Tasting the Wines of Vidal-Fleury, 2012 Releases
Guy Sarton du Jonchay has been the winemaker at the Rhone Valley’s Vidal-Fleury since 2008, but his roots in the wine business run deep. For decades he’s been making wine in France and in Argentina. Happenstance has brought him home to France where he’s overseeing 80,000 cases of wine from Vidal-Fleury’s 19 AOCs each year.…
Review: Mandarine Napoleon Liqueur
Was Napoleon an orange liqueur man? My sources say he drank Burgundy and Cognac — like a good Frenchman should — so how would he feel about an orange liqueur being sold in his name? Well, guess what: This liqueur was made especially for Napoleon Bonaparte, and wasn’t offered to sale to the public until…
Updated Port Punch Recipes from Sandeman
Sandeman sent us these delectible-sounding concoctions, all updates of old-school punch recipes involving Port. Yum! Wedding Punch by Jonathan Pogash, The Cocktail Guru Mixology Version – served warm (serves 8-10) 12 ½ parts Sandeman Founder’s Reserve Porto 8 parts spiced pineapple syrup* 4 parts fresh lemon juice 8 parts brandy or cognac 8 dashes Peychaud’s…
Review: Glenfiddich Cask of Dreams 2011 Limited Release
The story behind the creation of Cask of Dreams is beyond anything else I’ve ever heard of in the five years I’ve been writing this blog. If you don’t know the tale, draw near, and listen to the story of how you make a truly unique whisky. Cask of Dreams starts with off-the-rick Glenfiddich, with…
Review: Absolut Miami Limited Edition Vodka
Absolut’s sixth city-inspired flavor takes us to the sunny shores of Miami, where no doubt plenty of vodka is consumed alongside all the rum that goes down there. Absolut flavors this one with passion fruit and orange blossoms, two great tastes that go great together… and that go great together with vodka. The nose is…
Review: Concannon Irish Whiskey
There are about a half dozen unique things going on with this new Irish whiskey. Let’s enumerate them one by one. 1) It’s being sold and branded not by a distillery and not by an Irish company but by a California winery. It is, however, made in Ireland, in conjunction with Cooley Distillery (a giant…
Review: Iceberg Vodka
A name like Iceberg comes loaded with connotation: The sea, salt air, the Titanic. Lots of maritime ideas in that word. Funny then that Iceberg Vodka tastes nothing like the ocean from whence it literally came. No, seriously: Iceberg Vodka is called that because the water it’s made with comes from icebergs. (The company says…
Blood Orange Liqueur Recipes from Jackie Patterson
Jackie Patterson is a friend, a San Francisco bartender, and the ambassador for Solerno Blood Orange liqueur. She created all of these recipes to show off this exotic ingredient. They all sound delightful. Star Ruby 1 oz Solerno 1 oz fresh blood orange juice 1 oz Lillet Rouge 1 oz Hendrick’s Gin Shake ingredients with…
