We’ve come with some good news! Cranberry Liquors is doing our best to keep your spirits up (heh) these days. We love and appreciate our customers, no matter how we end up doing business that day.
If there is a big, aching pain in your nightlife, what with everyone being closed, we’ve got a very slight upshot on the matter.
GOOD NEWS:
There are some wines that you can only ever enjoy in your favorite restaurants. As of today CLiquors has available some of the best wines in the world, formerly unattainable!
In other words, we’ve got some excellent wines available right now to go with your takeout.
Without further ado, some of the rarest Pokémon cards you’ll ever see. So rare in fact, we can’t even sell you a case, let alone provide a case discount.
It isn’t very often at all that we taste a new family of wines and decide to bring in all of the wines we taste. Usually, one or two stand out. One or two are, frankly, ‘duds.’
That said, we’ve selected some of our favorites to tell you more about: the Casale del Giglio family of wine.
Not so with the new (to Cranberry Liquors) wines from Casale del Giglio. Located 50 kilometers south of Rome, Casale del Giglio has been making red and white mono-varietal wines for almost 20 years.
So without further ado,Cranberry Liquors is pleased to introduce our favorite, most recent favorite: Casale del Giglio
C.Liquor’s 5 Out of 5
Satrico ($15.99)
A blend of 40% Chardonnay, 40% Sauvignon and 20% Trebbiano Giallo grapes*. This elegant blend reveals a fruity, lightly aromatic yet mineral nose, confirmed on the palate by a pleasing crispness and a lengthy finish. Satrico is a very drinkable white blend. Great with appetizers and fish dishes.
Chardonnay ($15.99)
his white wine is produced exclusively from Chardonnay grapes cultivated in densely planted rows (over 4,000 vines per hectare) and harvested in early September. A low yield per vine ensures that the grapes will be rich in sugar without losing crucial acidity. This wine reveals acacia flowers, peach and banana on the nose. Serve with grilled fish dishes or white meat casseroles. This chardonnay is authentically and varietally on point, which is a lot to say about your tried-and-true chardonnay.
Petit Manseng ($18.99)
A unique if not obscure varietal, the wine is intensely aromatic, fruity and spicy on the nose, fresh, crisp and flinty on the palate. An exquisitely structured wine which bows out on a seductive, fruit-filled finish. Like all good whites, this one pairs well with your favorite fish dinner. If you enjoy the adventure of discovering something new, Petit Manseng is your next stop!
Petit Verdot ($18.99)
Usually a minor player in certain red blends, this 100% Petit Verdot is a deep crimson wine which displays an intense, lingering aroma of red berry fruit, cherry, myrtle and juniper. Elegant and full-bodied, with rich velvety tannins, the wine presents a spicy, white peppery finish. Very good with oven roasted meats. This Petit Verdot = a red blend built for spicing things up.
Mater Matuta ($52.99)
A red blend of Syrah 85% and Petit Verdot 15%. A deep, dense, ruby-red wine which displays outstanding personality both on the nose and on the palate with its aroma of coffee beans, violets, ripe black cherry, coriander, nutmeg and cinnamon. Silky and seductive, but perfectly supported by fine tannins and a pleasing astringency. Mater Matuta Lazio Rosso delivers a long, lush finish. Mater Matuta is a fine wine as a crowning touch to any gourmet dinner.
If you’re in the mood for trying something new, give this wine family a closer look. As they say at del Giglio:
The future of Italian viticulture relies not only on consolidating the image of its traditional wine producing zones but on its ability to produce top quality wines at favorable prices in areas whose potential is still relatively unexplored.
Hopefully this post finds you warm in a wonderful way on this breezy (dare we say chilly?) day.
Stop in and check these out for yourself, quick before they all fly off the shelf!
If there’s one great thing about Cape Cod, I’d bank on our community.
Cape Codders have this uncanny common thread as an island. Plus, considering this time of year? Well, let’s just say that people are not clamoring over Sagamore Bridge right now with a 5 mile backup.
Maybe you can also relate to this feeling, like we’ve finally hit the groundhog-snuffed, 6 more weeks months of winter mark.
At this indelible point between half-way over and never-ending, Cranberry Liquor’s is feeling it to0…
So we’re taking matters into our own hands!
If you were on Facebook this morning, C.Liquor’s promised more details on how much we love you.
This was a little bit because we realized we had only two days left to get as many votes as possible to remain champions of Cape Cod Life’s “Best Of Cape Cod” Award.
Nevertheless, Cranberry Liquors does love our customers, so much so that, upon using common sense, we realized the last day of February is on a Thursday.
As if it couldn’t be any more obnoxious, February ends the day before payday.
This means that, although our Craft Beer drinkers will be happy (see further down in post), our Winter Wine Sale attendees may not be able to make the most of the savings.
It was for this reason that Joe decided to extend the sale through the first weekend of March. If you have no idea what sale I am referring to, please feel free to read this.
#celebrategoodtimescomeon
What’s more, the ides of March still curry favor with our craftiest of beer drinkers. The mix-a-six shelf? All those beers will be 20% off throughout the month of March.
Cranberry Liquors NEEDS your help! Please feel free to skip every page until “Lower Cape – Best Liquor Store,” where you can copy and paste these two words: Cranberry Liquors [link to Cape Cod Life Best Of 2019 Survey Monkey.]
Without taking any more of your precious time, C.Liquor’s hopes you will:
2. Take advantage of some major savings, as the Winter Wine Sale has been extended through until the end of this weekend (because we work hard for the money too, dammit!)
3. Get your craft down to C.Liquor’s all March and expect to save 20% on your craft beer purchase from big singles display. (while supplies last, of course.)
As we said before, we love our customers. We love our community and want to show our camaraderie through our least favorite months. Thank you for showing us love back by taking this survey and making us champions (no whammy, no whammy, no whammy!)
A while back, I posted a pretty lengthy read detailing the different wines from Spain, a little known powerhouse in the wine industry.
Similarly to Spanish wines, Portuguese wines have historically been overlooked as well. There are the few customers I know who swear by certain inexpensive varietals specific to Portugal.
From Madeira, to Douro, to another unpronounceable-yet-cool grape varietal, Portugal literally has hundreds of “types” of grapes… sometimes even within the same vineyard.
Also, lest we forget, the wine known as port; the fortified wine (read – concentrated, like orange juice before you add the water to the Creamsicle content within the can) was invented because of Portugal’s excellent grapes.
Cranberry Liquors invites you to “Forget what you know about Portuguese wine”
because you are likely missing out on some awesome bottles. Plus, this time of year can be budget -challenging on an island that is 3/4th’s of the way shut until May. (Insert clever Winter Wine Sale marketing here. 20%! All February! Get your wines, here. Drive in, call in… jk)
TLDR: If you want really, really good, “Old World” wine on a scamp budget, I would lead you by the hand to our Portuguese wines.
We’ve got wine that is friendly to both your wallet and your palette.
My reasoning? Similarly to the highly underrated wines from Spain, wines from Portugal are:
1. Dominion controlled ( hence the D.O.C. on certain labels.)
2. Highly undervalued
3. The best and freshest wine on the market, especially if your palette is privy to Old World Wine.
1. Dominion controlled. What does it mean?
Like tequila, or anything that is awesome, certain precautions must be taken to ensure a standard of excellence.
Similarly to tequila, Portuguese wine is classified by region as well as preservation (age) status. Without quality control there is no standard of quality!
2. Highly Undervalued
Most of Spain’s grapes get exported to chi-chi countries like France. In this same way, because Portugal wines are less “cool”, much more emphasis is placed upon the wine quality… as opposed to say, the label around the bottle.
3. Wines hailing from this part of South America are as fresh as Bel-Air’s Prince.
Vino Verde – if you haven’t heard of it, get familiar! I recommend them highly to our white wine drinkers. Vino Verde is the Portuguese equivalent to a French white table wine. Dry (but not too dry) and not sweet.
But onto the red wines! Cranberry Liquor has selected 4 of our best, least expensive wines from Portugal.
Starting at the top of the alphabetical list we’ve got
Colossal, by Casa Santos Lima
At 10.99 a bottle, it is hard to screw this decision up… From Wine Spectator:
“Colossal Red Reserva 2014 is made from a blend of three different grapes: Syrah, Touriga Nacional, and Alicante Bouschet. Alicante is often found as a blending grape in wines from the Rhone Valley in France.
Click the image for more info on this wine!
Touriga Nacional is a typical Portuguese grape, also used in Ports, and Syrah is a modern choice to use as part of a blend in Portugal. In fact you could look at this wine as a Portuguese homage to a Rhone Valley red!”
Rated at 1 point higher than the coveted 90 points, this Colossal Riserva is not to be missed.
Up next is an awesome, little known C. Liquor’s find.
From Left to Right: Paxis, Colossal, LAB and Grilos
Prefer a fruitier wine? I get it, I love my perfume because it smells like blackberries and raspberries. I definitely fall into this category.
As a result, I would steer you to the Paxis red blend. This wine is another 90+ points wine (actually, all four of these wines are.) This vintage (is an awesome flipping vintage) is older and may appreciate a ride in your decanter. Sediment aside, the un-corking of such a vintage is worth the wait.
Click the image for more info on this wine!
Last two? A D.O.C. “Dao” by Grilos (a personal favorite), which is often compared to French Burgundy, except without the French Burgundy price tag.
Also, we have LAB, a highly recommended vintage and varietal with a blend of grapes native to Portugal.
Click the image for more info on this wine!
IMPORTANT STORY-time: Once I had a customer who was determined to buy “French Pinot Noir” and I’d be damned if I let the challenge beat me. It turns out, French Burgundy is another way to say “FRENCH Pinot Noir”.
If you liken yourself to a good pinot noir, a lighter, fruiter red wine that can stand on its own, unaccompanied by an entrée you are probably going to have your mind blown by an Old World red “table wine.”
Why might I suggest this? Considering the facts that:
Old World Wines lack the “stringency” (or bitter/ makes-your-mouth-go-mlah taste) that certain domestic reds have.
This has a lot to do with the aging and barreling process of these wines… without calling any of our domestics out, or, to put it another way…
Maybe your 12 dollar red just got replaced by a more pleasing 12 dollar red “table” wine from our Portuguese underdogs, if only because the varietal of grapes is such a better buy for the money…
And if you’re wondering how I can make such an assumption about that ~ let’s assume you aren’t stuck in your ways (no shade!**) ~ perhaps consider what I said before regarding “dominion controlled” territories and the consequential regulations therein. As lame as it is for the winemakers, these regulations prevents marketing ploys from trumping good quality… at least, for now.
(**my mom may be French, but I see her drinking La Vielle Ferme!)
Maybe the best way to put it is like this:
If it seems too good to be true, it may just be from Portugal…
To quote a CLiquor store owner: “Holy smokes Batman, it’s less than a week from Thanksgiving!”
A week from today, people across America will be celebrating the most American thing since High School prom night: Thanksgiving …
Fortunately, we’ve got some excellent wine pairing suggestions, as well as other great information regarding the upcoming holiday.
That’s right folks, we are T Minus 6 Days away from school vacations,in-laws and spending frenzies.
[This is your (THAW THAT TURKEY) warning.]
In years past, sweet whites, inexpensive reds and those all-year-friendly roses have been hugely successful, to both our customers and our own guest’s delight. We also have that which refuses to die: the beaujolais nouveau.
Wine Suggestions – Thanksgiving 2018
This year, not only do we have suggestions for your holiday meal, but I got Joe the owner to write them! Then, all I had to do was build a post and add some images to this post.
In the time it took to write the post, that post died when our website crashed. Fortunately, Joe’s reviews were sent to me via email.
In a nutshell, what I wrote yesterday made the point that these wine suggestions aren’t picked out of a hat.
We find a great wine
We get a great price on said wine because we buy a lot when we find good wine.
We can then offer same wine to our customers at an equally excellent price.
Because we paid less, and we want you to have great wine, everyone wins.
tl;dr: In all seriousness, the selection a store makes is what makes a store great.
Without further ado, Joe’s Word…
White Wines
Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc/Viognier Blend ($12.99) What started out as an experiment at Pine Ridge Vineyards has long been recognized as a successful white wine blend enjoyed by many and highly recommended at Cranberry Liquors.
A food-friendly wine, CB+V (their designation, not mine) pairs well with turkey and all the trimmings. It presents ripe fruity flavors which are balanced by a natural acidity thus complementing your meal, not competing with it. At $12.99, the Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc/Viognier presents a unique and sophisticated alternative to typical white wines served for Thanksgiving Day dinner.
Dr. Loosen Riesling ($11.99) If you’re not feeling in an experimental mood, Dr. L’s Riesling is the go-to white wine for your Thanksgiving.
Long a traditional favorite, the fruity sweetness of Riesling goes with turkey like cranberry sauce does.
If your serving wine to folks who aren’t typical wine-drinkers at mealtime, this is the can’t-fail choice.
If you prefer a drier wine but don’t want to abandon the Riesling motif, Cranberry Liquors also has the Dry Riesling ($13.99) and Red Slate Dry ($15.99) from Dr. Loosen as well.
As mentioned before, rosé has evolved from “all day” to “all year,” and can be an excellent compliment to your bird.
Red Wine Pairings
All winery information listed at the end of this post!
The Crusher Pinot Noir ($10.99) The Crusher (who doesn’t like saying “The Crusher”?) is a California vinted and bottled pinot noir that exhibits all the classic elements of a great pinot at an excellent price: Bright, strawberry rhubarb on the nose and moderate tannins to deliver a nice, long finish. The winemaker’s tasting notes even describe a taste of cranberry in its flavor profile. What better red wine to serve with turkey?
Folie a Deux Zinfandel
($17.99) For the wine drinker that likes a good cabernet with a good steak, the Folie a Deux Zin provides a robust, full-bodied red wine experience for your Thanksgiving. Jammy berry aromas give way to mocha and cedar.
Medium tannins, and a round mouthfeel make this a wine which will stand up to turkey or pork.
Just in case you are doing something a little different this Thanksgiving.
*Cue applause track*
If you can’t take Joe’s word for it, take mine.
If you can’t take my word for it, take LeVar Burton’s.
Reading Rainbow (or best gif ever)
If you trust no one (not even LeVar?!) We will be tasting the wines listed below tomorrow, Saturday November 17 from 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM. (click here for that information…)
Additionally (rather, before I forget) can I interest you in my all time favorite drink? If none of the above appeals to you, drink what I’ve never heard anyone refuse to!
If you are beyond lost in our aisles (and not dancing like Levar and crew,) please ask for help!
C.Liquors celebrates all sorts of ways this time of year, and nothing it is very difficult to surprise us with your recipe or familial tradition.
Special Hours
Wednesday, November 2018
Thursday: Legally, liquor stores are required to be closed!
Friday: Back to normal, open at 9:00 AM until 10:00 PM.
Regarding the additionalseasonalholidays, we will post them as soon as this one is over!
XOXOXO,
C.Liquors
For more information on the wines being tasted tomorrow: See event
With a new structure casting shadows on our building, Cranberry Liquors wants to:
Thank our patient and awesome customers through this parking lot remodel.
Mention that we muscled through what was a weird summer. Our deliveries being redirected. Yes, the sidewalk was in shambles two days ago, and it was almost our breaking point. Thankfully, the awesome crew that was working that job put our sidewalk back together that same afternoon.
Also, thankfully, our parking hasn’t taken a hit.
However, we fear that our customers might not know that we have two entrances to our store (we have a front entrance and a “backtrance” directly opposite the front door around the building!)
The backtrance:
This is the backtrance of Cranberry Liquors
We are SO READY to be back to normal!
When the dust finally settles on the parking lot, we get the feeling that all of Harwich Port will breathe a huge, collective sigh of relief.
So, whether you are looking forward to forty hour weeks instead of fifty plus hour weeks or you are just happy that school is back in session, we’re happy you’re here to enjoy some of the most glorious days that nature has to offer us on this little island.
We will be also doing a wine tasting tomorrow afternoon from 1:00- 6:00 PM (stay tuned for updates here!) Costumes are not mandatory, but always welcome (it is October…)
Just a Reminder…
No matter what time of year it is – spring, summer, fall or winter…
Cranberry Liquors offers a discount of ten percent on six bottles of any (750ml/normal sized) bottles of wine.
If you want to mix a case of your favorite wine, Cranberry Liquors continues to offer 20% on a mixed case. It’s not a secret, but not everyone knows about it.
Does this include every wine?! Yes, with very few exceptions (less than 2% of our product being very, very few fine wine/limited quantity items.)
Cranberry Liquors case dicount
Feel free to call and ask about discounts, pricing or availability. We are definitely still attending weddings on Cape Cod and offer free delivery whenever we can coordinate with you (the more notice the better, but it’s not always necessary.)
Cranberry Liquors is proud to be The Spirit of Harwich Port. We love our patrons (even the ones who aren’t online or on Facebook!)
Tag us @CranberryLiquors if you think you can out-photo this awesome cranberry shot (taken by my dad, Joe :])
If this doesn’t shout Autumn on Cape Cod to you, show us up and tag us @CranberryLiquors – Bank Street Bog, Harwich Port
We’d love to see your best autumnal photos… who knows, lets go viral!
Summertime (at least this year) is arriving in fits and starts on Cape Cod.
Usually by now, folks are racing to the beach to escape the heat and humidity. This year so far, not so much.
Because Cape Cod weather can be so unpredictable, we want to assure you of one thing: Cranberry Liquors is your all-weather liquor store.
Plan your purchase to match the current or forecast weather. Rain or shine, hot or cold, dry or humid, we’ve got you covered.
Cooler Weather
Whether it’s a rainy day or an evening when temps get down to 70 (or lower), Switch it up from typical summertime cocktails to any of the following:
Beer
Stop by and browse our Craft Beer Library. Hundreds of local, regional and far-away made Craft Beers. So many, you may want to take one of those rainy afternoons and browse our selections.
Wine
On a cooler, rainier day, you might be eating your favorite comfort food. We suggest spending as much time as possible in Cranberry Liquors determining how to spend your evening.
Jokes aside, C.Liquor’s prides our extensive wine knowledge and selection.
Either Way, Cranberry Liquors has the perfect red or white to pair.
Or maybe you’re a purist and want a nice scotch or bourbon, neat or on the rocks.
Other: Don’t forget the after-dinner drinks! Nothing crazy, just a little sumpin’-sumpin’ to aid your digestion (hence the name: digestif. See what they did there?)
Tell us what your drinking (on those darker, stormier days) in the comments below!
Cape Cod has some pretty wonderful moments this time of year. While some switch their rose for cabernet, others are hitting the beach like it’s early May.
Whether it’s red, white or pink in your glass, Cranberry Liquors would like to make known another very important color in our store…
See this color? If you can’t, it’s a pretty loud yellow tag emblazoned upon an excellent red wine.
Our “Yellow Tag” wines are an indicator of three things.
1. It’s a great wine
2. It’s an even greater price
3. These wines are in beta mode.
So, what’s the deal? As your local liquor store, C.Liquors listens to our customers, our distributors and our palettes. however we don’t always listen to the groaning shelves in our store. Often times our eyes (and ideas) are bigger than our displays and floor space.
Rather than sell the same boring things, we decided to make room in the most mutually beneficial way possible. We Yellow Tag wines at an unreasonably good price and we get to buy more of the new, cool, trending and otherwise desirable stuff!
So What About Beta Mode?
Perhaps one of the coolest things about our Yellow Tag wines is our ability to see what we intend to restock. For example, if a customer buys the esoteric Australian wine we have tagged this week, and then buys the rest the following day, we may just be special ordering that wine for them.
Similarly, these yellow tags have started many engaging conversations with our loyal customers. Even if it were possible, it isn’t a great idea for us to try every product in our store. Furthermore, we would need the memory capacity of a superhero, not to mention perfect recall to properly account for our vast selection.
In other words, we need your opinions, palettes, suggestions and remarks to keep what you want on our shelves!
To review, these yellow tags are an indicator of:
Great wine
Uncommon wine (it won’t be Kendall Jackson, folks…)
A price so good that my mom doesn’t know about this promotion (sorry Joe…hi mom)!
An invitation to flaunt your knowledge to your favorite CLiquor store clerk.
Keep us in the loop! We hope you are loving this incredible time of year as much as we are.
PS: You’ll find our Yellow Tags on premium spirits and craft beers too! There’s something for everyone at Cranberry Liquors.
Sonoma Cutrer Russian River Valley Chardonnay 24.99
Sonoma Cutrer Russian River Valley Chardonnay 24.99
Cakebread Chardonnay $47.99
2014 Heitz Cellars Napa $71.99
2017 Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 
2015
