Well, 2012 wasn’t the end of the world, but the end of the holiday season and the beginning of a bold new year are upon us. That’s why we’ve once again selected a few of our over one-hundred sparkling wines and specially priced them for New Year’s Eve. The days of premium prices for premium sparklers are long gone, so you can easily break out the bubbly without breaking the bank. We’ve previously pointed out that “Too Much Champagne” Is An Oxymoron and suggested Champagne For Your Real Friends, Real Pain For Your Sham Friends, and although some of those featured wines might not still be available, the items featured will give you a good idea of the breadth of our selection. We may have others on special; you’ll have to stop by the store and see for yourself! But selecting some nice bubbly isn’t the ONLY thing a good host should be thinking about this New Year’s Eve. We definitely encourage the enjoyment of fine drink around the holidays, but only if it’s done RESPONSIBLY. And if you’re hosting a holiday party this year, the well-being of your guests is YOUR responsibility. Here are some quick reminders for how to have a safe holiday celebration:

Check Keys Like Coats - This is a great way to make sure you see EVERY guest as they leave to see what kind of shape they’re in. Any guest who has a problem with this may have problems with other things, like sensible drinking.

Have One Or More Designated Drivers On Hand – Taxis can be hard to come by on New Years Eve. Make sure you have one or more people in attendance who will commit to staying COMPLETELY sober, and willing to give rides throughout the evening.

Feed Them, Water Them, Don’t Overserve - This is no-brainer stuff. Make sure you have plenty of food and NON alcohol beverages on hand. And SLOW DOWN the serving of drinks as the party progresses, don’t SPEED IT UP! And STOP serving well before the party ends.

Those are some basics, but for a much more expansive list, the Michigan Liquor Control Commission has a handy guide called Responsible Party Host Tips (269KB, PDF)

HAVE FUN, BUT BE SAFE!
IF YOU DRINK, DRINK RESPONSIBLY!

Specials below: (more…)

Although many fear that the world will end this year in the Aporkalypse or Carmageddon, or that we’ll all be driving off a fiscal cliff, we’re pretty sure that all that will happen on December 21st is that the days will start getting longer like they do every year, and a few days later Christmas will be here once again. And a few days after that, those fussbudgets in Washington will work out a deal to keep the economy chugging along. That’s why we’ve gone ahead and selected some wine specials and Christmas beers to help you round out your holiday shopping without breaking the bank. This year’s Christmas beer selection has some of the same beers featured last year and the year before, a few of which are no longer in production. Like Mikkeller Santa’s Little Helper, Serafijn Christmas Angel, Ølfabrikken Winter Porter, Nøgne Ø Jolly Pumpkin Special Holiday Ale. Wow. That’s a lot of Ø’s. By the way, have you ever wondered what that “Ø” character is called? Believe it or not, it’s called an “Ø” .

If that someone special on your list is more partial to distilled spirits than beer or wine, and if money is no object, or if you want to drive off your OWN fiscal cliff, we’re here to help*. A couple of years ago, we pointed out that right above your head at Main Party is a treasure trove of exotic premium spirits, from the Dewar’s Signature Boxed set for a mere $241.53, to the Remy Martin Louis XIII Cognac for just under two thousand. This year’s pricey collector’s items top out with the amazing Macallan Masters of Photography collector’s edition. The 30 Year Rankin Edition is priced at $2158.39. We also have the 20 Year Albert Watson Edition for $1215.24. But you don’t have to spend THAT much for a unique bottle of fine spirits; many of the hundreds of items on the shelves near the ceiling are less than fifty dollars, and make for a fine holiday gift. Holiday shopping got you down? Chin up, and you may find the perfect gift! (more…)

Enough is enough!

This Thanksgiving, let’s all give thanks for the fact that the whole Bacon Turducken thing seems to have faded from the limelight. If you were lucky enough to miss it, it started with roasting a duck inside a turkey, which – in the internet age of bacon fascination – inevitably led to a version wrapped in bacon, and probably reached an unchallengeable apex with the Turgoodukfowmalsinquaparquabantenuck. That is the likely name of the result of roasting a turkey – stuffed Russian nested doll-style – with a goose, a Barbary duck, a Guinea fowl, a Mallard, a Poussin, a Quail, a  Partridge, a Pigeon squab, a Pheasant, a Chicken, and an Aylesbury duck. Who knows why they stopped there; there are smaller birds, if we’re not mistaken.
As we pointed out last year, selecting wine for Thanksgiving dinner can be enough of a challenge with the riot of flavors on the typical table, a challenge compounded by the unpredictable contributions by our guests, which may include time-honored American traditions like Jell-O with things floating in it, or sweet potatoes baked with marshmallows. Or that other classic “recipe” that is basically a can of green beans and a can of cream of mushroom soup sprinkled with dried onions. Sorry to give your secret ingredients away, Auntie Emma.
So once again this year, we’ve selected some wines that are versatile and reasonably priced to get things rolling. These are just some starters based on versatility and price; with over 3,000 wines in stock, if you already know what you’re looking for, we probably have something to suit your needs! But if you DON’T know what you’re looking for, look for the little turkeys amongst the shelf talkers. Even if the featured wine isn’t (more…)

The other day, I witnessed a genuine Pumpkin Tragedy. No, not the kind you see pictured at left; we see those every year around this time. This tragedy was real, and it pained me to see the forlorn look on the customers face when David, the manager, uttered the words “Sorry, we were out of New Holland Ichabod Pumpkin Ale almost as soon as it was in the door”. The poor woman looked like she was nine years old, and just learned that her pet hamster had died. Until, that is, David told her about how she might avert this kind of craft beer catastrophe in the future. He told her about the MainDepotConnection, and how signing up was probably the ONLY way she’d have a chance at purchasing certain limited releases, and in general a pretty good way to at least get queued up to be in the store on limited release items that come in batches larger than a few cases. Sign up today to avert your OWN Pumpkin Tragedy.

Get all the latest info on new arrivals and subscriber-only deals at MainDepotConnection.com

Having operated Main Party since 1989, we can lay claim to a few interesting things. Since the demise of the legendary Village Corner, we unquestionably have the largest selection of wine in town, with about 3,000 to choose from. Last we knew, we also have the biggest selection of beer in town, with over 1500, which includes a massive selection of craft brews and imports. And we also have had the longest on-line presence of any local beer and wine sellers; our site first lit up in 1999. That last fact has also unfortunately been a minor impediment; although we were ahead of the curve several years ago, the site has become something like a solid old house with little additions built on the side, with a WordPress blog tacked on (you’re reading it!), and a not-so-well-maintained searchable inventory. That’s all going to change in the next few months though, as we finally blow out the old site and update our technology a bit.

We still don’t have a very active social networking presence; we decided a while back that there’s just too much “noise” in that realm for our busy staff to manage things in a way that actually benefits our guests. But recently, as a stepping stone to launching our new site with lots of other new features, we launched MainDepotConnection.com, where you can sign up to get subscriber only specials and be the first to learn about new arrivals of wine and craft beer, not only here at Main Party, but also at the historic Beer Depot, just a few blocks away. Sometimes one store has specials or new items that the other doesn’t, or if one store sells out of a limited release item, the other may have it. Signing up is a great way to stay ahead of the game.

Our latest wine specials are HERE, and the beer specials are HERE. With October almost upon us and the holiday season just around the corner, this is a great time to plug in and be ahead of the game.