Brightest Young Things

Booze news for you to abuse

• The Spanish Embassy and Biaggio Chocolates are teaming up today at 6:00pm for a spanish-themed wine and chocolate tasting in honor of Spanish photography. Free, I tell you!

• Speaking of Spain, glorious glorious Spain, Vinoteca is offering flamenco dancing and wine specials every Sunday in October, 8:00-11:00pm. Spanish and South American wines are half off!

• Also tonight at 8:00pm,  Enology's resident mixologist Chris Cunningham is launching Macomb Mixology, a weekly cocktail night at the bar where he'll feature five to six special concoctions. Catch this on Thursday nights this fall.

• Fine wine and gourmet food store opening up in Adams Morgan. Watch your back, D'vinos.

• Birch & Barley and ChurchKey may or may not be opening soon. Blogosphere can't seem to make up its mind on this one. They have been posting employment ads on craigslist since mid-September so all signs point to yes.

• Twisted Vines Bottleshop & Bistro is coming to Arlington, ensuring that by the end of 2009 there will be a wine bar within 20 feet of you at any given place in the DC metropolitan area. Hey DC proprietors interested in opening a wine bar: please copy Tria in Philadelphia. You won't regret it.

• Punch Club has arrived at Room 11, starting this Sunday at 5:00pm. This Sunday's punches will include Glogg (very unseasonal mulled wine unless the temperature decides to take a nosedive on Sunday) and Rocky Mountain Punch (sparkling wine, rum, and maraschino liqueur). I hope the guests at my dinner party on Sunday won't mind me relocating the shindig to 11th street for a hot minute. Hint hint.

• Speaking of Punch Club, head over there on October 14 to taste some Tom Collins and learn how to make the iconic drink (with promotional support from Bombay Sapphire. Of course). This is a repeat of their Tom Collins night from October 7.

• Taste of Georgetown is this weekend. Go for the food. Don't bother with the wine (only one vintner is pouring, Linganore. Decent stuff but not enough. Plentiful beer though!).

• Ever wanted to pull a Lucy and stomp on some grapes while looking like a fool? Sugarloaf Mountain Winery in Montgomery County will host its 3rd Annual Grape Stomp Festival Oct. 17 and 18, noon until 5 pm each day.  Grape stomping contests and prizes, tours of the vineyard and winery, tastings of wine, a complimentary wine glass and complimentary engraving of the wine glass, live music, food vendors and kite flying demonstrations and kite building workshops will be available.

• Rustico is having their bitchin' Oktoberfest this Saturday from 12:00pm-6:00pm. Sounds great, but whatever happened to "Don't Hassle the Hoffbrau"?

• The Aviation cocktail is supposed to be blue, and other things we didn't know about cocktails until we suddenly became interested in them again and said "Hey, LMGTFY."

• October 5th was Bloody Mary Day. Celebrate belatedly and blame it on a wicked hangover.