Special Wine Tasting at Aromas

Let us introduce you.... This is your unique chance to taste and get first dibs on the latest wines that are just arriving in the Georgia market.

These wines will make wonderful holiday gifts for family and friends. Surprise the wine connoisseur in  your life with something new and fabulous that has until now been unavailable in our state.

5 Points Btl, Aromas, & N.E. Distributors Present...A Special Event!!!
RARE/NEW WINES to the Athens Area!!!
What: Tasting of Rare New Wines... (at least 10)
Where: Aromas in the 5 Points

Join us at Aromas Thursday, December 16th from 6pm to 7pm.

Please park behind our building, the public parking lot behind the firehouse or on neighborhood streets. DO NOT PARK AT WAFFLE HOUSE

Call Aromas Wine Bar 706.208.0059 for more information or visit on the web at www.aromaswinebar.com.

Athens Community Wine Rating

Aromas and 5 Points Bottle Shop 
bring you
Athens Community Wine Rating
A Blind Wine Tasting at AROMAS
6pm-8pm
8 wines for $10

This is a chance to taste wine without being influenced by region, label or price and to have your voice heard. You rate the wine and we take the combined rating and post it on the bottles at Five Points Bottle Shop.

At Aromas Wine Bar
1235 South Milledge Avenue

Please park behind our building, the public parking lot behind the
firehouse or on neighborhood streets. DO NOT PARK AT WAFFLE HOUSE

Call Aromas at 706.208.0059 for more information

Thanksgiving Ideas

Happy Thanksgiving to ALL of our friends and family. Stop by for GREAT Thanksgiving Wines, Bubbles, Beer and Spirits! And don't forget the Cigars.

We love Thanksgiving and we love helping you find the perfect bottle to serve on your Thanksgiving table or to bring as a gift. 


And don't forget, Thanksgiving is not just for wine anymore. 

We have some delicious beers perfect for pairing with turkey, sweet potatos, cranberry or whatever your feast will be.

Athens Community Wine Rating Coming Soon

We love choosing wines to carry at 5 Points Bottle, but also want to hear from you. So we are starting a new wine tasting revolution: the Athens Community Wine Rating.

We'll be doing offering eight wines for $10 in a blind tasting. You will have the opportunity to rate the wines (just like Wine Spectator). Then we will will aggregate the scores in order to get the Athens Community Wine Rating for each wine. These ratings, and any quotes or comments you may have about the wines, will be posted in both stores.

This is a way for you to tell us, and your community, what wines you like and why.

November 18th will be the first blind tasting, and we're very excited about it. This is a way for you to rate and evaluate wines, and for us to share those results with your community. We hope you can come!

AT AROMAS WINE BAR

Five Points Bottle Annual Wine Sale

From Monday, November 15th, through Saturday, November 20th, both Five Points locations are having our annual wine sale.

15% off twelve or more bottles with cash, debit, or check; 10% off twelve or more bottles with credit.

Also, 10% off six bottles with cash, debit, or check, and 7% off six bottles with credit.

This is a great opportunity to stock up on wine for Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season!

Aromas Cask Ale Festival

2nd Annual Cask Ale Festival
Sunday, November 7th
2pm16 Cask Ales from Breweries across the country including:

• Founders
  
• Terrapin
• Lagunitas
  
• Stone
• Heavy Seas
  
• Bell's
  
• Rogue
• Allagash
• Left Hand
  

*more to be named later and a few special surprises
All Day Wristbands are $40 

Pay online at Aromas

Wristbands and 1/2 pour tickets will be sold the day of the event.

Call Aromas Wine Bar at 706.208.0059 for more information

CANCELED-Ludacris Conjure Signing

We regret to say that the Conjure Cognac bottle signing by Ludacris has been canceled.

We just received word that he is on set filming in Atlanta today and it has gone overtime.

Chris “Ludacris” Bridges at 5Points Bottle Westside

This Wednesday Oct 13th Ludacris will be at our Westside store signing autographs and taking pictures! 

Ludacris will be signing bottles of his Conjure Cognac 4:30pm to 6pm. 

Must be 21, the bottle of Conjure must be purchased at the Westside store on the day of the signing, only one photo per bottle purchase.

 

Visit Conjure Cognac.

Abita SOS – A Charitable Pilsner for the Gulf

The centerpiece of a fundraising effort with the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board is a new charitable beer created by Abita.

The brew, called SOS – A Charitable Pilsner, will generate 75¢ for every bottle sold. This Abita Beer is a message in a bottle...a distress signal for the troubled waters of our Gulf Coast. For every bottle sold Abita will donate 75¢ to the rescue and restoration of the environment, industry and individuals fighting to survive this disastrous oil spill.

This unfiltered Weizen Pils is made with Pilsner and Wheat malts. It is hopped and dry hopped with Sterling and German Perle hops. It has a brilliant gold color, a sweet malt flavor, and a pleasant bitterness and aroma.

Visit SOS ABITA to learn more and post your SOS message.


Find it at 5Points Bottle

Mixed Six Packs Available at 5PBWestside

Thanks in part to our recent expansion, Five Points Bottle Shop West is pleased to offer MIXED SIX PACKS.

Does your head spin a bit when you walk into our store and see ALL those beers? All those choices, all those labels and styles.  Exploring can be fun and we encourage our customers to try new beers. But we realize it can be a costly bummer if you plunk down 10 bucks for a beer you've never tried before and it's not your bag.  Choose-your-own, mixed (mix and match) 6-packs and let the fun begin.

American, Euro and more — Dogfish Head, Bell's, Weybacher, Allagash, Tilburg's and even Wells Banana Bread — we run the gamut on craft beer singles.

Vist our Westside location and you get to choose all 6 (or more) beers in your 6-pack from the 140+ beers we have hand-selected for 'singles' sales — at affordable pricing. 

Here's how it works. If you buy six beers you will receive a 10% discount on the total price of the six singles together. We sell singles as well of course, so if you do not want to try 6, you can get just one bottle or 2 or 3 or more.

So come to 5Points Bottle West and let our knowledgeable and friendly staff help you make a six pack to suit your particular tastes.

Aromas Brewhaha

Sunday August 29th 4pm

10 Special Draught Beers including:

Founders Black Biscuit
Founders Devil Dancer
Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout
Southern Tier Creme Brulee
Terrapin Hopzilla
The Bruery Tradewinds Triple
Cask of Bell's Two Hearted

Advice for the Bourbon Beginner

I like this simple approach to learning about Bourbon for beginner tasters. From the Chuck Cowdery Blog:

 My recommendation for a beginner is to work your way through the leading brands from the major producers -- Jim Beam white, Jack Daniel's No. 7, Evan Williams black, Wild Turkey 101.

 He says to taste them, compare them and most of all don't forget to smell them. From there on to step 2:

For the next round, pick the two or three of the first group that you liked best and figure out what that producer's step-up is. If you like Wild Turkey 101, you might want to step up to Russell's Reserve, Rare Breed or Kentucky Spirit.

After that, it makes sense, that you should be able to build on that technique and process to continue tasting more bourbons, comparing and just getting to know them.

Most of all, resist the lure of short cuts. They're a waste of time because they don't work. You don't become a bourbon connoisseur just because you drank a bottle of Pappy 23.

 Read the whole store here:

Advice For The Bourbon Beginner.

Six Course Wine Dinner @ Speakeasy

 

August 25 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Six wines paired with six courses for only $60 (includes gratuity).

Join us on Wednesday, August 25th at 7:00pm for a remarkable evening of wine and food bliss! Speakeasy is putting together a special menu to compliment six fantastic wines. Don't miss this opportunity to experience how wine and food can truly inspire one another. The price of $60 does include gratuity. The last dinner sold out quickly so get your seats today! Call Speakeasy to make a reservation 706-546-5556.

Menu and wine pairings will be posted ASP.

Speakeasy

269 East Broad Street

Athens, GA

AP.

Pleased to Meet You

Hugel & Fils' Alsace Man was in Athens this week to dine at The National and and share wine with local wine aficionados, including 5Points Bottle Shop Wine Consultant, Svetlanta Rostova.

Five Points Bottle Shop has long been a fan of Hugel & Fil and we carry both the Gentil and Pinot Gris. According to Svet, they are both beautiful wines. "The Gentil is very easy to drink and refreshing," she says, "while the Pinot Gris is powerful and good with spicy food."

From Salon.com explains:

"Pinot Gris (the "Gray" Pinot) is the grape, found most prominently in Alsace, France. A variant of the Pinot Noir grape (as is Pinot Blanc), it's hard to tell in the vineyard if a grape is Pinot Gris or Pinot Noir until the veraison, the moment when ripening begins and the grapes change into their true color. Although Alsatians think of it as a white grape, most Italians think of Pinot Gris as red, but in the end this may be a difference without a distinction, as the grape is most often treated as a white grape in the winemaking process."

Frederick Wildman writes about the producer:

The golden rule at Hugel is "The wine is already in the grape". As soon as they arrive at the Hugel premises in the heart of Riquewihr, the grapes are classified according to precise and strict criteria of quality. The presses are filled by gravity, not by pumping. After slow crushing, only the first part of the juice is conserved to merit the famous yellow label. The individuality of each grape variety and of each level of quality is respected."

Thanks, Alsace Man for stopping by our store.  It was a real pleasure.

Speakeasy Wine Dinner

Join us on Wednesday July 14th at 7:00pm for 6 wines paired with 6 amazing courses! We can't stress to you enough what a value this tasting is! The kitchen staff at Speakeasy always goes above and beyond when creating the gourmet tapas to accompany the wine.

Tickets are on $45 per person including gratuity!

Call SPEAKEASY for a reservation 706.546.5556

the wines:
Banfi Principessa Gavi Perlante
Bonny Doon Albarino
Domaine Schlumberger Riesling "Les Princes Abbes"
Banfi L'Ardi Dolcetto d'Aqui
Murphy Goode Merlot
Antano Crianza

Date:	Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Time:	7:00pm - 9:30pm
Location:	Speakeasy Restaurant, East Broad Street

Sour Beer Festival - Sunday July 11 2pm @ Aromas

10 DRAUGHT LINES AND 2 CASKS

Terrapin/ De Poef Monstre Rouge Imperial Flanders Red Ale
Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus
Boon Oude Lambic Mariage Parfait
Ommegang Rouge
New Belgium La Folie
New Belgium Eric's Ale
Jolly Pumpkin E.S. Bam
BFM La Cuirvree Sour Pale Lager
The Bruery special release to be announced
Bell's Poolside White Ale Brewed with Michiga Tart Cherries

Casks:
Saint Somewhere
Moon River

Both Casks were made specially for Aromas and Five Points Bottle

NO TICKETS NECESSARY   ---  BEERS SOLD INDIVIDUALLY

FUNKYFEST - SOUR BEER FESTIVAL

Hey beer fans...little teaser for ya...guess what Five Points Bottle and Aromas are hosting in July? A SOUR BEER FESTIVAL!! We're calling it FUNKYFEST and it's going to be AMAZING!

Aromas will fill their draught lines with only sour beers! Plus we will have a few super rare casks.
A few highlights: Cantillon Rose de G...ambrinus (a blended Lambic with Raspberries), Terrapin-De' Proef' Monstre Rouge Imperial Flanders Red Ale (DEBUT of the fourth in the De' Proef' Brewmaster's Collaboration Series), and back by popular demand the LAST keg of Ommegang Rouge in Athens!! More details to follow!

Ed Hardy Vodka

I just noticed this beautiful bottle of Vodka on the shelves of 5PBS. I thought to myself, now if I had a big bar in my house, I would buy this just for display. And if I decided to fix a cocktail I know it would be a real treat. Ed Hardy vodka is produced and bottled in France, in Cognac region, distilled and filtered 5 times for a uniquely pure taste.

But what I'm loving is the handmade crystal bottle and the timeless artwork of Ed Hardy, San Francisco tattoo artist, that shines forth. Now, some purist Ed Hardy fans snub their nose at the pimping of Ed Hardy's work by guru marketer Christian Audigier, (i.e. Ed Hardy Hanging Air Freshners - yikes) but for me, I just think this bottle looks cool no matter what.

Here's a Ed Hardy cocktail from the official website called Love Kills Slowly:

Ed Hardy Vodka
peach schnapps
blended with cranberry and pineapple juice
served in a sugar rimmed glass

For yourself, or as a unique gift, I think this bottle rocks.

Spanish Wines and Tapas @ Casa Mia

Wednesday May 19th join us at Casa Mia from 6-8 to taste some delicious Spanish Wines and tapas.

For those of you who didn't make it out last time, you really missed out! Casa Mia put out some great food and the wine was fabulous! Don't miss this opportunity to enjoy a similar experience.

The cost is $20 per person Cal...l Casa Mia to make a reservation 706.227.4444

The Wines:

Gran Gesta Cava

Martin Codax Tempranillo

Merum Monastrell

Lealtanza Capitoso Tempranillo

Zarate Albarino

Las Rocas Garnacha

15 Wines for 15 Dollars

Join us this Thursday from 6-8pm at the Winery to taste 15 wines for only $15!

Hors d'oeuvres will be provided by the European Deli.

Don't miss this opportunity to learn about wine through tasting (the best way)!

Call Five Points West for reservations 706.316.2337

Winery Athens: located at 429 E Broad St
Visit European Deli: located at 3579 Atlanta Hwy

Bourbon Tasting at Aromas

Speaking of bourbons... you can't miss this upcoming tasting at Aroma's. Wednesday, May 5th at 6pm at Aromas. This is your opportunity to try 6 beautiful bourbons at one great price.

Featuring:
Ridgemon 1792
Elijah Craig 12 year
Jeffersons
Michter's Rye
Four Roses Single Barrel
Pappy Van Winkle 12 year

You know the folks at Aromas and of course the 5PB crew will be there to share all that's good and fun to know about drinking bourbon.

Call Aromas Wine Bar at 706.208.0059 to make your reservation today.
$25

Kentucky Derby Mint Julep

Known as "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports", the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby is this weekend - May 1. It's the "Run for the Roses" (Dan Fogelberg wrote a song entitle the same for the 1980 Derby) and it IS time for the official drink -- the Mint Julep.

The Mint Julep, an iced drink consisting of bourbon, mint and a sugar syrup is the traditional beverage of the race. The historic drink can be served in an ice-frosted silver julep cup but most Churchill Downs patrons sip theirs from a souvenir glass printed with all previous Derby winners.




At the 5P Bottle we got you covered with the official Bourbon for the Kentucky Derby. Early Times and Woodford Reserve both have commemorative bottles 2010. If you love horses, the Woodford Reserves bottle is a keepsake. If you love celebrating, they both make the party clearly more festive.


My favorite for the race is Discreetly Mine because he is descended from Seattle Slew - the 1977 Triple Crown winner - and a superstar for horse lovers like me when I was a girl.

(Seattle Slew)

Early Times Mint Julep
Woodford Reserve
How to Make a Mint Julep

Spring Jiggers - for Twitter Followers

Ahh, Spring at last and who isn't ready to party. Here is a big 'shot'-out  to all of our new Athens Twitter followers - THANKS.

Stop by our Fivepoints location or Westside warehouse and ask for your free Five Points Bottle Shop shot glass.

If you aren't following 5PointsBottle on Twitter yet, get there quick. We've got new releases, cool info about town and of course anything drink.

Offer good through April 15 or while supplies last. Limit one per follower.

Athens Breastfest at Terrapin Beer Company

Hi all. This is a great opportunity to do something special and visit the Terrapin brewery. This is a local annual event started in Athens. All proceeds from BreastFest will benefit the St. Mary’s Women’s Diagnostic Center to support local women and families affected by breast cancer.


March 20, 2010, 12:00 – 5:00

Terrapin Beer Company

Tickets – $20.00 in advance/$25.00 at the door (Tickets can be purchased at St. Mary’s or  by visiting Breastfestathens.org. Children are free!!!

This year’s event will feature live music from some of Athens’ finest musicians, food, beer tasting, brewery tours, silent auction and raffle. Also some kids activities. Fun for the whole family. 

Visit Terrapin Beer Company

Capt'n Krunkles

Terrapin Side Project #10!

Capt’n Krunkles is at the brewery (we should have bottles in store in the next week or so). But we've got a cask ready for tapping.

Join us Monday March 22 at 6pm at Aromas for the tapping.

A Black IPA, made with the malt bill of a stout and the hop bill of a big IPA. This one is sure to make it worth going down with the ship.

Pints $4

Aromas in Five Points

Sulfites, Organic Wines, and YOU!

We are often asked about organic and "no sulfite wines" so we thought we'd clear the air and de-mystify a few rumors that seem to be floating around out there. First off, there is just no such thing as a "no sulfite" wine. Sulfites are a natural by-product of the wine-making process and will only exist in small amounts known as parts per million. There are wines that have "added" sulfites which help to keep the wines from oxidizing and going bad. The legal limit for sulfite content in these wines is around 350 parts per million. The average wine is around 150 ppm and in wines with sterilized tanks, well handled and unbruised fruit, the sulfite content is even less! As for sulfites causing migraines and headaches, allergists say that this is not the case. In fact the real cause for headaches may be the person's ability to process the wine itself or the various other biological components thereof. For example, a person may have difficulty processing wines with high levels of tannin, such as Cabernet. Even though it may be uncomfortable to "experiment" when a migraine or terrible hangover is on the line we recommend that you branch out a little. Our suggestion: try a lighter style of wine with less tannic structure, like an Oregon Pinot Noir. The Jezebel for $14.99 is one of our favorites. Also you may be able to get online and research wineries that do not add sulfites to their wines. We are always willing to special order any wine for you that we can get our hands on.

Organic wine is a whole other ball of wax! In reality there are plenty of "organic" wines out there! Why have you been having such a tough time finding them? Well, most wineries find it hard to justify spending the money and going through the lengthy process to become "certified organic." Many wineries have been producing their wines according to organic or bio-dynamic standards for centuries. In addition wine makers are concerned from a marketing stand point that there wines will get placed on a rarely shopped "organic" shelf in the store. How do you determine which wines are organic and which aren't? Well, that's the hard part. Again, online research will provide you with some of this information, but we are currently compiling a list of such wineries that will be readily available to our customers. As you can imagine this is a slow going process with quite a few middlemen involved. For the time being we suggest looking to old world wines from France, Italy, and Spain, and wines from the Northwestern United States. The wines from these areas tend to produce quite a few unlabeled organic wines, meaning you are more likely to guess correctly when you pick up one of these! Look for the organic list of wines to be posted to this blog in the next few weeks. Until then we are always willing to point you toward a few of our favorites! Just stop by either location and ask for the wine expert on hand. Cheers!

March Wine Madness - on the 24th @ Aromas

Who's your Kentucky and who's your Duke? If you don't follow basketball, here is your chance to get in on some March Madness Fun.

Join us at Aromas Wine Bar for an evening of exciting wine bracket competition. We'll have 8 wines and 4 teams who battle to wine the savoring Final Round between Red and White.


More details coming soon.

Argentine Wines @ Casa Mia April 1

Just a heads up that we have an Argentine Wine Tasting coming up APRIL 1st at Casa Mia downtown. With their contemporary fusion of the Spanish tradition of tapas, Casa Mia is the perfect place to enjoy wines from one of my favorite regions.

Here's a little Did You Know: Due to the high altitude and low humidity of the main wine producing regions, Argentine vineyards rarely face the problems of insects, fungi, molds and other grape diseases that affect vineyards in other countries. This permits cultivating with little or no pesticides, allowing even organic wines to be easily produced.

More details to follow.

4th Annual Wake-n-Bake Off

4th Annual Wake-n-Bake Off
Sunday January 31st at 6pm

Bake a dessert with your choice of beer and bring it to Aromas.
To enter call 706.208.0059 or email heather@aromaswinebar.com

$10 to enter or $25 to enjoy all the desserts

Rules:
1. Must be 21 to enter
2. Must contain beer
3. Must be a dessert
4. Call or email to sign-up
5. Have recipe on hand
6. Be at Aromas at 6pm
7. Be ready to eat some great desserts and drink some awesome beer!

FRIDAY JANUARY 8TH: 15 WINES FOR $15 AT THE WINERY

Join Five Points Bottle and our good buddies down at the Winery on East Broad Street this

Friday January 8th from 6-8pm for this popular tasting!

The $15 cost includes a sampling of light hors d'oeuvres and a taste of 15 different wines! This is a great chance to meet up with friends for happy hour and catch up after the holidays. Hope to see you there!

the wines:

Charles Smith Riesling

Dyed in Wool Sauvignon Blanc

Four Vines Naked Chardonnay

Molnar Pinot Noir

Just Merlot

Leese Fitch Merlot

Charles Smith The Velvet Devil Merlot

Hey Mambo Sultry Red

Clayhouse Cabernet

Pennywise Cabernet

Vindelocks Cabernet

C&T Cabernet

Riondo Prosecco

Katas Rose

Low Country Lemonade Vodka (not wine, but still delicious :) )

CALL FIVE POINTS WESTSIDE for RESERVATIONS 706-316-2337

MONDAY JANUARY 18TH: A CENTURY OF TAWNY PORT AT AROMAS

We couldn't think of a better place to host such an intimate and exciting tasting! Join us Monday January 18th from 7 to 9 pm at Aromas in Five Points for a truly awe-inspiring adventure into the world of tawny port!

We will be tasting a 10 year old, 20 year old, 30 year old and 40 year old tawny port (which together represent an century of tawny). The cost of this tasting is only $20, a steal considering a bottle of 40 year old tawny can cost as much as $150 by itself. Aromas will be providing delectable nibbles to pair with the port so don't miss this opportunity!!

There are only 20 seats available so jump to it folks! Please call Aromas for reservations : 706-208-0059

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28TH: 15 WINES FOR $15 AT DEPALMA'S NEW TIMOTHY ROAD LOCATION!

We are so excited to have our old pal DePalma's move into our neighborhood on the Westside! If you haven't had an opportunity to visit the new location you're missing out. It has all the charm and class of the Eastside and Downtown locations with a beautiful bar, big comfortable booths, and of course delicious food! Join us on Wednesday January 28th from 6-8pm for one of our most popular events. This edition of 15 for $15 will highlight the wine menu at DePalma's new location right beside Agua Linda across from the old Target shopping center on Timothy Road.

The $15 cost includes some light hors d'oeuvres provided by the restaurant and a taste of 15 different wines.

the wines:

Riondo Pink Prosecco

Dyed in the Wool Sauvignon Blanc

Bliss Merlot

Enzo di Sette Rue Primitivo

4 Vines Old Vine Cuvee

Martino Biscardo Ripasso

Soiree Pinot Noir

Struktur Riesling

Capestrano Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

Grayson Cabernet

Terredora DiPaolo Falanghina

Row 11 Pinot Noir

Alois Lageder Riff Pinot Grigio

Inama Soave

Cusumano Nero d’Avola

Please call DePalma's Westside on Timothy for reservations 706-552-1237

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! We just wanted to say thank you for your patronage in 2009. We had a great year and we couldn't have done it without all your continued support and enthusiasm! Just so you know, we've got some big plans for 2010...we're not ready to reveal them just yet but let's just say we're planning some interesting changes to the Westside location! We'll give you more details as the plans solidify later this month.


Hope to see you,
Your friends at Five Points Bottle Shop