by Timothy Rutt
The Webster's companies are getting a jump on the holidays, with an open house and a wine pairing at the different stores on Saturday, Nov. 19.
Webster's Community Pharmacy (Altadenablog sponsor) and Webster's Liquors will hold a Holiday Open House from 2-7 PM.
There will be prize drawings, refreshments, and 20 percent off gift and holiday items and selected wines and liquors.
Meanwhile, next door, Webster's Fine Stationers (Altadenablog sponsor) will host OddBallGrape.com's Anne Bannon as she takes you a journey to France to discover the nuances of Beaujolais Nouveau and its history. Tast this delightful wine, which is best served chilled, with a roster of holiday specialties. Don't miss this very special pairing – the fun starts at 4 PM! Prior to the wine tasting, HomeBody Botanical's Marcia Copess will be in store to share her holistic, totally natural and hyper-local line of skin, body and home care products – come prepared to ask questions and sample her line!
Beaujolais has its own romance, Webster's says:
At one past midnight on the third Thursday of each November, from little villages and towns like Romanèche-Thorins, over a million cases of Beaujolais Nouveau begin their journey through a sleeping France to Paris for immediate shipment to all parts of the world. Banners proclaim the good news: Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! "The New Beaujolais has arrived!" One of the most frivolous and animated rituals in the wine world has begun!
By the time it is over, over 65 million bottles, nearly half of the region's total annual production, will be distributed and drunk around the world. It has become a worldwide race to be the first to serve to this new wine of the harvest. In doing so, it has been carried by motorcycle, balloon, truck, helicopter, Concorde jet, elephant, runners and rickshaws to get it to its final destination. It is amazing to realize that just weeks before this wine was a cluster of grapes in a growers vineyard. But by an expeditious harvest, a rapid fermentation, and a speedy bottling, all is ready at the midnight hour. By French law, Beaujolais Nouveau is to be released no earlier than the third Thursday of November.
The Webster's stores are at 2450 N. Lake Ave.
