Saturday, June 27, 2009

Urban Courtyard Market is Launched!

Our friend, Michele Niesen announces her new Urban Courtyard Market to be held every Saturday from 8 am until 1 pm. The market is located in the StudioPlex Lofts Courtyard at 659 Auburn Avenue. In addition to fresh, local produce, you can expect art and live music too!






Friday, June 26, 2009

The Merc Launches Wine Club

Team Merc is thrilled to announce the launch of our Wine Club! We are so excited to have the opportunity to find you some of the best wines you'll ever have! Our goal is to find you interesting, unique wines that you may not encounter in traditional retail settings. These wines will still be approachable, but present you with more adventurous, yet affordable options for your summer enjoyment.

Our first shipment will be arriving on Monday, July 6! For this shipment, think sparkly cava from Spain, Viognier from France and a fun ringer from Italy! As a member, you can look forward to picking up 3 unique and delicious wines on the first Monday of every month for only $40!

Being a member is easy and the committment is minimal! Consider us the facilitator of your wine subscription service but without all of the crazy shipping expenses often incurred from clubs out of California. The first Monday of every month you would pick up your three wines along with information about each of them. As a member you will enjoy special discounts on other items in the shop and receive 10% off any wine purchase at the shop throughout the month.

There is NO Membership Fee.

Your only committment is the once a month wine subscription of $40!

We will simply keep your credit card information on file and run it once a month just prior to your pick up. All you’ll have to do is drop by, pick up , go home and enjoy!

For your peace of mind, I want to let you know that I will not be storing your credit card information on any computer equipment. These will be will be kept in a very safe place and I am happy to discuss those procedures with you in person as you're signing up. Give us a call at the shop and we'll get you enrolled! Call us at 404-378-0096.

We look forward to bringing you some of the best wines you’ve ever experienced!

Cheers!
-Janea and Team Merc!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Wines from Chile at The Merc

Please Join Us on Saturday, June 13 at noon to learn about wines from Chile. Wine educator Lauren DeLuca will be at The Mercantile. We'll be talking about Chilean appellations and tasting our summer house wines from Morande's Pionero line. Our summer house wines retail for $9.99 and they are perfect to enjoy for any summer occassion. This is a marvelous opportunity to learn how wines from Chile are breaking into the American market and bringing us affordable, yet tasty selections.

This is a free event. Identification is required for anyone wishing to participate in the tasting.

See you in the shop!
Janea and Team Merc

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Red or White and Why. Wine at The Mercantile

Having the privilege of finally bringing wine and beer into The Mercantile was a huge day for us. We are so thrilled to at last add this final piece to the puzzle. We are starting small at The Mercantile, but look forward to steadily growing our wine program with unique, affordable wines from off the beaten path. For the summer, we have chosen two wines from the Jon-David Headrick portfolio out of the Loire Valley. We call them our “Summer Sophisticates” and I personally can’t wait to sit at home on my deck with a slightly chilled bottle of Jean Francois-Merieau’s “bois jacou” gamay and some Port Salud cheese from Spain. Our summer white selection is an unoaked 2007 chardonnay from Domaine de la Fruitiere. It’s richer on the pallete than you expect it to be and it’s balanced acidity knocked my socks off! I’ll definitely be finding some shellfish and oysters for this summer wine. We are introducing these wines to our guests in an educational tasting this coming Saturday, June 6 at noon. Please join us.

Wine has been one of the most basic things in life for centuries. For me, the most thrilling thing about wine is the mythology that often comes behind it. My favorite thing to say around the shop is “food is storytelling and wine is mythology.” It’s unusual to find a great wine without a good story behind it. For many winemakers, wine is about being a true expression or representation of the land from which it grows. I love this notion. When I pick up a bottle and I think about the soil from which it grew, the culture that has consumed it for ages, the climate it survived or thrived in and the hands that pampered and plucked those grapes, I figure I’m holding 750 milliliters of life and diversity in my hands. Now that is art!

Despite my philosophical ramblings about wine, it’s important to us in the shop to make an effort to take away any of the uppity or elitist notions that is often associated with wine drinking and wine buying. If someone comes into the shop and can’t find any bottles they recognize on the shelf, that doesn’t mean they are encountering anything elitist or rare. It also doesn’t mean someone is clueless. It simply means they’re encountering wines that may not be heavily produced or widely marketed. We search expressly for humble, yet special selections that have a focus on farming and land and may be a bit unusual to the mainstream market place. We find gratification in the thrill of the hunt!

The way I see it, wine drinkers and lovers span the gamut. I love talking about acidity and trying to pinpoint flavors. I fully intend to one day be able to make sense of all those minute appellations in France. Sometimes though I just want to kick back with an uncomplicated glass of something yummy and not think about it. For those kinds of days, I’ve picked out some summer house wines from Morandé’s Pinero line out of Chile. Folks can stop by and grab a bottle of zesty sauvignon blanc, a nice light pinot noir or a creamy chardonnay. We’re on a journey with wine at The Mercantile and I invite you to join us anytime in any part of that journey. It’s gonna be fun and it’s gonna be an adventure. See you in the shop!
-Janea Boyles

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

The Mercantile celebrates






Chef Samantha takes advantage of the new inventory


George was our first guest to purchase wine. We love you, George!
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Wine Arrives at The Mercantile


Where's the defibrillator?
Janea required CPR after receiving our license

Chris Luke from Quality Wine & Spirits brings in our first case of wine!
Gloria and Janea unpack the boxes

Gloria rings up our first wine buyer!

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