Monday, November 23, 2009

Let us Give Thanks for...

Black Chocolate Stout
The imperial ale favored by Catherine the Great; this three mash brew boasts two centuries of perfection. This chocolate version is a luscious dark blend of specially roasted malts. Serve it in a snifter with chocolate desserts, cheesecake, fruit tarts or ice cream. Black Chocolate Stout is only offered once a year as a seasonal treat; its limited availability makes it fit for a queen (or king).



Columbia Winery Cellarmasters Riesling A perfect pairing for a Thanksgiving meal! The textures are smooth and light but with complex characters making this white a delightful companion to the traditional root vegetables served at holiday meals. It might even rescue an over-cooked bird and the chef. The Senior Editor at Cork Review offered this helpful insight: "Want to be rich, lose weight, and look good naked? Buy this wine."


Beaujolais Nouveau by Georges Deboeuf
This special offering from Georges Duboeuf, the King of Beaujolais, is not released until the third Thursday of November just in time for the holidays. Wine Spectator finds this year's vintage to be exceptional:

...."the wines displayed good concentration, with more strawberry and dark berry and cherry fruit than in past years. Additionally, there was fresh acidity, and it was well-integrated, without rendering the wines too crisp.

Franck Duboeuf, proprietor of Georges Duboeuf, the négociant his father founded, called the vintage superb. "In 2003 and 2005 we thought we were lucky to see such grapes in our lifetimes," he said at a New York promotional event. "But these [vintages] were surpassed in 2009."

Duboeuf said many factors contributed to the success of the vintage, but very dry and warm weather in August was key to promoting fuller physiological maturity in the grapes. He also noted that "fantastic weather conditions" during harvest, which began very early, Aug. 25, afforded growers and pickers lots of time to bring in healthy fruit, without any sorting."

Try the Beaujolais Nouveau as a special treat to accompany poultry, cheeses and desserts.


ChocoVine This is bliss. Cabernet Savignon and Dutch chocolate blended into a lush velvety taste experience. This is a favorite item at Out of the Blue; North Georgia's top seller of ChocoVine. Ask for a taste on your next visit to the store and you'll smile too....


Cheese! Out of the Blue has an exceptional selection of fine cheeses and Fra'mani Handcrafted Salumi The Cabot Clothbound Cheddar is a Gold Medal Winner at the World Cheese Awards. Thanks to a partnership between Cabot and Jasper Hill Farm, a small artisan start-up helmed by brothers Andy and Mateo Kehler, this cheese and others allow farmers a better return than what was possible with milk alone. And artisan cheeses allow farmers to stay solvent while also supporting the local economy. But the proof is in the tasting; this cheddar is the best.

The Penguin You love sodas, so do your children. But you don't want additives, preservatives, phony colorants, sweeteners and flavors. Enter the best dressed fellow in town. The Penguin transforms water into sparkling water or soda without batteries or electricity.You control the amount of carbonation by pushing the carbonating lever downward several times until you hear the penquin chirp. One chirp means the water is lightly carbonated; five chirps will make super-fizzy seltzer. In addition to sparkling water and seltzer, the Penguin enables you to be a soda mixologist with over 25 regular, diet and caffeine-free soda flavors

Our unofficial independent survey results: the Penguin's fizz is the coolest fizz this holiday.

We wish everyone a very blessed Thanksgiving,

Sarah & Co.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Savannah Bee - October 24th



It has been a very busy slide into fall at Out of the Blue.
We have been very fortunate to stay so busy with all our new products,
and many more on the way..so stay in touch and stop in to sample with us on
any Saturday.

Speaking of Sampling Saturdays, Savannah Bee is coming to visit on October 24th.
This great Georgia company has put honey on the map again with monofloral
and organic offerings that completely transform cheeses, teas and grilling marinades.
We all gotta eat, and as my frind Hansi says, "life is too short for boring food" so come
sweeten it up-naturally with Savannah Bee at Out of the Blue, October 24 th noon until 4 PM.

See you all then.

Salut,

Sarah & Co.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

September 5th Beer Tasting


Join us at Out of the Blue for our first BEER TASTING
Saturday, September 5th from noon until 4 PM . Let Jeremy Dunn, our Guru of Beer Awareness introduce you to the depths and differences offered by hand crafted micro-brews. We will even be pouring ORGANIC ales and GLUTEN free beers...Something for everyone!
Raise your glass!
Out of the Blue
Saturday
September 5 th
Noon until 4 PM

Friday, August 21, 2009

Tiny bubbles...


Want to turn regular tap water into Perrier or San Pellegrino for pennies a glass? So did I! But most of the gadgets and compression tools I found felt either extremely cheap or felt like they belonged in a hardware store. But not this baby!


You have to stop by the store and check out a refreshing demo of our new Penguin. This arctic bird will not only dazzle and amaze, but will keep you in plain or flavored carbonation for next to nothing using your own tap or filtered water. I can't stop drinking the stuff...it's THAT GOOD!


The complete kit comes with two CO2 carbonators, two glass carafes, and of course the Penguin carbonation system. We are the exclusive Penguin dealer in North Georgia and it fits right in at Out of the Blue. No waste, no fuss. We'll even recycle the CO2 cans for you!


The tiny bubbles are flowing at Out of the Blue, so what are you waiting for?



Greater Tuna...

Join us at the Blue Ridge Community Theater August 27, 28, 29, 30 and September 3, 4, & 5 and be a part of the most hilarious "fun-raiser" ever! Starring Pat Ashton and our own B.T. Bean, together again after 19 years.

Tickets are $15 per person and the proceeds go towards the purchase and completion of the new theatre. Out of the Blue is donating the wine, so it won't just be great, it'll be GREATER!

Look forward to seeing you there -

Sarah

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Look up and smile...

Have you ever wondered why people seem to color coordinate their umbrellas to the weather?  When it's black and grey outside, all you'll see are grey expressions on faces hiding beneath black umbrellas.  Where's the fun in that?  Why spend all that time praying for rain just to hide under a boring umbrella?  Come into the store and look what's hanging from our ceiling.  We have the most beautiful collection of umbrellas you'll ever find...the kind that'll make you happy it's raining!  So leave your black umbrella in the trunk for emergencies and add some color to life's colorless days.  Here's a peak...


 
Also, we have a special USA vs. France wine tasting this Friday, August 7th at 6:00 PM.  Please be sure to call or email us to RSVP.  It's the best deal in Blue Ridge for only $10...and a ton of fun too!
See you in Blue Ridge!
Sarah

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Incredible feta...

Guest Blogger: Hans Rueffert

For much of my life, Feta cheese was just that dry, crumbly stuff that was methodically lumped atop salads at Greek restaurants. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't noteworthy either. A few years ago, however, my friend Kasra introduced me to REAL feta in the form of a brined variety from Bulgaria. He served me a plate of feta cubes surrounded by fresh basil leaves and slices of radish. Amazing. My sense of geography gets a little fuzzy when it comes to Bulgaria, but damn it's some good cheese. It was, I believed at the time, the Holy Grail of feta; dry yet creamy, salty with sweet after notes. Could it get any better?


YES!!! Leave it to Out of the Blue to find and procure an amazing feta from Mountain View Cheesery. The Bulgarians have been trumped by the Alabamians! The coriander and lavender from my Out of the Blue salt really makes the cheese sing and you may find you've eaten the entire jar before you even realize what's going on. The stuff sells out faster than oxygen on Mars, so you may have to put in a special request to make sure Sarah sets some aside for you. Believe me, it'll be worth the wait.

Gesundheit! See you at Out of the Blue

Hans Rueffert