Tasting Report: Wente Chardonnay Wines, 2011 Releases
Wente is one of the huge names in California wine, with dozens of bottlings of just about every wine under the sun. Today we tasted through four of Wente’s Chardonnays, from the supermarket blend to the more upscale bottlings, along with Karl Wente, the winery’s chief winemaker and a fifth generation member of the Wente…
Cork vs. Screwcap: Here Comes the Science
There’s nothing quite like the sound of a cork popping out of that fresh bottle of wine, indicating it’s time at last to drink. The “click” of a screwcap seal being broken… well, it just doesn’t do the same thing for the senses. If Hogue Cellars has its way, you’re soon going to be willing…
Review: Laphroaig Cairdeas Ileach Edition 2011 with Master Distiller John Campbell
Laphroaig, the king of peated Scotch, is not a company that likes to rock the boat. Today, it has just five real bottlings on the market — 10, 18, and 25 year olds, Quarter Cask, and a cask strength version of the 10. That’s it. No fancy finishes. No extra-woody (or, more likely in Laphroaig’s…
Review: The Dalmore Cigar Malt Reserve (2011)
Most Scotch whiskies are aged in ex-Bourbon barrels for the majority of their lives. Only at the end are they occasionally finished in oddball barrels, like former sherry or Port casks. Dalmore’s Cigar Malt — a brand which has been off the market for years now — is an exception to the rule. It spends…
Tasting Report: Wines of Mendocino, June 2011
Mendocino seems like a sleepy community 100 miles or so away from San Francisco, and once in awhile you might remember a few winemakers are toiling away out there, too. Believe it or not, I learned at this event that over 80 wineries are operating in Mendocino County — most of them open to the…
Review: 2010 Biokult Osterreich Gruner Veltliner
Gruner remains a bit exotic, sure, but this wine is intriguing for its grapes: They’re 100 percent organically grown in Austria, a rarity in Europe presently. The results are less exciting than the grape heritage: Grassy, mild, and a little sour despite the initial flavors of fresh apple and lots of tongue-buzzing lemon. Organic is…
Tasting Report: Winebow’s Wines of Italy, 2011 Releases
Winebow isn’t a name I expect you have ever heard of, but you’ve surely consumed its wines: The company is the largest importer of Italian wines in America, and as such it has the volume to be able to put on an event where it pours its Italian offerings… and nothing else. (Winebow also represents…
Review: Graham’s Texas Tea Flavored Vodka
When absinthe essentially went dark in 2009, it handed over the reins to a replacement in the fad liquor department: Tea-flavored vodkas. These bad boys just keep coming and, thankfully, each is just about as good as the last — a claim which absinthe was never able to make. This sweet tea vodka from Austin,…
