Sunday School
Join us each Sunday at the cafe and learn about and enjoy a different not-so-common wine, cheese and beer—and at 50% or more off our regular prices. School was never this delicious! Limit one each per guest at Sunday School prices. Please, no returns: if you try it, you buy it.
Syllabus for Sunday, July 5, 2009
Sunday's Wine
Greco Taburno, Ocone, '07
(Campania, Italy)
When Mount Vesuvius erupts things go downhill quickly, but there is a silver lining. The lava flowing from this monstrous legend leaves a volcanic, mineral rich soil in its wake, which is ideal for growing grapes. About forty miles east of Naples (and the volcano) the Ocone family has been making wine since 1910. They focus on ancient grape varietals farmed only with organic and biodynamic methods. Maybe they’re trying to keep the gods happy by completely eliminating the use of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers on their estate. Greco is a seductive white wine grape first brought to Italy by the Greeks centuries before Christ. The Ocone family handpicks the grapes into baskets. A brief maceration followed by a gentle pressing preserves the nuanced aromas and gentle character of the fruit. No wood is used in making this wine. After aging in stainless steel, a straw yellow Italian beauty emerges. Ripe melon splashed by citrus and floral notes on the nose is succeeded by a vivacious freshness in the mouth. A mineral-rich finish cleanses the palate and leaves you thirsting for another drop.
Regular Price
$10
Sunday School Price $5 glass
Sunday's Cheese
Gabietou
(Acquitaine, France · Sheep & Cow-R)
Most cheese made in the Pyrenees Mountains of southwestern France is of sheep’s milk. The industrious wooly animals are well suited to the rough terrain and climate, and their rich milk makes for a fatty cheese you can really sink your teeth into. Today’s example is made in the traditional style of the region’s most lovable fromage, Ossau-Iraty. However, the makers of Gabietou add cow’s milk to the mix, making for a rare and nuanced cheese pleasing to almost any palate. The proportion of cow’s milk used is at the discretion of the cheesemaker and varies depending upon seasonal availability. The sheep's milk lends a salty, buttery quality to the cheese, while the cow's milk offers toasted nut and butterscotch undertones while softening the flavor profile. Gabietou’s smooth, supple texture melts in your mouth. Clean, milky nuances shine through to a finish that is both sweet and savory. Notes of olive, fruit and hay in the unctuous paste meet their match in a lighthearted red, like a glass of Beaujolais.
Regular Price
$8½
Sunday's Beer
Victory Schwarz Pils
(Downingtown, PA · 5.6%)
The classic German Pilsner style, or Pils, is known for being straw-colored, well hopped, a tad spicy, floral and seriously refreshing. Schwarz (not to be confused with that Schwartz kid who sat behind you in math class) means black in German, and is rarely used to describe a Pilsner. Traditional German Schwarzbiers are truly black in color and showcase chocolate-coffee flavors with not much bitterness. The creative minds at Victory decided to marry these two German styles to make a dark colored, but more aggressively hopped and refreshing lager. A full, brassy nose created by German noble hops leaps from this beer as roasted malt aromas play in the background. The malt takes over the palate like a crisp, dark pretzel while the hops bring a mineral sharpness to a refreshing climax at the finish. The creamy pillow of a head sits atop a beer that is more rusty amber in color than actually black. This limited release from Victory Brewing Company is available on tap at their brewpub in Downingtown and right here.
Regular Price $5 / 16 oz DRAFT
Sunday School Price $2½ / 16 oz DRAFT
