Review: 2015 LDV Winery Petite Sirah and Petite Sirah Signature
Pearce, Arizona-based LDV presents two wines for us — both 100% petite sirah bottlings from the 2015 vintage. (Yes, these are current releases.) What does a hot climate do with a difficult grape like petite sirah? Let’s find out. 2015 LDV Winery Petite Sirah – Quite extracted from the start, you could be forgiven for…
Black Owned and Millennial Founded: An Interview with Jon Basil’s Uduimoh Umolu
Over the past six years, a booming American market for agave spirits has produced a rush of both celebrity marketed brands and craft labels backed by multinational conglomerates. That means a number of small producers (including non-distilling producers) have focused on hyper-targeted demographics, often releasing product in just one or two metropolitan areas. Jon Basil…
Review: 2018 Roger Goulart Cava Reserva
This cava is made with organic grapes — 50% macabeo, 35% xarel·lo, and 15% parellada. Lush red apple notes, touched with cinnamon, find a counterpart in notes of fresh nougat, lemon curd, and a pinch of saline. Notes of almond emerge on the finish. There’s not a ton of acidity in the mix here, but…
Review: Stellum Black Equinox Blend #1 and Fibonacci Blend #1
It seems like Barrell Craft Spirits just can’t stop making premium blends, no matter how hard they try. Last year, Barrell launched their Stellum Spirits line which offered a cask strength bourbon and rye designed to be simpler blends at a more wallet-friendly price point than their batch releases. The goal here seemed to…
Review: 5 Drnxmyth Ready-to-Drink Cocktails, 2022 Releases
We’re back with more from Drnxmyth, one of my favorite ready-to-drink brands on the market. As a reminder, these are kept cold and come packaged in unique two-chamber containers, booze on top, juice on the bottom. Twist the two together and you’ve got a cocktail ready for a glass of ice. Abv for each hovers…
Review: Gothic Gin
Gothic is a recent addition to the gin world, distilled in California but with inspiration that hails all the way from gin-crazy Spain. To wit: Founder Chris Klug started traveling the world when he was nine years old. His experiences with cultures throughout the world and their approaches to food and drink led him to…
Review: 2020 Tommasi Le Fornaci Lugana DOC
The turbiana grapes for this wine are grown on the south shore of Italy’s Lake Garda. Lightly sweet and floral, this comes across much like a pinot grigio, a blend of grapefruit peel, tropical fruits, and dried flowers all in a swirl. It can admittedly be a bit much at times, which is why a thin layer…
Review: Fox & Oden Straight Bourbon and Double-Oaked Straight Bourbon
Fox & Oden is a new non-distilling producer that hails from Holland, Michigan, but that’s all I’m really able to tell you about the brand. At present, a bourbon and single malt are advertised on the website, although we also have in our possession both a double-oaked bourbon and a straight rye for consideration that…
