Review: Riazul Tequila, Complete Lineup
This new line of tequilas comes from the Jalisco Highlands — said to be harvested from land held by a single family for more than 200 years — and is imported into and distributed from Houston, Texas. All three expressions are of course 100 percent agave and 80 proof. Riazul Silver Tequila – This blanco…
Review: Reál Sangria White Sangria
Most of us know red sangria — with fruit a-bobbing in the pitcher — all too well. Reál Sangria is now offering a pre-mixed white sangria, a relatively obscure spin on the classic, which uses white wine instead of red to achieve a lighter, fruitier taste. This white sangria is relatively simple, but quite refreshing.…
Review: Germain-Robin Craft-Method Brandy and Coast Road Reserve Brandy
These Germain-Robin brandies — crafted in California — showed up unannounced, in minimally-marked sample vials, with no additional information about their manufacture or sale. [UPDATE: Notes have been found, and info below has been updated. These are new products.] They are reviewed here without further knowledge — I’m unclear whether the first brandy is the…
Review: Bakon Bacon-Flavored Vodka
There are two schools of thought on Bakon — an honest-to-God bacon-flavored vodka — and never the twain shall meet. One school says this is awesome, at a way to get that highly-prized bacon flavor into an alcoholic spirit. The other school says it is disgusting. I won’t be able to sway you either way,…
Roundup: Affordable Dessert Wines, 2010 Releases
With party season getting underway, it’s time to look at dessert wines, no? (OK, so party season is nowhere near arriving, but these wines have been sitting here all year and I finally had the time to properly review them.) This hodgepodge of wines basically have nothing in common except higher alcohol (usually), sweetness (some…
Review: Ursus Vodka, Straight and Flavored
Everyone needs a gimmick, but the vodka industry, where product is legion, needs it more than anyone. Ursus Vodka, which hails from the Netherlands and is distilled “from grain,” is a budget brand with a trick: Like Coors Light’s newer bottles, the bears on the label turn from white to blue when it’s chilled. (It…
Review: Tequila Avion, Complete Lineup (2010)
This new brand hails from New York, where a former Seagram exec decided to strike out on his own in the brave new world of tequila. As the story goes, founder Ken Austin scoured Jalisco for the best spirit that hadn’t made it to the U.S., and found it on the highest agave plantation in…
Visiting Del Dotto Winery and Caves
Do you want to taste some seriously “lights out*” wines? Look no further than Del Dotto, a postmodern institution along Napa’s main wine trail, and the proprietor of a tour I’ve been hearing about for years as a “must experience” event. This weekend I finally summoned up the courage and paid the whopping $50 to…
