Monthly Archives: July 2009

Tasting Jose Cuervo’s Ultra-Rare 250 Aniversario Tequila

Posted on July 31, 2009 by Christopher Null| 4 Comments

Folks, I had to work my way up to writing this one. It’s not every day you get to try a tequila with such a pedigree… and I hope you’ll get the chance to sample it eventually for yourself.

But first, some history: Jose Cuervo is the world’s oldest maker of tequila, with 10 generations of Cuervo family members running the place for the last 250 years. Jose Cuervo actually predates Mexico — a reproduction of the Spanish land grant for the original Cuervo agave plantation actually accompanies this special edition bottle of tequila.

To honor 250 years of history, the company is releasing this — arguably the most exclusive tequila ever made — on November 2. The pedigree is insane: It’s made with a blend of 5-, 10-, 15-, and 20-year-old anejo tequilas, plus a selection of blanco tequila uncovered in the Cuervo cellars that had been stored there for 100 years. That blanco was aged for three years in oak barrels before mixing with the rest of the tequilas in the blend. Finally, the entire blend was aged a second time in sherry casks for an extra 10 months.

The resulting elixir is put into a hand-blown decanter and a custom box which you probably won’t want to ever open, since it costs $2,250. 495 bottles were made. The one I sampled is the 3rd bottle opened to date.

And yes, I got to try it. Pretty amazing stuff. It’s not as dark as I had expected considering the age of some of the tequilas in the blend, but the nose is filled with smoke and sherry character, plus some surprising citrus character, too. Most surprising of all: You can smell the agave, something that’s usually absent in well-aged tequilas.

The body has lots of agave in it, too, but it’s balanced with smooth chocolate, butterscotch, and vanilla character from all that time in wood. It’s moderately creamy and has a moderate finish, too. Not harsh, but one that lives on in the glass even when it’s emptied. (Which is much too soon.)

Amazing stuff. 80 proof. Seek out a bottle with your local sheik or oil company CEO.

A / $2,250 / cuervo.com

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Posted in Rated A, Reviews, Tequila

Review: Ty Ku Asian Citrus Liqueur

Posted on July 27, 2009 by Christopher Null| 12 Comments

Surely you’ve seen Ty Ku on the shelf. The pale green liqueur in the obelisk of a bottle (some versions even light up when poured) stands out on any back bar. But… what is it?

Reportedly the end result of a student project at Columbia Business School, Ty Ku isn’t a Japanese spirit with an ancient pedigree. Rather, it dates back to, well, 2003 New York.

Ty Ku is at least produced in Japan, where it is made from sake and soju and infused with 20-some additives to create the finished product. The infusion menu is extreme, ranging from fruit (pomegranate, fuji apple, yuzu, honeydew, plum, Asian pear, and white cranberry, mangosteen, goji berry) to herbal flavors (various teas, ginseng, damiana, dragon’s eye). I’ve yet to see a complete list of what’s in it. Some even claim that Ty Ku is “healthy” — a curious claim for any spirit but, at just 40 proof, Ty Ku isn’t really that much more alcoholic than a glass of wine.

The flavor is indeed intriguing. Lightly sweet (elderflower syrup is the sweetener), it’s got strong citrus overtones, but nothing particularly identifiable as any of the above listed fruits. Apple, tart cranberry, perhaps the mangosteen are strongest here. And the tea comes across a bit more in the nose more than the body. All in all: Very good, and well balanced despite the flood of stuff in it.

Ty Ku goes down quite easy on the rocks — and it throws an interesting spin kick into cocktails that you might otherwise sweeten with sugar syrup or even St. Germain. I could actually go for a slightly bigger flavor than it packs, but overall Ty Ku is a winner.

A- / $28 / trytyku.com

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Posted in Liqueurs, Rated A-, Reviews

Sipping Wine with Hall’s Steve Leveque

Posted on July 27, 2009 by Christopher Null| Leave a comment

Hall isn’t a new winery, but you wouldn’t know it considering its recent pushes, making it more visible than ever. This week I sat down with Hall’s winemaker, Steve Leveque, to discuss what’s new at the winery, and to taste a few bottles of the good stuff.

The big news of late is Halls’ Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, making it the first winery in California to receive the coveted badge for green building design. With radiant floors, solar power, serious recycling efforts, and even 100% biodiesel-operated vehicles on the property, Hall is massively committed to environmental issues.

Even better, Hall and Leveque are committed to great wine. We tasted through three bottles (the winery produces nearly 20 bottlings), and all three were exceptional.

Perhaps my favorite was the first, Hall’s widely available 2008 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc (A, $20), a very crisp and lively sauvignon blanc with peachy, almost sweet tropical notes. A lot of sauvignon blanc can get grassy, almost weedy, but Hall’s was evenhanded and light, a testament to careful winemaking.

The 2006 Hall “Kathryn Hall” Cabernet Sauvignon (A-, $75) is also fairly common in wine shops and restaurants, and it’s a solid, fruity cabernet. Black berries play with silky tannins here in a relatively fruit-forward style — I’d like to give this a few years in bottle, but with a little air, it’s ready to go today.

Leveque also pulled out one of the big dogs, the 2006 Hall “Diamond Mountain District” Cabernet Sauvignon (A-, $100), a burly and quite tannic wine with amazing blueberry character, some wood smoke, and chocolate notes. A bit of a chalky texture makes me think it’s not quite ready for drinking today, but give it a few years — or even a decade — and this one will be a knockout.

hallwines.com

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Posted in Rated A, Rated A-, Reviews, Wine

Review: Pinky Vodka

Posted on July 26, 2009 by Christopher Null| Leave a comment

Is everything coming up pink these days? Pink tequilas are rampant, and now there’s pink vodka called, understandably enough, Pinky Vodka.

Pinky begins with winter wheat, and it’s distilled five times into the base spirit (presumably at this point it’s the same thing as Sweden’s Svensk Vodka, which is the producer of Pinky). Pinky then gets flavored with violets, rose petals, and 10 other (secret) botanical products (plus a dash of yellow artificial food coloring) until this pink vodka is formed. Sounds more like a gin to me than a vodka, but with no juniper included, I suppose vodka it must be.

The aroma is clearly floral, with roses the predominant note. On the palate, it has more berry fruit, with a raspberry character that comes on strong to compete with the flower notes. It can verge into a cough syrup character on the finish, particularly when it warms up, which is probably why Pinky suggests a flood of cocktails that are heavy on fresh fruit and spicy infusions and syrups. Pinky does indeed go well with Chambord, I have to say.

B / $30 / pinkyvodka.com

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Posted in Flavored Vodka, Rated B, Reviews, Vodka

What Wineries to Visit in Sonoma County

Posted on July 26, 2009 by Christopher Null| 1 Comment

Yesterday I offered some of my favorite Napa-area wineries to visit during wine country vacations. Today I turn my attention to nearby Sonoma.

Sonoma is a trickier area to visit because it is much larger and is split in two by a huge freeway. Touring this area takes longer than Napa, so keep that in mind when planning your trip. Try splitting the area into north and south regions to make things simpler.

Drinkhacker’s Top Sonoma Valley Wineries Worth Visiting (in alphabetical order)

B.R. Cohn – Owned by a former Doobie Brother.

Chateau St. Jean – Hit the reserve room, then the deli.

Cline – One of the first wineries you hit coming into the area. Feed the fish out back.

Eric Ross

Ferrari-Carano

Hanna

J Wine – Sparklers usually come with canapes.

La Crema – An easy stop if you’re in the Healdsburg town square.

Lambert Bridge – Again, go for the reserve tasting, which comes with a cheese plate.

Little Vineyards – Perhaps the smallest tasting room you’ll ever enter.

Longboard – Open late, so easy to hit for a last stop.

Loxton

Matanzas Creek – A bit out of the way, but worth it.

Quivira – Goats plus good wine.

Ravenswood – You’ll be surprised how many varieties of zin they have that don’t appear at your grocery store. Always have gifts for the kids, too.

Rosenblum – Another Healdsburg plaza winery, easy to hit up.

Sunce – Bocce court out back.

VJB Cellars – In the process of moving, I believe.

Get Napa Wineries to Visit advice here.

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Posted in Travel, Wine

What Wineries to Visit in Napa County

Posted on July 25, 2009 by Christopher Null| 13 Comments

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised: Readers and friends regularly ask when traveling to California’s wine country, what wineries should I make a point to visit?

Not a bad question. There are lots of dull wineries not worth your time — or your (sometimes expensive) tasting fees. There are also many hidden gems worth seeking out but which don’t make much of an impression in the big guidebooks you’ll find.

So, with that in mind, here are my (completely subjective) picks for Napa’s best and most interesting wineries to visit.

Oh, and please note — though I’ve spent countless days in the wine country, I haven’t been to every winery (there are hundreds), and many of Napa’s best wineries don’t operate visitor centers open to the public. I’m avoiding to some extent wineries that require reservations to visit; I know how wine country touring goes. I’m also including Carneros here, which is between Sonoma and Napa but usually “on the way” from San Francisco.

How to find all these places? If you don’t have a map, grab a copy of “Wine Country This Week,” a free magazine available at many wineries in the area. Their maps are stellar and cover the whole of California’s winegrowing regions.

Drinkhacker’s Top Napa Valley Wineries Worth Visiting (in alphabetical order)

Artesa – Postmodern facility built into a hillside in Carneros.

Beaulieu (BV) – Go straight to the reserve room, which is in its own building.

Casa Nuestra – Call ahead and ask to feed the goats.

Chateau Montelena – A piece of Napa history.

Clos du Val – Humble, solid wines.

Corison

Darioush – The most ostentatious winery — built with imported stone — in all of Napa.

Domaine Carneros – Midway between Sonoma and Napa, this classic French chateau offers fine pinots, sparklers, and cheese pairings.

Flora Springs

Folio Winemakers’ Studio – Carneros tasting room with several smaller labels, many of which are very good. Vintage tractor out front.

Freemark Abbey

Heitz – A Napa classic.

Joseph Phelps

Luna Vineyards

Opus One – Second-most ostentatious winery in the county. A landmark.

Pine Ridge – Always something interesting being poured.

Prager Port Works – Fortify your liver first.

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars – Expensive tasting fee, but usually worth it.

V. Sattui – More for the deli (which is amazing) than the wine, though some good stuff is often being poured.

Vintners Collective – Another multi-label wine room, in an ancient building surviving in downtown Napa.

Got your own top Napa picks? Add them in the comments!

Coming tomorrow: Top Sonoma Wineries to Visit.

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Posted in Travel, Wine

Review: Mejor Tequila

Posted on July 24, 2009 by Christopher Null| Leave a comment

This new 100% agave tequila brand (the master distiller is formerly of Don Julio) arrives in four expressions — the usual three plus one you might not expect: blanco, reposado, anejo (we didn’t sample this one), and “pink.” What’s pink tequila? We’ll get to that. But first, let’s start with the basics.

Mejor Blanco is a traditional, unaged, silver tequila. Pretty standard as far as blanco tequilas go, Mejor’s silver has a lot greenery to it, with a hefty agave hit on first sip. This fades into more citrus notes as it aerates and fades on the palate, with some minty character in there too. This blanco grows on you, with some very mild vanilla in the finish, but ultimately I think it’s a better blending spirit than a straight sipper. B / $35 to $45

Mejor Reposado is aged for nearly a year in old Jack Daniel’s barrels, and it’s a great improvement on the blanco, much different all around. A strong vanilla character kicks in immediately, with a moderate agave backbeat running underneath it. This tequila is really easy to drink, and pleasant as all get-out. A- / $40 to $55

Mejor Pink is, yep, pink tequila. It is not an infused or flavored tequila. It’s just pink, a silver tequila with natural color added. The idea is obviously to help make pink-hued yet tequila-based cocktails (sans grenadine, I suppose), but in the glass it’s barely distinguishable from Mejor Blanco. Mejor says it has a slightly stronger agave flavor, and I think that’s true. And that’s also a little strange: The pink tequila is actually a slightly truer version of agave than the clear one. I give it marks for that, but it’s certainly nothing that any tequila nut is going to start sipping solo. Sheesh, it’s pink! B / $35 to $45

mejortequila.com

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Posted in Rated A-, Rated B, Reviews, Tequila

San Francisco WhiskyFest Approaches – October 16, 2009

Posted on July 24, 2009 by Christopher Null| 2 Comments

The single best night of the year in spirits approaches — we’re just three months away from San Francisco’s WhiskyFest. I’m going, and so should you. Here’s everything you need to know to get there!

WhiskyFest San Francisco

America’s largest whisky celebration returns to San Francisco for the 3rd year with over 200 of the rarest – and most expensive – whiskies from around the globe available for tasting. Put on by Malt Advocate, the premiere magazine for the whisky enthusiast, WhiskyFest will again feature an educational focus that will let distillers not only explain how whisky is made, but also how to identify, sniff, swirl, and enjoy one of the most revered spirits in the world.

Event Details

The 3rd Annual WhiskyFest San Francisco will take place at the San Francisco Marriott on Friday, October 16, 2009 from 6:30pm – 9:30pm. Attendees will be given the opportunity to sample over 200 of the most exclusive whiskies in the world, enjoy a gourmet buffet, and learn about whiskies from master blenders and distillery managers.

The goal of WhiskyFest is to educate the public about whisky through industry leading speakers and thought-provoking seminars. A full list of speakers and seminar times will be available soon on the WhiskyFest website.

WhiskyWeek, the week leading up to WhiskyFest, will feature whisky-related events and promotions throughout the city at popular nightspots, restaurants, and bars. Details on specific venues will be available soon at WhiskyFest San Francisco.

Why

“We are looking to continue to educate consumers and connoisseurs alike about whisky. In addition, we hope to raise some funds for charity by having some extremely rare whiskies available for sampling for a small charitable donation (details on the whiskies being poured will be available in the coming weeks). We will also involve the community with dinners and tastings leading up the event and give whisky enthusiasts the chance to taste some incredibly rare whiskies and meet the makers behind the barrels. That’s exactly what will occur at WhiskyFest San Francisco on October 16, 2009.” – John Hansell, Publisher, Malt Advocate magazine

Who

WhiskyFest is brought to you by Malt Advocate magazine.

Sponsors

WhiskyFest is sponsored by the Wall Street Journal.

Tickets

Regular Admission: $105 (includes Scottish crystal tasting glass, 1-year subscription to Malt Advocate magazine, event program with tasting notes section, all seminars, gourmet buffet and beverages throughout the evening)

VIP Admission: $150 (includes all of the above plus one hour early admission with limited ticketing, special VIP hour only whiskies, and canvas tote bag).

For more information on ticket sales or event information, visit www.WhiskyFest.com

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Posted in Upcoming Events, Whiskey

Review: Jeremiah Weed Sweet Tea Vodka

Posted on July 23, 2009 by Christopher Null| 34 Comments

Firefly, you’re on notice: There’s another sweet tea vodka in town, and it’s just as good as you are.

Jeremiah Weed may not as be as froufrou-friendly — its label design is all western-like and it, well, has “weed” in the name — but damn if it isn’t just as good.

Honestly, I have long since run out of Firefly (this stuff goes fast), but if memory serves — and I will accept, it probably doesn’t serve very well at this point, with half a bottle of JW drained tonight — Jeremiah Weed is just as good and nearly identical in flavor. Big fresh-brewed iced tea flavor, a strong slug of sugar (maybe a touch more than Firefly?), and no kick at all. Both are 70 proof, too.

As with Firefly, Jeremiah Weed goes down ridiculously easy when mixed 1:1 with water. And that’s the trouble. It’s just like drinking good iced tea, and you keep wanting more and more. I also tried it half and half with lemonade, as several readers have suggested, but frankly I preferred the version with water. Just straight-up sweet tea flavor, good to the last drop. To be honest, I don’t even like iced tea that much, but God I love this stuff.

Which one of these vodkas is best? I can’t say, but I will note the prices are about the same. My advice: Buy the one that’s on sale, preferably by the case.

A / $16 / jeremiahweed.com

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Posted in Flavored Vodka, Rated A, Reviews, Vodka

Review: Burnett’s Cocktails

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Christopher Null| 1 Comment

More pre-mixed, ready-to-pour cocktail offerings, this time from Burnett’s which turns out some 20 vodkas and gins in every flavor imaginable. With these three concoctions, Burnett’s turns its vodkas into three simple bar standbys.

All are 30 proof and come in big, plastic 1.75-liter jugs. They are intended to be served on the rocks, but all must be refrigerated after opening.

Burnett’s Cosmo is made with vodka, natural flavors (cranberry juice and triple sec), and artificial colors, and it’s a perfectly credible rendition of the classic cosmopolitan. Like day-glo Kool-Aid, it’s a cosmo through and through, with a lightly cranberry fruit flavor and a little vodka kick. It’s a bit too sweet for my tastes — not that I drink a lot of cosmos — but I expect the target audience won’t really mind. B+

Burnett’s Margarita is a standard tequila recipe, with tequila, lime juice, triple sec, and vodka. Wait, what? Yeah, it’s a vodka+tequila margarita, which likely explains why there’s very little tequila character here. As with the Cosmo, it’s very sweet but not overly so. You can taste the lime and orangey triple sec, with really just a hint of tequila’s agave. Arguably best with salt, which keeps things more interesting. B-

Burnett’s Mojito is even stranger: It’s a mojito made without rum. Vodka stands in with lime juice and a “hint of mint” here to produce what is a strange little concoction. It isn’t bad. The mint is more than a hint, but it’s not particularly minty — almost evergreen, actually. The lack of rum is definitely not something that passes by without notice, and again that wild sweetness grabs hold as you sip the drink. Again, not bad, but a little strange compared to a real mojito — or even Bacardi’s pre-mixed version. C+

$16 per 1.75-liter bottle / burnettsvodka.com