Spring brings Change to Corkage

April 25, 2012

Greetings Corkage Fans!

Have you stopped in to Corkage lately?  Lots of exciting changes are popping up at your favorite friendly neighborhood sake and wine shop. We’ve taken down the wall between Corkage and Cafe Abir and expanded the bar seating to accommodate more of you.  Yes, hopefully we haven’t lost any of our personal touch but are now able to offer more sakes, more wines, and more beers to more folks!

Happy Hour with JAC Wines – Thursday April 26, 6 – 8

If you’re one of those people that needs a special occasion in order to be lured out, this Thursday night we have the perfect excuse for you.  Come to Corkage for a very special happy hour tasting with our good friend Alex Casella from JAC Wines.  Alex is winemaker and Vice President of Sales at JAC Wines, and is a Certified Sommelier.

He will be pouring the following wines from JAC this Thursday, April 26 from 6 – 8 pm.  Please come in to meet Alex and try his wines.  $8 tasting fee can be waived with a bottle purchase.

  • JAC ONE, Chardonnay, Santa Maria Valley (Bien Nacido, Block 1) 2010. (Draft)
  • JAC ONE, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2008
  • JAC ONE, Cabernet Sauvignon, Knights Valley, 2009. (Draft)  *All from Vineyards coming from above Peter Michael Winery in Knights Valley AVA.

Spring Sakes, and Meet the Sake Brewers Event May 15

Spring has sprung here in the NoPa district of SF, the cherry blossoms are blooming and it’s time for ohanami (cherry blossom viewing) and namazake!  We have Koshinohomare Shiboritate from Niigata, Harushika “Spring Deer” Shiboribana from Nara, Masumi Arabashiri (free run sake) from Nagano, brewers of award-winning junmai daiginjo sakes Sanka and Yumedono, and a very limited amount of Seikyo Omachi Namazake from Hiroshima.  Amazing stuff, these are fresh, unpasteurized sakes that are full of zip and zing.  Taste them at Corkage in our sampler, and take home your favorite and enjoy ohanami season!

*** SAVE THE DATE for the next Meet the Sake Brewers event at Corkage – Tuesday May 15, representatives from Suigei and Amabuki breweries will be on hand at Corkage to pour their delicious and distinctive sakes.  More details will follow, but I promise you won’t want to miss this event!

Wine New Arrivals and Specials

Along with our recent renovations and reconfigurations, we’ve added some very special wines and sakes which are sure to please you.  On our wine tap system, we have two new white wines, Zocker Grüner Veltliner from Edna Valley California, crisp, light and refreshing, and Gotham Project Riesling from Washington, lush with hints of apricot and a kiss of residual sugar.  One new red wine on tap, the newly released Frog’s Leap Zinfandel, a true Napa Valley pioneer of organic, dry-farmed wines.  This is a nicely balanced zin with loads of bright fruit, not heavy or overblown, just a well balanced, mouth-watering red.  If you’re into natural wines that just taste great, you have to try it!

Also new to Corkage are several great, value-driven wines from Rhône and Alsace  – Andrieux et Fils Cotes du Rhone Villages from old vines, and Domaine de la Verde Vacqueyeras – both are sub-$20 wines which exhibit loads of spicy fruit.  From Alsace is a biodynamic producer Martin Schaetzel Pinot Blanc whose wine is a racy blend of lemon and white blossoms, and a terrific match for the sashimi next door at Tsunami or your favorite asian cuisine.  If you’ve tried the very popular Spanish red Mencia from Bierzo, Pazo de Arribi, and are curious if Mencia has another dimension, you should taste the incredibly deep and delicious Finca Millara from Ribeira Sacra – 100% Mencia from a DO region in Galicia with almost inaccessible steep canyons on reclaimed red slate terraces.

Hope to see you at Corkage again soon.

Kanpai,

Todd, Yoshi, Remi and Charlie