Opening the bottle, a super-fine frothy mousse pours into the glass. Earthy, bakery and a touch of cassis blossom in the aromas. The wine is surprisingly taught on the palate, with whisps of dark red berries, and a texture with both creaminess and steely acidity. This continues into the longish, lightly mineral finish. An elegant salmon-pink color, this Sonoma sparkler is classically crafted from pinot noir and chardonnay, with a bit of pinot meunier – just the way it would be done in the Champagne region of France. The wine is aged an average of two years before dosage, then for another six ..read more

I’m fascinated with this wine not only because Megan Hughes has nicely crafted a “chardonnay in the raw” but also because it gives us a glimpse into what sparkling wines were like centuries ago. Then, grapes were just pressed, left to ferment, and bottled. Very few steps. The result is a wonderfully bubbly wine…under a crown cap. The wine is delicate, lemony, and quite yeasty. Hughes, daughter of the Barnard Griffin founders, chooses an “encapsulated yeast” for this sparkler’s in-bottle, secondary fermentation, and it really works. Strictly speaking, winemakers back in the day didn’t have yea ..read more

Everyone who has tried this Champagne at my house has been charmed. As I was. And thrilled, having hurriedly grabbed the bottle from the shelf of a local wine shop. After selecting it, on the label I saw the stamp of approval from exporter Becky Wasserman & Co, so I figured it was going to be fine. This wine is more than fine, it is refined. With a large dollop of creaminess and crisp fruit, the wine has exceptionally balanced flavors, aromas and texture. We sipped this champagne on its own, and then through all types of dinner courses — mainly vegetarian, but not entirely. It’s difficult ..read more

Have you ever loved your dog so much you wanted to shout it out? Master Distiller Ben Green did just that when he created Mr. Pickles Gin, to honor his rescue pup. And Mr. Pickles has now become part of the team at the distinctive, independently-owned Wolf Spirit distillery in Oregon. Hand painted flowers and a heroic portrait of a dog might not be what you’d expect from a self-labeled “heavy metal distillery”, but this blue glass bottle’s design is a fitting descriptor for what’s inside. Mr. Pickles Pacific Northwest Gin is light and aromatic, easy to drink. While opening with a gin-typical ..read more

When I first tasted this spirit I was confused because it seemed like a cross between a Japanese whiskey and an American bourbon. Which turned out to be true. But the story of this whiskey is much larger. Opening with aromas of herbs and meadow grass, this whiskey becomes nicely woody on the palate, with strong caramel overtones persisting through its long finish. It’s made with 100% barley, fermented with koji and yeast, then double pot still distilled in a 100-year-old distillery in Japan. The spirit is aged in 90% virgin American oak and 10% former Bourbon casks, both of which contribute e ..read more

Crisp and flavorful, the wild Amarena cherries in this jar are already infused with alcohol, fitting seamlessly into a cocktail – or any other dish that needs a spirited hint of sweetness and crunch. This treat is from Tempus Fugit, the California-based company that specializes in rare, historically-inspired spirits, bitters, absinthe, aperitifs, etc. It seems whenever they’re looking around for the perfect ingredient for their next retro cocktail, they create it. Hence these 19th century-style cocktail cherries. In flavor and texture, a level above any other kind we’ve tried. The wild cherri ..read more

A wine glass has to look elegant, feel good in the hand, and deliver an optimal aromatic and taste experience. So of course I was drawn the new Glasvin company with their slogan “hand-made wine glasses that were blown to impress, and priced to break.” Choosing wine glasses is tough. You’re always walking a fine line, trying to balance price, design and function. Will this glass look good on my table, impress my friends, allow the wine inside to shine, be dishwasher-safe, and not break easily? Sometimes it seems this is impossible without overspending — and then spending every dinner mentally ..read more

What’s a foil cutter? It’s the gadget that allows you to cleanly remove the covering on a wine cork: the first step in opening the bottle. An inexpensive foil cutter is one of the best investments to make it easy to open wine bottles. Though at an under $10 price, it’s not much of an investment, is it? These little devices come in a dozen or so styles, from bunches of grapes to flip flops to hot lips. And they’re magnetic, so they’re always handy on a fridge or range hood or the side of a toaster oven. My favorite is the bright green frog. Cork Pops Foil Cutters, starting at $6 ..read more

You may be surprised to hear that Chardonnay is now proving to be healthier than red wine. Sustainably so, too. And you don’t have to drink it, you can eat it. In chocolate, which is most people’s preferred way of consuming…anything. Vine to Bar chocolates incorporate the organic material that remains after pressing chardonnay grapes: hence, sustainable. This material is called chardonnay marc, and consists of skins, seeds and everything left after the grape juice is used to make wine. The company that makes delectable dark chocolate products with chardonnay marc is called WellVine, based on ..read more

Grand Junction is the Gateway to Colorado Wine Country and Upbeat Tastings in Palisades Considered the fruit bowl of Colorado, this is where underrated wines of character grown at high altitudes are found. Ordinary Fellow is the most colorful. Like many histories of grape growing throughout the U.S., Colorado winemaking begins with immigrants finding the right soils and growing conditions. Colorado winemaking flourished, hitting over a millions pounds of grapes from over 250,000 vines from 1034 Colorado farms. Prohibition wiped out the entire industry. Fast forward to 1968 when Dr. Gerald Iva ..read more