Bin Ends Fine Wine Flea Market

Monday is over, and it is a short week! Aside from having to work, this weekend was really fun. I got to play with lots of doggies and cats at the MSPCA and went to a fabulous tapas party Saturday night, thrown by a friend from Barcelona. I didn’t bring my camera, and I am sorry for my lack of food photos, but the spread was mighty.

Homemade sangria, chock full of oranges, apples, and blueberries, Estrella beer, tortilla española (omelet-like with potatoes and onions), pan con tomate, Manchego cheese, chorizo, olives, pulpo, and gambas al ajillo (garlicky shrimp). I had a couple of small plates of everything throughout the evening, along with an Estrella and about a glass and a half of sangria. I had a lot of fun “eating” my sangria. The fruit tasted like wine, and was so yummy! We had a really great time. I love that our friends are from so many interesting places and that we get to share our favorite food and travel experiences.

As I mentioned several times over the weekend, Sunday was Bin Ends’ Fine Wine Flea Market. We started off a lovely, cool, cloudy Sunday with a pair of ugly brown monster shakes. I had been looking forward to these blueberry/spinach/banana/pineapple/Amazing Meal packed dynamos, but for some reason, and I suspect it was the huge amount of blueberries, they took on a gelatinous texture that was hard to choke down. I still managed it because I was draggin and needed my nutrient blast! We spent the early part of the day at an area near our home called Castle Island, a fabulous place for running, walking, biking, picnics, and a great children’s playground.

Brown monsters- in our class-tastic free Stella glasses

We have 8 nieces and nephews with 5 nieces living in the Boston area. We got to see and spend time at the playground with all of them at once yesterday which provided some great family time and also a great workout!

 From Castle Island, we went straight to Bin Ends. It was already crowded when we arrived at 1:10. While overall this was a great event, it would have been so much better if it had been outside. Our terrible weather unfortunately did not permit this. The result was a slightly uncomfortable space, but mostly because, as I experienced at the Coastal Wine Trail Kickoff, adults just become crazy around free stuff. I had my feet run over by carts a few times, and there were certain people that just really needed to pay attention to their surroundings.

Anyway. . .

as I said the event was great, and the staff at Bin Ends was awesome! There were 13 distributors with tables of wine, crackers, and water. Upon arrival, we received two tasting glasses and a tasting sheet/order form so that we could take notes and then order our wine. We tasted a LOT of wine. I have gotten good at pouring it out after a sip, and even still I know I drank a lot of wine. I won’t write about all of them, because there were many, but we did have some favorites and ended up buying 13 bottles. There were some GREAT discounts at this event, and if you live in the area I would suggest checking out Bin Ends for their variety of wine that is discounted on a regular basis.

 Our favorite tables were Martignetti Companies, Sun Wine,Grateful Palate, and Old Bridge Cellars. We ended up spending the most time at these tables, and out of the 16 (!) bottles that we bought yesterday, the majority came from these tables.

Bin Ends

Some of our purchases included:

2006 Durban Muscat Beaumes de Venise – a lovely sweet dessert wine that I can see pairing perfectly with cheese or maybe an angel food cake with lemon curd sauce. We will likely save this wine for guests or to bring to a dinner party.

2005 Casa Santos Lima Pinot Noir – a very drinkable red from Portugal with a nice dark berry flavor

2005 D’Arenberg Ironstone Pressings GSM– a VERY dark red with berry and chocolate-y flavors. This was the most expensive bottle that we bought at $45, but it was down from $70, and its gorgeous velvety flavor will be enjoyed on a special occasion, perhaps our upcoming 3rd anniversary.

2005 Rejadorada Tinto Roble – have I mentioned my love of Spanish wine lately? This is just a really delicious wine, with a very long flavor. One website describes it like this: Plenty of fruit in the mouth – loaded with blackberries, black cherries and currants – this beginning and middle is followed by a finish of licorice, smoke, and earth. We bought several bottles of this, and will enjoy it for many dinners to come!

Fuzzy wine photo

All in all, a really enjoyable day, and I look forward to picking up our wine orders on Thursday before the LONG WEEKEND!

Some of our in-stock purchases

I am off to make a huge salad with baked beans to refuel after my fartlek workout today, and maybe to have a little of this:

Haagen Daz Five Brown Sugar - yum!