"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!’ ?) …”
Read More“Agave is one of our favorite additives to find in beer as it can add a really appealing dimension to citrusy brews. So, we were excited to see our Waynesboro friends at Basic City Brewing Company kick out this hazy IPA with Agave and were intrigued, further, to see them pair it with Alora hops …”
Read More“Austria is famous for affordable liters of wine – it’s practically considered a right that everyone should have wine on the table. Though we are not Austrian, we are more than happy to enjoy this de facto right.”
Read More“Like we said, this beer is a classic … which means it had been a while, so we wanted to revisit it. We had forgotten what a work of brewing art this beer is! …”
Read More“Montevento’s Montepulciano d’Abruzzo differs from many others in the fullness of its flavor. Rather than being juicy (or even jammy) as other Montepulcianos can be, this one features bright, deep fruit reminiscent of pomegranates or figs, wrapped in light leathery tannins.”
Read More“Kara & Matt Richardson opened Ocean State Hops, Rhode Island’s first commercial hop farm, in 2007. In 2014, after supplying hops to breweries and homebrewers, they converted their century old, New England style, post & beam barn into Rhode Island’s first farm brewery — Tilted Farm Brewery. They’re the latest little brewery that we have fallen in love with …”
Read More“Jacquère is a white grape that Savioe is known for. Like many cold climate grapes, it produces high acid wines. It is also aromatic with a pleasing minerality. Here, we find it in the hands of mother, father and daughter, Chrystèle, Philippe, and Maryline Pinet …”
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