Tasting the Wines of Artesa, 2017 Releases
I realized I hadn’t visited Artesa, located in California’s Carneros region, in many years, and on a lark I paid a visit to their tasting room. I ended up spending nearly an hour here digging through rarities you won’t encounter much in the wild. (Pro tip: Avoid the winery’s supermarket bottlings; the gold is upmarket.)…
Calling All Geeks: Cocktails for National Star Wars Day 2017
May 4th is here, and Star Wars fans are breaking out the lightsabers… and their booze bottles. To celebrate “May the fourth,” we asked fans and a popular fan podcast for cocktail suggestions and then put our own spin on them. Many of the photos don’t do the drinks justice because some elements like smoke…
Review: Three Meadows Spirits Peony Vodka
Based in the Hudson Valley of New York, Three Meadows Spirits is the producer of, to date, a single product: Peony Vodka, a 5x distilled, wheat-based vodka flavored with nine botanicals. Those include geranium, jasmine, white pepper, gardenia, green tea, vanilla, and the namesake of the spirit, tincture of peony. (Yes, that’s seven; the remaining two…
Review: Mulholland Distilling Vodka, Gin, and American Whiskey
Mulholland Distilling is a new operation that bills itself as “The Spirit of L.A.,” though nothing is actually originated in Los Angeles — the white spirits are distilled on contract in Missouri, then proofed down in Downey, California, which is indeed part of Los Angeles County. The whiskey is from Indiana (presumably MGP), with Califorinia water…
Review: Magnolia Proving Ground IPA and Kalifornia Kolsch
San Francisco-based Magnolia Brewing is releasing two of its flagship brews in cans for the first time. We sampled them both, straight outta aluminum. Thoughts follow. Magnolia Proving Ground IPA – This IPA is described as an American-British hybrid that includes British Maris Otter malt used as a counterpart to classic west coast hop strains. The…
Review: Dos Almas 55 Tequila Plata and Cinnamon Liqueur
Dos Almas is a new brand of tequila (a silver) and liqueur, made in the Highlands region of Jalisco. These are wildly different products, so let’s hop to it. Details (and thoughts) follow. Both bottles reviewed are from production #1, which comprised 1300 and 1600 bottles, respectively. Dos Almas 55 Tequila Plata – This is…
Tasting the Wines of Buena Vista Winery, 2017 Releases
Founded in 1857 by the colorful Hungarian Count Agoston Haraszthy, Buena Vista Winery was a pioneer of California wine. The first wine caves in California were dug here (and can still be seen today by visitors), and Haraszthy is responsible for bringing all kinds of European wine varietals to the U.S. Today, Buena Vista is…
Review: Chapter 7 Highland Single Malt Whisky 19 Years Old
Chapter 7 is a newish independent bottler (established only in 2014) that has released only a couple dozen indie Scotch releases to date. Many of these are distillery-labeled, but this one, among its latest — and newly available in the U.S. as an exclusive for us Yankees — is a 19 year old with unstated…
