Review: 2008 Pina Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons
Three amazing new wines from the always-enchanting Piña Napa Valley. We got early looks at these hard-to-find, single-vineyard reds — all 100% Cabernet from various parcels in the Napa region. 2008 Piña Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Firehouse Vineyard – Another big, rich Cab from Piña. The first thought to hit my mind when I…
Review: 2009 Shafer Chardonnay Napa Valley Carneros Red Shoulder Ranch
A big — but not overwhelming — Chardonnay from Shafer, this Carneros bottling offers a creamy and buttery body, a nice slug of wood (evident on the nose), and a finish the heads into apples, pears, figs, and a touch of herbs. Thyme and rosemary? Ultimately the butter comes back in the end, leaving the…
Review: Firefly Skinny Tea Flavored Vodka
How do you cut the calorie level from a flavored vodka? Throttle down the alcohol level and cut out the sugar. The first idea is probably not a bad thing. The second one is what kills the deal. Firefly Skinny Tea opts for artificial sweetener instead of sugar, and to say that mars the “sweet…
Review: Tamas Estates Wines, 2011 Releases
This series of very inexpensive wines sound like they’re from Spain but they’re really from California. In fact, they’re part of the Wente Vineyards portfolio, a renowned California wine empire that stakes its claim as the country’s oldest continuously-operated family winery. Here’s how its new Tamás label wines — which are rapidly becoming unavoidable in…
Book Review: Old Man Drinks: Recipes, Advice, and Barstool Wisdom
This slim little novelty book from Robert Schnakenberg is as harmless as it is cute: A collection of “Old Man Drink” cocktail recipes, paired with photos of old codgers sitting on barstools and quotes condensing their wisdom into various aphorisms. Many of the drinks are indeed nothing that anyone under the age of 55 would…
Book Review: How to Booze: Exquisite Cocktails and Unsound Advice
This mixology manual from veteran writer Jordan Kaye and co-author Marshall Altier tries to spin the usual, tired, organized-by-spirit cocktail manual by taking its several dozen drinks – mostly classics, with just a handful of originals thrown in – and offering “The Right Drink for Every Situation.” Neat idea, and in Kaye and Altier’s world,…
Review: Broker’s London Dry Gin
You’ll see the hat first: Broker’s Gin has a fun little bit of surprise & delight: A bowler hat affixed to the lid of the bottle, a hat which will certainly someday end up on the head of my daughter’s Ken doll. It is too manly for Barbie. But Broker’s is hardly a gimmick in…
Book Review: Let Me Tell You About Wine
The venerable – unavoidable, even – Oz Clarke continues to grind out book after book, and this almost-coffee-table-sized tome is designed to make wine accessible to even the most rank novice. If you know nothing, you’ll probably get sucked in by the pictures of strawberries and chocolate, part of Clarke’s goal to get you thinking…
