"The Pocahoptus is one of Center of the Universe’s first beers. An unfiltered West Coast Style IPA, it contains, according to them, 'four different hops from the Pacific Northwest combined with a base of imported English 2-row barley and Crystal malts.' ..."
Read More"Though the Grupo is still run by members of the Ucín family, the modern identity of Olarra was carved out by former winemaker Ezequiel García, who was the Olarra winemaker for 21 years, dying in 2017. García worked to produce fruit-driven, blended Riojas with fruit pulled from local growers ..."
Read More"Solace’s Super Dope is proof that you can’t judge an IPA by its hops. They fashion it out of Amarillo, Centennial, and Columbus hops, which sounds like a recipe for West Coast Style citrusy bitterness. Instead ..."
Read More"Though based in Alligny-Cosne, on the east side of the Loire, in Nièvre, between Orléans and Bourges to the west, Maison Foucher keeps 40 hectares of vineyards in Muscadet Sèvre et Maine. The Melon de Bourgogne for this Loire Valley white comes from there, from vines that are up to 35 years old ..."
Read More"Before co-founding Blue Mountain Brewery in 2007 ... Taylor Smack was ... in Chicago heading up the brewing for Goose Island Brewing Company's brewpubs ... Now, Goose Island is the maker of the legendary Bourbon County Stout — America’s first commercially offered bourbon barrel-aged stout — and Smack was working there about five years into that beer’s run. So, it's no wonder that four years after founding Blue Mountain, Taylor oversaw the building of the Blue Mountain Barrel House — a facility dedicated to barrel-aged beers. Sadly, that program has scaled down, but its first beer – the Dark Hollow – remains ..."
Read More"In the 1990s, Guibert Family patriarch Aimé Guibert discovered 'an exceptional amphitheatre' of vineyards in Villeveyrac, in the Hérault department. Said amphitheater is a ring of hills facing the port city of Sète and the Mediterranean Sea beyond it. At a time when people were pulling up vines, Aimé Guibert worked with local growers to save the area ... His Moulin de Gassac line of wines (first release, 1993) come from the grapes grown in Villeveyrac vineyards and played an important role in demonstrating the value of this area for wine production ..."
Read More"The 2024 Oktoberfest doesn’t start until September 21st, however breweries send their Oktoberfest beers earlier and earlier. Since we’re doing our tour of local breweries for our August beers of the week, we couldn’t resist dipping into to Starr Hill’s Oktoberfest offering even if it is way early ..."
Read More“In 1974, Aimé and Véronique Guibert bought their farm, Mas de Daumas Gassac, in south France’s Languedoc-Roussillon region. They were eager to be farmers but didn’t know what crops they should farm until a university soil specialist said, ‘Oh, with what I’m seeing, you should plant grapes’ …”
Read More“Lush and creamy, the Windswell somehow manages to be refreshing but not necessarily crisp. It’s another example of C’Ville giving the New England IPA a lot of local love.”
Read More“The Lutra (The Otter) is just what you expect and want from a Portuguese red …”
Read More“From 2019 to 2020, our own Three Notch’d Brewing Company ran their first Nephology Series - a collection of hazy IPAs made with different hop combinations, and they kept track of reactions to see which one was the most popular. At the end of the trial, Nephology Series No. 4 was dubbed the King of Clouds! Back then, the winning combination of hops was Zythos, Mandarina Bavaria, and, everyone’s favorite, Mosaic. Though the King of Clouds remains in their lineup four years later, Three Notch’d has updated the recipe …”
Read More“Pinot Grigio grows throughout Italy, but the best Pinot Grigio is grown in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region up in the northeast Alpine foothills. There, where the snowcapped mountains rise in the distance. winemakers consider Pinot Grigio to be a high end grape …”
Read More“As a rule, Vienna Lagers swerve to the malty side of the road, but Waynesboro’s Basic City really lets the Hornig turn the wheel and lean on the gas …”
Read More“The Sierra de Gredos is the little wine region that isn’t. It sits west of Madrid, straddling three provinces – Toledo, Madrid, and Ávila — boasting specific grapes and wines that it’s known for. For reds, it’s Garnacha …”
Read More“The Veil Master Shredder is Richmond’s The Veil’s house hazy IPA, and now it’s in our house.”
Read More“Aviva is a U.S. based importer of mostly Spanish wines that has been going since 2009. They only work with one Portuguese winery, Quinta da Lixa, who makes for Aviva this tasty Vinho Verde …”
Read More“Richmond’s Väsen Brewing Company’s tagline for this Czech-style Pilsner is, ‘Our take on a classic Czech/Bohemian Pilsner utilizing the Saaz Noble Hop.’ Okay … but while Saaz is unarguably the solid way to go if you’re making a legit traditional version of Bohemia’s most famous lager, we think what distinguishes Väsen’s Boho Pils is the character of its malt …”
Read More“The unnamed winemakers of this light-bodied, chillable red are located in the Chiroubles region of Beaujolais. For this wine, they subject their Gamay grapes to carbonic maceration (as is traditional for that region), keeping the red raspberry and plum notes front and center where we like them …”
Read More“Vanish Farmwoods Brewery in Lucketts, VA started back in 2014, but before that Jonathan Staples started Black Hops Farm — a hop farm for Virginia’s then growing beer scene. Today, using ingredients from both their farm and from other local farms, Vanish Farmwoods Brewery focuses on “plant-to-pint” or “seed-to-sip” brewing …”
Read More“Turns out that little Saint-Pourçain is one of the oldest grape growing regions in France, perhaps even pre-dating Roman involvement, going back to a Phoenician influence! Though, as we said, it’s part of the Loire AOC, it has more geographic proximity and similarity to neighboring Burgundy. So, no surprise, its grapes follow suit, with their dominant white grape being Chardonnay, and their dominant red grape being Gamay. (Can’t you just feel Mary Taylor Wines saying, ‘Oh, we absolutely have to do a wine here!’ ?) …”
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