Anchor Steam Christmas Ale is available in a magnum size; 1.5Lts, whcih is the right size to age and share with your friends.  $19.99 for a 1.5Lt.

  Ridgeway Brewery is from England and we are offering two of these dark English ales.  Bad Elf is an English Ale and is $5.99 for a 500ml.  Crimanally Bad Elf is a Barleywine style ale and is $7.99 for a 500ml.

  Bridgeport Ebenezer Ale is a warm, rich ale with nice complexity.  It comes all the way from Portland, Oregon and is a great buy at $7.99 per 6 pack.

  Avery’s Old Jubilation is from the Boulder, Colorado brewery that is known for their specialty beers.  $7.99 for a 6 pack should make this an easy decision.

  So, come in and let us put you in the winter spirits!

 
 “Bad Elf” and “Seriously Bad Elf” are two holiday offerings from the beer distributor Shelton Brothers.  Shelton Brothers searches out and imports great beers from small breweries with craftsman who do not manipulate their beer and who take their passion seriously.  An exceptional beer has a sense of place, a distinctive house character and an appreciation for tradition, value and the natural art of beer-making.

  These two beers from Ridgeway Brewing in Oxfordshire, England are serious beers with a penchant for humor.  “BAD ELF” is a Winter’s Ale which has Olde England meeting the New World, with strong IPA characteristics which show depth, texture and nuance.  This beer is blended with English malt and balanced with an amazing 45 ounces of fresh hops-including English Cascade- per barrel.  A little malt, a little hops, and lots of holiday trouble-making; this Elf is so bad, its way good!

  “SERIOUSLY BAD ELF” is a Ridgeway Brewing masterpiece.  This is an English Double Ale, with a very English interpretation of a Belgian Tripel brewed to a warming 9% alcohol.  “Seriously Bad Elf” is rapidly attracting an American following.  This beer is actually banned in Connecticut for the rather dubious reason that Santa Claus is on the label.  Thank goodness the Connecticut government is working overtime to protect their citizens from this seriously scary beer!  It is totally legal in Colorado and is available from Avon Liquor in16.9oz bottles.  The “Bad Elf” is $6.99 and the “Seriously Bad Elf” is $7.99.

ELF WARNING:  Consumption of too much Winter’s Ale or English Double Ale may be bad for your elf and may impair your ability to drive a sleigh or operate toy making machinery!

Along with the wine sales for charity there is a complimentary wine tasting from 4 -6pm.  Hosted by Avon Liquor Sommelier, Kevin Lawerence will be tatsitng various wines.  The products are listed at www.avon-liquor.com

Egly-Ouriet Champagne

Accept no substitutions

“This range from Francis Egly is one of the most impressive I tasted. Egly farms eight hectares of old-vine plots, the lion’s share of which are in his home base of Ambonnay. The wines are made in a pure, unmanipulated fashion with no filtration in a style that clearly highlights the qualities of variety and terroir to the fullest. In short, I always look forward to drinking the wines of Egly-Ouriet, and I can’t recommend these Champagnes highly enough. ”—The Wine Advocate

Francis Egly, simply put, represents the pinnacle of artisanal winemaking in Champagne.

While we have tasted plenty of wines from excellent producers both big and small, we have been long convinced that few, if any, bottles approach the level of excellence that practically every bottle of Egly Grand Cru Champagne does. You’ll find Egly Champagne on the wine lists of the world’s three-star restaurants. You’ll also find it in the cellars of those who know that while Krug and other top producers can easily be had for a certain (often exaggerated) price, Egly Champagne is both rare and exceptional. It is produced in microscopic quantities; it has few peers in terms of quality; and if you appreciate fine Champagne, it is certainly worth going any length to acquire.

With vines in Bouzy, Verzenay and in the heart of Ambonnay, Francis Egly is able to craft rich, vinous Champagne with incredible character, grace and length. Most of his south-facing vines are 30 to 40 years old—ancient for Champagne—and are very low yielding. Egly’s work in the cellar too is unparalleled; most of his wines spend years on fine lees at the minimum, which contributes extra layers of concentration and a profound depth of flavor. Each label is marked with the date of disgorgement and just how long the wine spent aged on lees. It is this extra qualitative step that shows just how serious a winemaker Francis Egly is, and why his wines are always in high demand.

While it is no secret that demand for fine Champagne has always been great, today this is truer than ever. New markets and low-yielding vintages have resulted in a dearth of quality Champagne. What we are able to bring you, especially from a producer such as Egly, is limited. Egly produces very little wine from his 20 acres of land for the world, and he estimates that he has easily a third more demand for his Champagne than he has wine to offer. What does this mean for you? Fine Champagne is a worthy investment especially when you know that the quality of wine in the bottle, and the work that went in to make it so, is without peer. This is the always the case with Egly—if you are looking for the finest in Champagne, you’ve certainly found it here.

  Drinking any Sam Smith’s brew is like holding on to a valuable piece of the history of beer making.  The Sam Smith’s Brewery in Tadcaster, England, was founded in 1758 and is Yorkshires oldest brewery.  The rich Samuel Smith’s strain of yeast dates from the early 1900’s and the brewing water is drawn from a well sunk over 200 years ago.  No wonder their beer styles have become the bench mark for brewers all over the world.

  Winter ales are historically somewhat higher in alcohol and richness, to be enjoyed for the winter holidays with friends and family.  These hardier beers are great accompaniments to the richer and heavier foods of winter.  Elk, venison, rack of lamb, smoked foods, fresh pears and apples, all are wonderful pairings for this traditional winter ale.  Sam Smith’s Winter Welcome Ale is always a well balanced beer, the malts and hops providing the back bone and the acid contributing to the refreshing finish.  This ale is 6.0% alcohol.

  Sam Smith’s Winter Welcome Ale and many other classic beer styles from Sam Smith’s are available in the 550ML size for $4.99 and the 4pk for $9.49 at Avon Liquor.

“We just returned from a trip to Europe and the wine was different than the wine in the U.S. No hangovers, headaches, stuffiness – we could drink considerably more wine than we can in the U.S. with absolutely no side effects! We were told by some friends that there are no sulfites added to French wine (though the U.S. makes them add them to any French wine imported into the U.S.) Is that true?”

Well, no, actually it’s not. Sulfites are a natural, organic preservative that humans have been using in wine and other foods for several thousand years. The only difference between France and the U.S. is that the U.S. requires a warning label, and warning labels create the unfortunate impression that where there’s a warning, there must be something dangerous afoot.

And in fact there is, but that danger threatens only a relative handful of individuals – sulfite-sensitive asthmatics – for whom any exposure to sulfites could trigger potentially fatal respiratory problems. But sulfite-sensitive adults already know what they must avoid – a list that includes wine, fruit juice, sausages, salad bars and many other foodstuffs that routinely use sulfiting in production.

If you get a headache or a stuffy nose after drinking wine, you may be allergic to something – very likely the histamines in some red wines, or in the case of hangovers, simple over-indulgence. But it’s not the sulfites.

So why do so many travelers (me, too!) report being able to enjoy a little harmless over-indulgence on vacation without the recriminations that would surely ensue at home? My guess, frankly, is that it’s mostly psychological. We’re traveling, we’re relaxed, we’re having a great time, and we shrug off minor irritations that would seem more bothersome on a working day. Whatever the explanation of this happy consequence, I can say one thing with certainty: It doesn’t have anything to do with sulfites in the wine. To repeat: The only difference between the wines we drink in France (or Italy, or anywhere else in Europe) and the wines we enjoy at home is the warning label.

Now to the labeling, “organic sulfite free,” terminology that requires a little explanation. Under relatively recent federal regulations governing organic labeling, a wine made with organic vineyard practices but using sulfites as a natural preservative must be labeled “Made with organically grown grapes.” To qualify for the label “organic sulfite free,” it must have no sulfites added during production; however, it may contain up to 10 parts per million naturally occurring sulfites, a small dose that occurs as a byproduct of fermentation. In short, “sulfite-free” isn’t, really, although the sulfites are at such a low level that even sensitive individuals shouldn’t be able to detect them.

-Special Thanks to R Garr for this information-