Review: El Tequileno Blanco
El Tequileno is an affordable brand founded by Don Jorge Salles Cuervo in 1959 that bills itself as “Mexico’s best-kept secret.” It’s made from blue agave from Los Altos de Jalisco (the Highlands) and volcanic spring water from El Volcan de Tequila. Unusually, this blanco (sometimes billed as Platinum on the label) is rested for…
Review: Cool Cat Citrus Wine Spritzer
In the fast-growing wine spritzer category, there’s another new kid on the block, Cool Cat. How cool you can actually look drinking it is a question I’ll let you, dear reader, answer on your own time, but there’s no denying that canned alcohol is here to stay, at least until we all start drinking marijuana…
Review: 2018 Gaia Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc
The Gaia collection is a brand from Domaine Bousquet’s estate vineyards in Tupungato, which can be found in Mendoza’s Uco Valley. Per the company, “The name references the ancient Greek goddess of the earth, and an inspiration for the Bousquet family from the outset, going back to the late 1990s when as visionaries and intrepid…
Review: Baileys Red Velvet
It’s perhaps the most ostentatious limited release of Baileys of all time: Baileys Red Velvet, which is produced in collaboration with the well-regarded confectioners at Georgetown Cupcake. You better believe it’s an honest-to-god liqueur version of red velvet cake, starting with the color, which is a somewhat horrifying shade of crimson that falls somewhere between…
Review: Veroni Aperitime Antipasto Trays
There’s no better happy hour snack than an tray full of charcuterie, cheese, crackers, and other snacks — but putting one together can be a real bear. Well, here’s a genius idea from Veroni, which makes a wide range of salumi and antipasto products in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. (Meats sold in the U.S.…
Review: 2016 Sweetzer Cellars Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
Hollywood expats Michael Fogelman and Lisa Liberati departed for the Santa Barbara area some years ago to make winemaking a full-time job. Here’s a look at two of Sweetzer’s current releases, both (surprisingly) from the 2016 vintage. 2016 Sweetzer Cellars Chardonnay Santa Maria Valley – This chardonnay is lively and vibrant on the whole, but…
Review: 2018 Robert Mondavi Chardonnay Napa Valley
It doesn’t get much more iconic than this, one of the wines that put California on the map: Napa Valley chardonnay from Robert Mondavi. Things have changed a lot since Mondavi started his winery in 1966, and today this chardonnay checks a lot of the boxes expected of a California “chardy.” That said, it has…
Review: Santa Teresa 1796 Solera Rum (2020) and Cantinero Coffee Bitters
Santa Teresa 1796 has been a top shelf rum for years. Produced in Venezuela and aged, solera-style, in bourbon and Cognac casks, it’s a well-aged rum that contains trace amounts of rums that, by this point, are upwards of 60 years old. (Most of the rum in the solera, of course, will be considerably more…
