italy who supposedly first created pretzels had in mind how truly delightful this tradition could become. South Bend Chocolates share there tradition with the perfection of this confection - The perfect combination of salty and sweet, these mini pretzels covered in white and pink chocolate are sure to satisfy your snack craving.

I'm afraid that we're only getting started at this point. Additional Easter treats include:

Milk Chocolate Fudge Eggs

Made from small-batch chocolate fudge and immediately coated in a generous layer of your choice of creamy Milk Chocolate.

Milk Chocolate Caramel Eggs

Made from small-batch creamy caramel and immediately coated in a generous layer of your choice of creamy Milk Chocolate.

Bissinger's Chocolates
Foil Carrots

Perk up any Easter basket with these solid, all-natural milk chocolate carrots.

Bunny Ears

Facts show that the majority of people nibble away on the ears of a chocolate bunny first. Indulge in the best part-Bissinger's style: great tasting, solid chocolate that is 100% all-natural.

Temptation is Hard to Overcome
Long Grove Confectionary

brings us:

Milk Chocolate Bunnies and Baby Bunnies

Speckled Truffle Eggs

Handcrafted chocolate truffle centers enrobed in natural pink or purple speckled white chocolate.

Easter Coconut Nests

A crunchy mixture of coconut, jelly beans and rich milk chocolate or creamy white.

Best of All

Let Sun Singer create the Perfect Easter Basket filled with all this fun. But remember with Easter on the late side all these treats are disappearing fast so get yours now before they're gone. Happy Easter from all the staff at Sun Singer!

the wine room A Green Guide to Wine!

At Sun Singer, we are finding more and more interest from our customers about the different growing and husbandry styles that vineyards use in growing grapes. Here's the second part of the article that addresses some of the issues pertaining to sustainable production. Missed Part 1? Catch it in the archive.

Biodynamic Man

Some Organic Ingredients
This category is for products that have less than 70% organic ingredients. It cannot bear the USDA seal nor have information about a certifying agency or any other reference to organic content. Biodynamic Wines Biodynamic principles take the organic approach a step further by making sure that the growth of the grapes is in tune with the larger environment. Using homeopathic sprays, herbal preparations and lunar cycles, soil fertility is increased and vines are protected from pests and diseases.

Biodynamic farming techniques utilize the vineyard's natural resources to cultivate the highest quality grapes possible without the use of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, growth stimulants or GMOs. A vineyard that is certified biodynamic meets and typically exceeds the standards and regulations for organic certified farming.

LIVE
LIVE, Oregon viticulture industry's Low Input Viticulture and Enology label was put in place to ensure that Oregon vineyards remain disease-free, as they have been historically, while limiting the use of chemical pesticides. LIVE wines are certified by the International Organization for Biological Control therefore allowing to be internationally certified sustainable. LIVE promotes planting of species appropriate to local conditions, reliance on beneficial insects, fungi and plants, and increased biodiversity (www.liveinc.org).

Salmon Safe
Salmon Safe is a Northwest eco-label for agricultural practices that restores watershed conditions to allow salmon to spawn and thrive. It works in partnership with LIVE to promote runoff control, planting trees near streams and utilizing integrated pest management. Vineyards are inspected by an independent contractor (often an organic certifier) to ensure compliance with both LIVE's and Salmon Safe's standards (for a list of wineries, see www.salmonsafe.org/wine/winelist.cfm).

Vegan Wines
Winemakers, both organic and conventional, are not obliged to declare on the label when they use animal by-products as fining agents to clarify wine. These include egg white (to brighten red wines), casein (a milk protein to make wine taste softer), gelatin (removes bitterness) and isinglass (derived from fish). A vegan wine, on the other hand, uses no animal products whatsoever.

SULFITES
Although one percent of the population suffers from sulfite allergies (and five percent of asthma sufferers react to sulfites) if you or your partner are allergic, low-sulfite organic wines from the U.S. may be your best choice. All wines contain some sulfites naturally, but European organic wines have added sulfites to levels of between 40 and 80 parts per million (ppm). As noted above, USDA organic regulations do not allow sulfites to be added to certified organic wines, putting American organic wine levels between 10 and 20 ppm. U.S. wines made with organic grapes must have sulfite levels of less than 100 ppm. Conventional wines, however, range from 80 to 120 ppm and higher.

in the cooler He'Brew for the Holidays!

If you haven't heard of the colorful Schmaltz Brewing, the it's about time you did. Schmaltz produces both HE'BREW: The Chosen Beers

and CONEY ISLAND LAGERS.

Shmaltz Brewing Company is an American craft brewing company based in San Francisco, California and Brooklyn, New York. Founded as "a Jewish celebration craft beer" by proprietor Jeremy Cowan, HE'BREW Beer has incorporated quality, community, and schtick since 1996. "This is a beer to celebrate the Jewish community," says Cowan. "The product is primarily for the Jewish community, but the beer's humor is appealing to lots of people." The company's second brand, Coney Island Craft Lagers, was introduced in 2007 in partnership with Coney Island USA, a non-profit organization that runs the Coney Island Circus Sideshow and Museum in Brooklyn. Shmaltz is known for blurring beer styles and using puns, art, history, and pop culture in every aspect of their products. All HE'BREW beers are certified by Kosher Supervision of America under the strictest Orthodox standards.

HE'BREW ORIGIN

Celebrating our second decade of brewing, Shmaltz Brewing presents ORIGIN Pomegranate Ale. A renewal of our original HE'BREW Beer covenant, brewed once again after 10 years with the juice of over 10,000 luscious Pomegranates. ORIGIN is a

complex, rich and balanced Imperial Amber Ale with a truly unique character. The only Pomegranate Strong Ale in the country!

HE'BREW GENESIS

Crisp, smooth and perfectly balanced between a west coast style pale and amber ale, with a supple malt sweetness and a pronounced hop flourish.

HE'BREW MESSIAH BOLD

It's the Beer You've Been Waiting For! A deep, bold nut brown ale beautifully balanced with rich dark malts and a complex hop character converging to reveal a simply enchanting elixir.

HE'BREW VERTICAL

Vertical Jewbelation® is the latest release is Shmaltz's barrel aged series, and recently took home a Gold Medal at the World Beer Championships 2011. Vertical Jewbelation® is a very rare brew as it is a blend of all seven recipes of every past anniversary offering of Jewbelation® (8 - 14) barrel-aged in Sazerac 6-year rye whiskey barrels throughout 2010. Beverage Tasting Institute, the host of the World Beer Championships, states, "Vertical Jewbelation® is a delicious beer to savor." 10.5%ABV

Candles Won't Be The Only Thing Getting Lit This Season!

Events & Tastings

Free!

Sensational

Saturday Tasting

12noon - 4:00 p.m.

Every Saturday

Saturday, April 9th

Sneak Peak - click here

___________

U of I

Moms' Weekend

April 9 - 10

Watch for the Crowds!

April 7 - 10

Sun Singer invites you to view the photography our own Laurent Gasquet. We have six pictures on display around the store featuring some stage photographs, Champaign and France.

STONE BREWING CO. IS HERE!

"The most popular and highest rated

brewery - ever."

A WINE LOVER'S GUIDE

TO CHEDDAR

read more>>>

canadian whiskey

NORTH of the

BORDER

We've had the privilege of beefing up our whisk(e)y selection over the last half year, but this is the first time that we've added to our collection from our Canadian friends North of the Border. Here's two new additions for Canadian Whiskey drinkers and those considering 'crossing over':

Pendleton

Blended Canadian

Pendleton Whisky is an oak barrel-aged whisky distilled in Canada using the finest ingredients. Before bottling, Hood River Distillers in Oregon adds only the purest glacier-fed spring water from Mt. Hood (Oregon's highest peak). Pendleton Whisky delivers an uncommonly smooth taste and a rich, complex flavor.

Pendleton Whisky was specifically created to celebrate the bold spirit of independence and hard-work ethic of the American cowboy and cowgirl. It's borne of the rich tradition of the 100 year old Pendleton Round-Up, one of the most prestigious rodeos in the world. Each Pendleton Whisky bottle prominently features the rodeo's famous bucking horse symbol and Let'er Buck slogan. Pendleton Whisky can be enjoyed straight, on the rocks or with your favorite mixer.

Snake River Stampede Premium Blended Canadian

Looking at the label of Snake River Stampede Canadian Whisky, you can almost hear the thunder of the hoof beats of the stampeding horses.

The bottle and the label of Snake River Stampede Canadian 80 proof Canadian Whisky, sends you back to an earlier day in Canyon County in Nampa Idaho, where for over 90 years the men and women of America's wild west have gathered to kick up some dust and bust some broncos. Great cowboys, like Gene Autry and Dean Oliver, three time all around rodeo champion and many other hard working no bull cowboys and cowgirls that keep the rodeo spirit alive we lift our Snake River Stampede Canadian Whisky to you " Open the gate".

Creamy butter and vanilla right off the nose, with some high reaching fruit notes, butterscotch, and light oak as well. In the mouth this is stone cold Canadian bliss - biscuits, graham crackers, and soft, creamy grains with some spicy rye on the finish, somewhat standard for the style, but in no way boring. Juicy and drinkable to the very end.

Time to saddle up and point your pony toward the sunset...don't forget your ipod!

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