The Spirit World

A Japanese whisky has been voted the best in the world.
Yoichi 20-year-old is the first variety outside Scotland to win the coveted single malt award from industry bible Whisky Magazine, scotching the hopes of dozens of other varieties, including last year’s winner, Talisker 18-year-old, from the Isle of Sky.
Yoichi, which is distilled near Sapporo City […]

I have two favourite brewers - Breakspears, based in my home county of Oxfordshire and London’s Fuller, Smith & Turner. Not sure if the former is availble across the pond but the latter has just won two gold medals at this year’s prestigious 2008 Brewers Association World Beer Cup held in San Diego.
The winning Fuller’s beers were: […]

I attended the 5th annual American Distilling Institute conference earlier this month, and am happy to report that artisan distilling is thriving in the U.S. When my husband and I started our distillery four years ago, there were about 65 small distilleries in the U.S. Now there are 144 in operation and/or under construction. They […]

Last week saw the fifth annual gathering of the American Distilling Institute convene at the historic Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. As the trade association for the burgeoning small-scale craft distilling industry, the Institute chose an appropriate location for this year’s theme: whiskey. But the sense of history came not just from the architecture of […]

An Organic and Biodynamic Wine Cellar Created by Scott Pactor of West Chelsea’s Appellation Wine & Spirits
Bright, Modern, and white, it’s exterior wall of glass, Appellation Wine & Spirits – in eco chic, delightfully designed West Chelsea, is the first Biodynamic Wine Boutique in New York City.
Opened in September 2005, Appellation has established itself as […]

It’s not often that a major Champagne house releases a new champagne but Bollinger have done just that with the release in London of Bollinger Rosé.
The creation of this non-vintage rosé has been long in the making and a dream of the House for almost a decade. This wine has evolved not as a curiosity, […]

I think Frank is having an affair. He mutters her name constantly – sometimes lovingly, sometimes not so much so. Her picture appears in books on the coffee table, on the dashboard in the truck, even pinned on the bathroom mirror with some unintelligible  scribbles and notations below it. I know he sometimes even  takes […]

If you’re eager for something outside of the norm, our friends in Austria might have something to offer you. Monopolowa has been known for its vodka, which tied the Russian Stolichnaya at the International Review of Spirits in 2003. Some of you might not be informed that they are also offering a potato based gin […]

The “he” in question is Sam Calagione, a craft brewer and founder of Dogfish Brewery, which sells more than a million six-packs annually of its “off-centered ales for off-centered people.” The “she” is Marnie Old, an oft-quoted sommelier and director of wine studies at French Culinary Institute in New York City. Their book, the illustrated […]

Anyone who’s read our Blanc de Noir blog for long knows we’re both huge fans of Italian wines.  There’s just something about the diversity, quality, and sheer fun factor of Italian wines – whether it’s a casual summer patio sipper or a robust vintage to accompany a big, festive dinner or one of the meditative […]