July 31, 2018
There are many confusing categories under the broad “spirits” umbrella: amari versus bitter, bourbon versus whisk(e)y, rum versus rhum… the list goes on. One category, however, particularly garners much debate: liqueur. The category is confusing, with good reason. There are... UNFILTERED
Millennia of Innovation: How Nara Has Been Revolutionizing Sake Since 700 AD
July 19, 2018
When most people first get into sake and are trying to make sense of grades and styles, a lot of drinkers land on the sturdy and well-structured kimoto styles. Older and more labor-intensive than the current standard for making fine... “An Emotional Footprint”: Sara Pérez, René Barbier and Venus La Universal
July 12, 2018
As the children of two of the pioneers of the Priorat D.O., Sara Pérez and René Barbier IV grew up as neighbors, looking on as their fathers, Josep Lluis Pérez of Mas Martinet and René Barbier III of Clos Mogador,... I’m Not A Player – I Just Slush A Lot
July 10, 2018
Last summer, in our post “Boozy Popsicles and Blended Drinks”, we explored options for beating the heat with a variety of ice-cold cocktails. Now, as the season’s inaugural beads of sweat form on our brows, we thought it appropriate to... Save Some Booze for the Sauce
June 26, 2018
For better or worse (mostly better), fermentation and the consumption of potable alcohol is one of the human race’s defining characteristics. Since its discovery, alcohol has been used in, and enjoyed alongside, food for its organoleptic and intoxicating properties. Throughout... Terre Nere’s 2016 Releases: Mountain Majesty
June 20, 2018
Halfway between the sea and the sky in Sicily, you’ll find Marco de Grazia’s Mount Etna estate, Tenuta delle Terre Nere. His first commercial release was only in 2002, but the youth of this estate did not impede its becoming... Kirinzan – Top of the Class in Niigata, Japan
June 14, 2018
Although just a short two-hour train ride north of Tokyo on the bullet train, the mountainous area of Niigata is a world apart from the lights and hustle of earth’s largest urban center. Niigata faces out to the Pacific Ocean... “Going to the Woods is Going Home”: Peay Vineyards and the Contemporary American Wine Estate
June 7, 2018
The stories of wine are concerns of proximity. “This glass here,” we might start: “its story begins in a land far away.” And then we step closer. We tightrope borders – those lent to us by millenniums of tectonic undulations,... A Tale of Two Meursaults
June 5, 2018
The evening started with a simple question, “Meursault, Puligny, or Chassagne?” Sitting in a near empty restaurant in the middle of Beaune with some of Burgundy’s brightest stars, opinions came fast and furious. “Meursault has the best terroir, but too... Checking in with Raventós i Blanc
May 30, 2018
It’s been a while since we trained our eye on one of the very nearest and dearest of all estates to the collective Skurnik heart: Raventós i Blanc (aside, of course, from the adorable periodic cavorting of their farm animals...