The Spirit World

The warm days of summer are almost upon us — time to break out the white wine. Versatile as an aperitif and food-friendly, Sauvignon Blanc is as varied in style and complexity as are completely different varietals.
At a recent gathering of starving artists, the 2006 Baron D’Aliénor Bordeaux Sauvignon was a real crowd pleaser. Made […]

Each year, and with fairly little fanfare, there is a fairly exhaustive spirits judging that takes place in San Francisco. Anthony Dias Blue is the founder of the competition, which saw its eighth year in operation when it held its 2008 judging in mid March.
There were 847 products submitted, across 439 different brand classifications. Judging […]

If you’re not a captain of industry or you don’t have celebrity status, then you might want to check out my Artists Picks, great moderately priced wines under $10. I’ll be reviewing a different wine in each post, describing the terroir, region and providing tasting notes.
The Douro Valley in Portugal is a spectacular landscape 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 […]

One of my friends is Swedish, and she often brings interesting things for me to try have made their way to the U.S. with her friends and family from Sweden. Her latest gift was a bottle of Carlshamn’s Swedish Flaggpunsch.
Finding Swedish Punsch
Some bloggers have written about Swedish Punsch because it is an essential ingredient in […]

I’ve had the good fortune to visit the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region, featured in this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday, several times on business. I went to Trieste which is about as far round you can go in Italy in a north east direction before you hit Slovenia. It’s a very pleasant place, obviously Italian but with a […]

I spent a few days on the Alabama coast recently, and stumbled upon a whiskey that was new to me – Clyde May’s Conecuh Ridge Alabama Style Whiskey. Being the curious sort, I tried some and asked my friendly bartender about it.This was a whiskey with an interesting story. The bartender told me that it […]

I’ve been in China for the last 10 days on a guided tour aptly named A Taste of China, and that’s what I’ve been doing – tasting the history, culture, food and of course the wine. To sum it all up, China has huge potential for producing and exporting quality wine – it’s just not […]

To signal Oktoberfest and craft beer in the US, the folks at Food and Wine magazine have put together a list of fifteen recipes that are the perfect complement to a glass of beer.  Everything from a Beer-Battered Cod with Tartar Sauce and a Flatiron Steak Salad to a Jamiacan Jerk Chicken and a Barbecued Beef […]

If you look to see what the Icelandic word “reyka” means in English, a free online translator will tell you it means “smoky.” The bottle itself says it means “steam,” which is more appropriate since this 80 proof grain vodka is ultra smooth and almost tasteless.
These days, vodka seems to be mostly about appearances, […]