What’s the Best Way to Cellar Wine?
So you’re a fan of good wine, and you’ve just acquired a nice bottle. It’s not something you’re going to drink right away, and perhaps you want to put it down for a while and let the passage of time potentially improve what’s inside. If this is your first time cellaring a bottle of wine,…
Review: 2012 Chateau Haut-Logat Haut-Medoc Cru Bourgeois
What’s Cru Bourgeois? “A Cru Bourgeois du Médoc wine (a step below Cru Classe) is produced in one of eight prestigious appellations of Bordeaux (Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Listrac-Médoc, Moulis en Médoc, Margaux, Saint Julien, Pauillac, or Saint Estèphe) and has satisfied the strict quality selection procedure by which all applicant wines are reviewed annually.” This wine…
Review: Boardroom C Carrot Spirit
Ready for something completely different? Boardroom Spirits, which makes a straight vodka and gin that we’ve reviewed previously, is out with a new white spirit made from 100%, well, carrots. The carrots (12.5 pounds per half-bottle) are cleaned, fermented, and distilled. Nothing is added to the finished distillate, effectively making this a kind of eau…
Review: 2014 Les Dauphins Puymeras Cotes du Rhone Villages
70% grenache, 20% syrah, 10% carignan. This affordable Rhone Valley wine offers an exceptionally fruit-forward profile, featuring notes of bold strawberry and cherry, backed with a hint of rhubarb. As the palate develops it turns a little toward citrus, with stronger orange juice and orange peel notes, before leading to a slightly astringent — yet…
Cocktail Recipes for National IPA Day 2017
On August 3rd, we celebrate our love of hoppiness with National India Pale Ale Day. Rather than review a few, since we do that throughout the year, we decided to focus on cocktails using IPA as an ingredient. When beer is used in cocktails, it’s typically the bittering agent, particularly when it’s an IPA. You…
Review: Wines of San Simeon, 2017 Releases
San Simeon is a sublabel of San Antonio Winery, which makes a vast number of wines from grapes sourced from all over California — in Paso Robles, Monterey, and Napa Valley. Today we look at a mere three of them, part of the San Simeon label (that’s where Hearst Castle is, which you should go see…
Review: Fabriquero Sotol
Perhaps you’ve heard of this “cousin of tequila”? But OK, what is sotol? Sotol is a distillate of an agave-like plant called sotol — scientifically named as Dasylirion Wheeleri. It’s not agave, but a different plant that creates a finished product with a different flavor. This wild plant grows in three northern Mexico states, “100%…
Review: Gonzalez Byass Sherries – Leonor Palo Cortado and Gonzalez Byass Nectar
Sherry continues to attempt to muscle onto American wine menus but it’s having more success in cocktails, where it can stand in for spirits to create a lighter, less boozy cocktail. Here’s a look at two very different sherries from major producer Gonzalez Byass, and a cocktail idea on how to use one of them.…
