Review: Clown Shoes 12 Beers of Christmas 2020
Our friends at Clown Shoes (a subsidiary of Boston’s Harpoon) have dropped a mixed case of brews (a dozen 12 oz cans), featuring 12 different offerings from their collection — including a number of expressions that are exclusive to this case. Here’s a quick look at all of the beers in the holiday pack —…
Alto Adige Review: 2016 Franz Haas Pinot Nero and 2019 Eisacktaler Schiava
Alto Adige, in the north of Italy along the German border, is known for a wide range of white and red wines, and for my money they’ve always come across as wintry in character, which is befitting their place of origin along the rugged Dolomite mountains. Here’s a look at two hearty Alto Adige reds…
A Tour of Prosecco Styles of Conegliano Valdobbiadene, 2019 Vintage
Conegliano Valdobbiadene is a small zone in Italy’s Veneto region, just 45 minutes from Venice in the province of Treviso. The region is named because it lies between the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, and this is the heart of high-end Prosecco production in the country. The glera grape has been cultivated here for centuries,…
Review: Treaty Oak The Day Drinker Texas Bourbon
Drinking in the day? How about some 80 proof, one-year-old bourbon — instead of Treaty Oak‘s flagship, the 95 proof Ghost Hill bourbon? While that calculus may be suspect, this new whiskey, a “100% Texas-made grain-to-glass bourbon that’s born from Texas wheat and yellow no.1 corn from Barton Springs Mill, proofed using limestone-filtered water, and…
Review: Stella Rosa Golden Honey Peach
Here’s another ultra-sweet offering from Stella Rosa (though it ranks only a 6 out of 10 on the winery’s own sweetness scale), tipping the scales at a whopping 5% abv. As the name implies, honey and peaches are the operating flavors in the mix here, though it’s the peach essence that makes the broadest impact…
Recipe: Noggin Knocker
‘Tis the season for perhaps the most unloved of cocktails, eggnog. Yes, that overly sweet, thick, and boozy “punch” that every festive party thrower somehow feels obligated to serve. We all like it, of course, but in extreme moderation. Ask yourself, have you ever finished an entire glass? I thought not. In all honesty, it…
Review: 2017 San Simeon Chardonnay Monterey
This bottling of Monterey-grown chardonnay from San Antonio Winery’s San Simeon label attacks as a bit doughy on the nose, before slowly sliding into a style that comes across as a fairly typical California bottling of the grape. Notes of lemon curd, almond paste, and a significant floral element all quickly emerge, with the floral…
Tasting Report: Return to Temecula Valley, Late 2020 Releases
Early in the days of Covid-19, we took a virtual trip to Temecula in southern California to experience the wines of this emerging region. Now we’re back with another look at a half-dozen wines from the valley. Thoughts follow. 2019 Carter Estate South Coast Estate Fume – A lightly oaked blend of sauvignon blanc (77%)…
