tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255628882009-07-02T10:54:15.627-07:00Reviews of beers, spirits, and wines, books on these beverages, and moreAlcoholReviews.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12025531358809565204noreply@blogger.comBlogger201125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25562888.post-16371794235325756822009-06-27T14:26:00.000-07:002009-06-27T15:10:32.844-07:00

7/2009 BELL'S BREWERY, INC. TWO HEARTED ALEWhen's the last time you heard something good about Michigan? The Wolverines football team is dreadful, the auto industry has cratered, and yet another one of its politicians is going to jail. But, we are pleased to report something is going right in the state --- Bell's Brewery of Kalamazoo. We tried this IPA not too long back at the suggestion of a

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6/2009 (oops) CABERNET FRANC CARMENERE 2006More, please. We want more Cabernet Franc available in America, and we want more of this brand of wine. (oops) wines are produced and bottled for Schwartz Olcott Imports of Manhasset, New York.The packaging is superb, and this wine was just what we were looking for one night. A guest had visited and insisted on cooking lamb chops, so we wanted a

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6/2009 SVEDKA VODKAFive times distilled --- so it has to MAHVELOUS, right? Well, no. Don't get us wrong --- SVEDKA is not a bad vodka. We got a fifth at a Washington, DC liquor store for about $21. We enjoyed it, but we were a little disappointed. SVEDKA did not have any of the yummy vodka notes (think good potato vodka), nor was it uber clean (think KETEL ONE). It showed a mild mineral

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6/2009 ST. LOUIS KRIEK PREMIUM LAMBICCastle Brewery in Van Honsebrouck, Belgium makes this beer. (See images of the label here.) We one cannot help but wonder whether it crafted this Lambic with the U.S. market in mind. GADZOOKS, THIS STUFF IS SWEET. Served ice cold ---not that one should do that with Lambic--- it is palatable, though boring. (One tastes nothing but cherries, none of the

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6/2009 ROUND HILL MERLOT 2006According to the Round Hill (i.e., Rutherford Wine Company) website, this red is:"Flavorful and satisfying, our 2006 Merlot exudes the supple charm for which this varietal is prized. Bright Bing cherry, anise, earth and mineral notes in the aroma mingle with soft rose petals. Bing cherry and berry flavors linger pleasingly on the palate with hints of toasted oak and

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6/2009 NEW YORK TIMES STORY ON AUSTRALIAN WINE INDUSTRYThis is an interesting story on the Australian wine industry. Is it in trouble? Well, yes, its exports did fall by 9% this past year after many years of breakneck growth.But it does not seem to us that the problem is Australia over-marketing Shiraz or selling too many bargain bottles. Talk of "repositioning" Australia's wines seems a bit

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6/2009 GEKKEIKAN ZIPANG SPARKLING SAKENow, here is something interesting --- sparkling sake. Typically, we take our sake with dinner. ZIPANG, though, has us thinking of sake as a midday or happy hour refresher, something to enjoy with or without light snacks. ZIPANG is mildly fizzy and shows notes of pear and rice. It is a little sweet, and we enjoyed it with a snack of unshelled edamame with

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6/2009 FIREMAN'S BREWS: BLONDE, RED AND BRUNETTE BEERSAh, just what we love to see --- a beer with a cause. In short, drink this beer and a portion of the profits will go to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, a congressionally chartered not-for-profit entity. According to an LA Daily news story, "about 250 cases per month are produced at Indian Wells Brewery in the Mojave Desert."The

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6/2009 Book Review: John R. Hume and Michael S. Moss, The Making of Scotch Whisky: A History of the Scotch Whisky Distilling Industry (Edinburgh: Cannongate, 2002)This book was first published in 1980, and has been updated and republished a couple times since. Put bluntly, this is the most authoritative text on Scotch whisky we have sever seen. It is not a quick or light read; it is 368 total

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5/2009 DANA GOODYEAR ON FRED FRANZIA AND CHARLES SHAW (AKA TWO BUCK CHUCK) WINEThis lengthy piece ran in the May 18, 2009 copy of the New Yorker magazine. Readers of this piece may come away from it not knowing whether to whoop and cheer for Franzia or to decry him as the Walmart of the wine world. For our part, we are glad to see someone produce a wine that the common man can afford to serve

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5/2009 JASON WILSON ON GRAPPAJason Wilson has published a nice column on grappa in the May 25, 2009 copy of the Washington Post. We confess to being real fans of grappa, especially after a large meal. Unlike any other spirit (save Fernet Branca), or alcoholic beverage for that matter, a small glass of grappa really soothes the stomach. We would like to see more bars and restaurants in the

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5/2009 PAPPY VAN WINKLE FAMILY RESERVE 20 YEAR OLD STRAIGHT KENTUCKY BOURBON WHISKEYWe approached this 90.4 proof Bourbon giddily --- we had tasted VAN WINKLE's whiskeys previously, and had fond memories.This bottle, though, we found inscrutable. It is not very sweet, the wood flavor is intense, and one picks up a little vanilla and maybe some apricot. We added a little water, to no avail, then

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5/2009 REGIA EXTRA SMOOTH LAGER BEERYes, it is called REGIA EXTRA SMOOTH LAGER BEER. It is not to be confused with REGIA SOMEWHAT SMOOTH BEER, or REGIA NOT THE LEAST BIT SMOOTH BEER. Ho, ho.This brew is produced by Cerveceria La Constancia of San Salvador, El Salvador, the same folks who make the occasionally-found-in-America SUPREMA. The first time we saw REGIA EXTRA in WHOLE FOODS, it was

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4/2009 BATEMANS XXXB CLASSIC PREMIUM PALE ALE AND COMBINED HARVEST MULTIGRAIN BEERLovers of Brit beers will be delighted to learn that these two brews once again are available in the United States. Both of these brews have won gold medals at the International Beer Awards, and both are very satisfying. The XXXB is a lean, copper-colored, slightly fruity bitter that is made from pale, crystal, and

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4/2009 J.K SCRUMPY FARMHOUSE ORGANIC HARD CIDERThis was a fun find --- a hard cider that is not treacly sweet. This USDA certified organic hard cider produced by Alamar Orchards of Flushing, Michigan. It was not cheap --- Whole Foods charged over $5 for a 22 ounce bottle. But, it was very pleasant --- mild apple flavor, a slightly creamy texture, and low on fizz. The name is also rather cute --

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4/2009 DUMANTE VERDENOCE ITALIAN PISTACHIO LIQUEUROur eyebrows did a little dance when we heard about this product. A pistachio liqueur? Hmmm, when was the last time we saw one of those. Perhaps this is an ancient brand that some mega-corp has decided to revive...Wrong on both counts. DUMANTE is a brand new product. It was conceived by Howard Sturm, an attorney and entrepreneur who lives

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4/2009 FULL SAIL KEELHAULER SCOTTISH ALEOh darn, another 22 ounce bottle of FULL SAIL BREWING beer has arrived. Darn, we just hate tasting these beers. They always are so unpleasant.Ha, ha. As our readers know, we have been perennially impressed by FULL SAIL BREWING. Every couple of months a new brew seems to appear, yet they have not yet bollixed one up. This Scottish Ale was fun --- a solid

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4/2009 LAURENT-PERRIER CUVEE ROSE BRUT CHAMPAGNEThis is a beautiful wine. The color is beguiling --- peachy-pink --- and the bubbles are tiny and seemingly endless. (Fifteen minutes after the pour, bubbles continued to appear in our glass.) We opened this wine before dinner, and we actually held off eating until we had finished the bottle --- we just did not want to put anything else on our

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4/2009 MACHIO DEI CAVALIERI PROSECCO DI VALDOBBIADENETry saying this wine's name five times quickly. Oy, vey!We reviewed this wine back in summer of 2007. We liked it then, and we like it now.This bubbly retails for about $20, and we quite liked it. Lots of tiny, tight bubbles, very creamy in the mouth, and it showed biscuit and cantaloupe notes. Very pleasant and uplifting, just as a Prosecco

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4/2009 PASCUAL TOSO MALBEC 2007Strange lives we are leading --- often we find ourselves looking at a bottle and wondering, how did this get here? Well, hats off to whomever put this bottle in our greedy mitts. This PASCUAL TOSO wine comes from Maipu in Mendoza. For $10 or so, this bottle offers lots of rich flavors --- mocha, blackberries, cassis... Wow, what a bargain. A robust wine for

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4/2009 WEST PARK WINE CELLARS CHARDONNAYNearly two years ago, we attended a wedding held at WEST PARK WINERY in New York's Hudson Valley. The setting was lovely, and we all got to take home a half bottle of the winery's white wine. We opened it this past week, and we were delighted. At first, we thought it was a rose --- the color was light orangey-peach. It was nothing like the usual American

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4/2009 N'ICE CHOUFFE LIMITED EDITION 2007A few weeks back, we though spring had sprung and --- THWAP! --- we were hit with cold, wet weather. That Mother Nature, she can be cruel. While staggering about the local WHOLE FOODS grocery, we saw a 25.4 ounce, green bottle of N'ICE CHOUFFE LIMITED EDITION 2007 (10%ABV). "Ale brewed with spices (thyme and curacao peel)" --- it sounded right for the

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4/2009 L'ORIGINAL COMBIER LIQUEUR D'ORANGEBartenders and cocktail lovers rejoice --- a triple distilled orange liqueur has arrived from Saumur, in the Loire. L'ORIGINAL COMBIER (40 proof) is high-end stuff --- it retails at about $40 a fifth. It's a simple combination --- grain alcohol, orange peels, sugar beets, and some "secret ingredients", all cooked in copper stills and distilled into a

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3/2009 JOSEPHS BRAU DUNKELWEIZENWhile cruising TRADER JOE'S the other week, we came across the brew and grabbed a six-pack. "Ah, our brains thought, a small brewer in California attempting a tricky German style. Cool."Later, our intrigue turned to annoyance. When one tries to locate JOSEPHS BRAU BREWING COMPANY of SAN JOSE, California, it can't be found. In reading over the scuttlebutt in the

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3/2009 PEAK ORGANIC BREWING COMPANY AMBER ALE AND ESPRESSO AMBER ALEWe came cross these ales while shopping in a WHOLE FOODS grocery store in Washington, DC this past weekend. A nice young chap from PEAK BREWING was offering samples of three of his company's beers. We tried the NUT BROWN ALE, but it was a bit too cool for us to get a good read on it. However, we liked the other two beers so

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