Anyone else feel like summer came out of nowhere this year? After the cold, windy excuse for spring we had I am really here for this. This summer is particularly exciting because…
The new patio at the Bridge Lane Tasting Room
We have pined for this for many years now (9 and counting??) and we were finally able to pull the trigger on this outdoor renovation project and she is lookin’ goood! We now have way more tables for guests who do not have a reservation which makes it a flexible place for groups and families to host impromptu hangs. Also if you didn’t already know we allow outside food and dogs over there, too, so it has truly become the “land of YES!”
The cheeseburgers at O’Mallys & Barrow Food House
I know I will probably catch some heat for singling out any food items out east, but I love these damn burgers so much. In a world of burgers fussed-up with fancy bread, aged cheeses and homemade ketchup (hard NOPE on that one), I am constantly on a mission to find a classic burger. Juicy meat, American cheese, L, T, all on a plush, humble bun (ideally Martin’s). Both locations deliver on these consistently every visit! The O’Mallys burger also comes with a big pile of steak fries and clocks in at $13 which is maybe the most affordable burger deluxe situation on the entire fork outside of fast food chains.
Sunday Scaries at Bridge Lane
It feels a little self-promotional to mention Bridge Lane twice in this blog post, but I would be remiss not to mention this brainchild that Delia (our amazing manager over there) and I came up with recently. She used to work at the top cheese shop in San Francisco so the idea began as an opportunity to have cheese offerings on Sundays and then quickly evolved into also having donuts from NoFoDoCo and serving mimosas using our Bridge Lane bubbly cans – all under the guise of quelling our guests fears of returning to work on Monday. You have to finish the weekend strong and I can’t think of a better way to do so!
Bridge Lane Bubbles as a base for sparkling cocktails
When I first broke into the wine industry I thought I was so cool for verbally hating on off-dry/sweet wines. I feel like perhaps there were a couple of wine snobs in my orbit at the time who took all the fun out of wine exploration, and I am very glad to have shed that ‘tude since. Not only do I now LOVE off-dry Alsatian and Austrian wines, I even dabble in the sweeter stuff as an ingredient for cocktails. The BL Bubbles are just sweet enough to play the role of bubbles and sweetener so all you really need to make magic is a liquor/liqueur and an acidic component! Last week I did gin, a touch of creme de violette, and lemon juice topped with the bubbles as a sparkling spin on the Aviation cocktail. The possibilities are truly limitless!
A basic recipe to work with:
1.5oz liquor of choice (clear neutrals work best: vodka, gin, or tequila blanco)
1 oz fresh citrus juice (lemon, lime, grapefruit)
1/2 oz fruity or floral liqueur of choice (optional; infinite possibilities!)
Shake the above with ice, pour over fresh ice in a tall glass and top with 4 oz of BL Bubbles. If it’s a little too strong, a splash of seltzer will bring the party down a little.
Happy Summer!
Alicia Ekeler-Valle
Director of Tasting Rooms
All online orders of 12+ bottles of wine.
