View the new year with rose colored glasses

On the Goose's twitter feed and facebook page we've been featuring a bubbly a day as we get ready to toast the New Year. Wine Club members get 10% off any bottle featured this week!

Today's bottle is the Bortolotti prosecco, a hand-harvested and truly artisanal bubbly from Italy's Veneto. And it's part of a refreshingly festive cocktail that will help us see the New Year in its best possible light.

We're looking at 2011 with Rose Colored Glasses thanks to Sence Rose Nectar, the not-too-sweet extract of Bulgarian roses. Leonardo da Vinci drank a similar brew, though we me never know Mona Lisa's new year resolutions.

While Bortolotti prosecco is interesting enough to enjoy solo, pick up a bottle of Sence at the Goose to ring in the New Year:

Rose Colored Glasses
1 part Sence rose nectar
2 parts Bortolotti prosecco
twist of lime

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2...

Start the new year right: a bubbly a day from the Goose

We're getting ready to toast the New Year and only the best goes in our glass. So the Goose will be highlighting a bubbly bottle each day through New Year's Eve on our twitter feed and facebook page. Follow and friend the Goose to get the day's feature!

Each different but each delicious, these are the sparklers to ring in the New Year with good taste...and a good deal. Wine Club Members receive 10% off their purchase of each of the featured Bubbly Bottles. Join the club--for yourself or as a gift--and new members can take advantage of the same discount.

Holiday Wine Tasting at the Goose

Wednesday, Dec. 22, 5-7pm

Stop by the Goose's Enoteca for a sampling of lush, full-bodied, comforting wine that suits the weather outside (that's frightful) and the fireside (that's so delightful).

Versatile as a stand up, go-to bottle for the winter flavors on our plates--like the Wagyu roasts, pheasant, and hams still available at the Goose--this juice is meant for the holiday table. And it makes a great gift....since "only hedonists need apply," it could go for the nice and the naughty on your list.

Tikal Patriota 2008
Mendoza, Argentina
60% Bonarda, 40% Malbec
92 points, Wine Advocate

Tasting:
Wed., Dec. 22, 5-7pm

"The 2008 Patriota is composed of 60% Bonarda and 40% Malbec aged in French (40% new) and American (seasoned) oak. Purple/black in color, it has a splendid bouquet of cigar box, Asian spices, lavender, black cherry, and plum. Full-bodied, dense, rich, and powerful, this loaded effort has gobs of flavor, succulence, and great length. Only hedonists need apply." ~ Wine Advocate, 92 points

Hammy Holidays from the Goose

For "the ham lady," heaven may look a lot like a smoke house. Nancy Newsom Mahaffey, happily known as "the ham lady," cures and smokes country hams according to the family recipe that started its way through the generations when it was bequeathed in a will in the late 1700s.

Nancy's grandfather opened a rural Kentucky general store next to the only stage coach stop on a 90-mile route. Grandfather Newsom continued the family recipe and offered cured country ham to weary travelers. Nancy's father took over the business and ham curing when he was just 18. Today, Nancy still operates that same Princeton, Kentucky, general store, but she also directs Col. Newsom's Aged Kentucky Hams, the only American ham company with a grandfather clause that legally allows ambient (or open-air) dry curing.

On Chris' holiday dinner table this year will be one of Newsom's aged country hams. Rubbed with salt and brown sugar, slow smoked over hickory wood, and aged for months in that brilliant Kentucky air, this beauty means the Eleys will be haming a very hammy holiday this year.

And you can ham it up, too! The Goose has Newsom's aged country hams in the case right now. Preparation takes a day or two but it's super easy. The hands-on time is in minutes and the ham really takes care of itself: soak, rinse, simmer, glazing optional. Recipes and instructions are on the ham lady's site, too.

Visions of sugar plums? Nope, those are hams in Chris' eyes. Come in quick or call the Goose to ham yourself a merry little Christmas: 317.924.4944

How Italians melt icicles: Cotechino now at the Goose!

Almost 500 years ago, the paesani of Mirandola in northern Italy were running out of food. Outside the walls of their tiny town, the Pope--of all people--was waging an attack. Even though popes then weren't supposed to lead their own armies, Julius II was fighting a nasty cold in the frigid January winter to direct his forces in their attack on a little town just north of Modena. He wanted Mirandola out of French control and under his Papal territory. The folks inside those crumbling walls just wanted something to eat.

As our grandmothers never fail to mention, they didn't have Tupperware back then. But the Mirandolese were good at using their resources. They got the idea to use pigs' forelegs and trotters as ready-made sausage casings. Stuffing the pigskins with pork that was seasoned with nutmeg and pepper prevented their last foodstuffs from spoiling and kept them well fed even after Pope Julius stormed through the walls and took control. Centuries later, the area got a reputation not for Julius' snotty winter attack but for those delicious, rich sausages.

Named for its pigskin casing (or cotene), cotechino are a favorite of even modern day Italians. During this wintry time of year, just about every northern Italian table holds a plate of tender, hot lentils that nestle thick slices of the sausage, still steaming from a long, slow poach. But like the Mirandolese before them, Italians indulge in cotechino all winter long. Each hamlet has their favorite side dish--lentils, mashed potatoes, even polenta--all delicious when seasoned with the reserved juices from the cotechino's luscious casing.

Most of us aren't fearing the Pope's armies outside our doors, but there is a winter waging out there. Before the next snow flies, stop by the Goose for our house-made cotechino.

After butchering a whole pig from Gunthorp Farms, Chris stuffed the clean, smooth pork skin with a rich blend of ground pork, nutmeg, and a touch of black pepper. Take home a link and gently poach it in its casing while your lentils or mashed potatoes cook up. Cut the warm cotechino thick, remove the casing and pile them over starch or pulse for an indulgent, mouthwatering way to warm up this winter.

Poor Pope Julius II got so sick after his winter march against Mirandola that he nearly died. Perhaps what brought him back was some gentle cotechino treatment? Stop by the Goose for our sausage cure for the winter chills!

SOS: message in a bottle

Do good and drink well. That's the message in each bottle of Abita's recent SOS release.

The Louisiana brewery has created a charitable fund to help rescue and restore all the living beings that are affected by the gulf oil spill. Each bottle of Save Our Shore sends 75 cents directly to charities working to heal the environment and restore a sustainable livelihood for residents along the gulf coast.

The good folks at Abita are making it easy to help the cause by bottling a lip smacking special release. Just ask Chris B. "This is one of the best beers I've ever had," he said before he ordered a case. The unfiltered Weizen Pils has a full body with a touch of malt and a perfect finish thanks to dry and wet hops.

Check out Abita's SOS website to post a message of encouragement for the birds and boats and fish to carry to our gulf friends. Then come by the Goose for a bottle or two of good beer that does good, too.

Thanks, bubbles!

Thanks and cheers to all the folks who joined us in toasting the holidays last night in the Goose's Enoteca!

The menu that Chris and the gang put together made for quickly cleaned plates. We'll share the recipes on the Goose web site soon. All of the bubbly bottles we sampled last night hit the mark but a couple that stood out--and are still available at the Goose!--were...

Fitz-Ritter Riesling Sekt: a dry, bubbly Riesling that sold out during the event but we have several cases arriving today!

Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc: a deliciously sophisticated bubbly with tart apple and wet mineral flavors; the half-bottle size is perfect for a couple to share before wine with dinner or to give as a holiday gift

Hugo Sparkling Rose: this dry bubbly from pinot noir and zweigelt, an Austrian red grape, got lots of attention for the tart fruit flavors and rosy mineral finish that make it an ideal sip for the season's richest dishes

Joel Falmet Champagne Brut Tradition: a true Champagne with classic yeasty citrus and a finish for star gazers...only a few bottles left

Goose Holiday Open House: Sparkling Wine Tasting

Wednesday, Dec. 8, 5-7pm

Come toast the holidays with us at Goose the Market! We'll be popping the corks on more than 10 bubbly bottles for you to sample along with hors d'oeuvres to celebrate the season. Chris and the Goose Gang are preparing your festive menu and the recipes are yours for the taking.

Robiola, Medjool dates, Spiced walnuts

Crispy turkey thighs, Turkey farce,

Oyster mushrooms

Spalma di Mortadella, Currants,

Candied pistachios

Pheasant Terrine,

Tangerine and rosemary mostarda

Oysters Gratin, Arugula, Fennel

No need to RSVP; first come, first served.
$4 per person
BUT...take $4 off the first bottle of bubbly you purchase that night!

Members of the Wine of the Month Club can take 10% off any sparkling wine purchases that night. New members who join the club before Thurs., Dec. 9, can enjoy the discount, too!