Archive for April, 2012
• Blur pop star, Alex James, is venturing into the beer world
The Blur bassist is extending his farm business by making it into a brewery, although there is no notice of when the brew will be ready to drink. Alex said, “I’ve basically become a monk – I make cheese and now I’ve started making beer.” The bassist is no stranger to venturing into the food [...]
• Only 2011 Ausone gets 100 point potential from Parker
Ausone was awarded 96-100 points, while Lafite was awarded only 90-93 in the estate’s worst performance since its 88 points in 1993. The scores were described on Twitter as “incredible” and “making a lot of sense”. Lafite’s poor scores echo Liv-ex’s merchant round-up which pointed to the estate as the “disappointment of the vintage”. Parker [...]
• New York City Banning Happy Hour? You’re kidding, right?
Now that they have eliminated smoking from bars and passed a beloved letter grade system to let you know how clean the city’s restaurants are, the Department of Health has had some free time to focus on their next big fix for New York City. And the winner is a proposal to eliminate happy hours [...]
• New craft brews fearlessly blend wines into beer
We’ve all heard the phrase “It takes a lot of good beer to make good wine,” a reference to winemakers’ time-honored after-work refreshment. Recently, thanks to modern craft brewers employing old winemakers’ ways—i.e. wood aging, wild yeasts, cork-and-wire closures—the line between beer and wine has gotten deliciously blurry. The best of these resulting brews? Dryer, [...]
• Forget the shot glass! Try cooking with tequila instead
Not since contaminated bathtub gin claimed lives during Prohibition has a spirit been saddled with as insalubrious a reputation as tequila. On North American shores, it has long been the domain of Spring Break and body shots while, in its native Mexico, tequila is (and always has been) a sipping drink to be enjoyed with [...]
• Sauternes appears best value in latest releases
The 2011 en primeur campaign came to life again yesterday with a small flurry of releases. Chasse Spleen, Bellevue (Saint Emilion), Suduiraut, Carillon Angélus and Doisy-Védrines were among the releases but for the most part prices remained above 2008 release prices by 7% to nearly 50%. Chasse Spleen at €17.70p/b is only 1.6% down on [...]
“a woman walks into a bar…” at Terroirs & Signatures Burgundy Wine Tasting
Have you ever been to San Francisco City Hall? If you have, you know how beautiful it is. Well, that’s where the Terroirs & Signatures Burgundy tasting took place. A grand setting for grand wines…most from the great 2009 vintage and some really wonderful 2010′s. The tasting started off with a two hour seminar on [...]
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• Ditch the Diet & Booze It Up with Alcohol-Infused Ice Cream
Alcohol doesn’t just come in bottles and cans: the geniuses at SnöBar have just unveiled a line of boozed-up ice cream that’s definitely not for kids. And as these booza-peneurs are quick to point out, “no cocktail is cooler.” Every serving of this alcohol-infused ice cream contains as much liquor as an average 12 oz. beer and [...]
• Pernod Ricard’s sales grow 5%. Emerging markets offset France drop
Solid growth in sales of cognac and other liquors in emerging markets offset a domestic decline for French drinks group Pernod Ricard, which reported a 5 percent increase in third-quarter sales Thursday. The maker of Beefeater gin and Jameson whisky said the drop in French sales was largely due to an excise duty increase. Still, [...]
• Amid Kentucky bourbon boom, Heaven Hill plans Louisville attraction
The country’s largest family-owned distilled spirits company hopes to draw thousands of tourists to a small distillery it’s opening in a stretch of downtown Louisville once known as “Whiskey Row,” close to the site where the namesake of its popular Evan Williams bourbon once set up a whiskey still nearly 230 years ago. In a [...]
• Wine co-ops prove to be a highly competitive solution
Wine co-operatives have proven to be resilient during recessionary trading as well as successful businesses when the times are good. Their ability to pool resources and guarantee sales can make them a useful, if not crucial solution for producers both in Europe and elsewhere. Hence, the drinks business has looked closely the performance of these [...]
• Pairing Cocktails With Food. Yes.
As cocktails have moved toward center stage at many restaurants and nightspots, both restaurants and their customers have been looking to pair cocktails with food. The trick is to compromise the taste of neither the drink or the dish, says Dave Arnold, who opened Booker and Dax bar in New York City with Momofuku chef [...]
• Customize your craft beer in 10 min. with handheld infuser bottle
A sophisticated beer drinker needs an accessory to create their own flavors to the brew. With the Dogfish Head Randall Jr. Beer Infuser, any ingredient in your home can become part of your new favorite beer. If you ask me, I much prefer beer tasting over wine. Maybe I’m just not classy or sophisticated enough [...]
• Flavored Whiskies Leading Spirits Market Growth In 2012
Flavored whiskies were the fastest-growing spirits type in the U.S. market in the first quarter of 2012—rising 154.8% to 94,000 cases in Nielsen channels—and the segment figures to be a hotbed of both innovation and competition looking ahead. The category (defined by Nielsen as including flavored whiskies and whisk(e)y-based liqueurs) includes three Impact “Hot Brands”: [...]
• Inexpensive Vodka Upsets Major Players at SF World Spirits Competition
At a fraction of the price, Exclusiv Vodka outscored Absolut, Chopin, Smirnoff and other major brands at the 2012 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The Double Gold medal winners in the 2012 San Francisco World Spirits Competition prove that spending more money for a bottle of Vodka doesn’t guarantee better taste. In a surprising upset, [...]
