April showers are here and we are certainly all ready for the sunny days and green grass on the other end. Until then stay warm and dry with a belly warming glass of Port and a good story.

Of course, we've got you covered on the belly warmers, how about a story too? Imagine two breweries: Avery Brewing Company of Colorado and Russian River Brewing Company of California. Once upon a time these two fine breweries both brewed a Belgian Style beer and named it Salvation. And out of this epic came a truly inspired and delicious solution: a 50/50 blend and a double dose of salvation called Collaboration not Litigation. Or how about a winery, Southern Right Cellars out of South Africa, that is dedicated to saving the Southern Right Whale? They make two wines that are delicious, both a Pinotage and a Sauvignon Blanc. And there are many more stories like this that are leaving us inspired this spring. We love the idea of sipping a good brew or a divine wine and doing good while you're at it. And in this theme, we've got a project of our own brewing. Expect our story next month!

In other Grain & Vine news, spring brings with it our six month anniversary. We are rockin' about 450 beers now and our Friday night beer tastings are reaching out to more and more people. In the wine world, I have celebrated spring with distributer and importer tastings and while it could be quite easy to get distracted, I remained focused on my goal: finding the best organic wines out there. Now, the wine racks are quickly filling up with organics as well as with companies whose principles are as good as their products. Have you caught one of our Sunday tastings yet? Well, you should. I open a few new organic or biodynamic wines every week and as always, I am full of fact, fiction and folklore!

And speaking of those I love to support... Tony Coturri of Coturri Vineyards is coming back to town and we will be co-hosting a wine dinner with the folks at The Island Merchant on Monday, April 20. Tony's wines are biodynamic, all natural and quite frankly, a house favorite. Last fall we brought Tony to the store for a wine tasting accompanied by appetizers from the Island Merchant and the result was fun, spirited and delicious.

Until next time, we wish you a happy Spring... Alan and Christie O'Campbell