The Latest Articles from The Tasting Panel Magazine

Successful Saké Secrets Revealed

21 — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:00:00 GMT

One of Japan's oldest alcoholic beverages has just become one of America's hottest new cocktail commodities-and it only took 1,700 years to make it to the back bar. But now you can throw away those traditional wooden maso boxes and ochoko ceramic cups; you won't need them for this 21st-century libation. Instead, bring out the rocks glasses and stemware, because the secret to saké's success is out: It's called Rock Saké and it's made in Oregon with pure coastal mountain water and Sacramento-grown rice and is crafted specifically for American tastes. In fact, it is the only American-owned saké on the market.

Fine Tuning at Foppiano

17 — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Relics: an old train caboose, a weathered barn and an old family residence that dates back to the 1930s. The home ranch setting for Foppiano Vineyards, just minutes from downtown Healdsburg, in the northern end of the Russian River Valley, is rustic and so charmingly real.

It's late May, and there's an unusual weather pattern in Sonoma wine country for this season. In the cold drizzle, we walk the benchland vineyards, smell the Chardonnay bloom, its full flower anxious for summer to announce itself. And, in the same way, the new team is bursting to show off its re-branding-news as big as that of 1937, when the Foppiano Wine Company became one of the first Sonoma County wineries to bottle under its own label.

Blue's Best Buys

19 — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 07:00:00 GMT

When Lightning Strikes

19 — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Kosher Renaissance

17 — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The Son Shines

17 — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Aromatic Properties

34 — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 07:00:00 GMT

A New Mark for Maker's

45 — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 07:00:00 GMT

MAKER'S 46 IS THE BRAND'S FIRST NEW PRODUCT IN MORE THAN 50 YEARS

As Kevin Smith grabs the shiny new bottle of Maker's 46, there's a quiet confidence radiating off his warm smile. He pours a taste, intently looks at the light brown spirit, brings it to the nose, closes his eyes and for a second, he contemplates and takes a sip.

"Boy, that is something," he says.

The Ribera's Second Act

74 — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Barely a generation has passed since the Ribera del Duero became an official Spanish Denominacion de Origen in 1982. During that time, it has grown from being Spain's newest and one of its smallest wine-producing regions (all of eight wineries at the start) to arguably its finest, and-perhaps even more of an achievement-its most traditional.

While the Rioja reacted to Spain's 1990s breakout as a top-quality wine country by largely abandoning everything it had been doing for years and scrambling to find a new identity, the Ribera-which stretches across parts of four provinces along the Duero River, some 120 miles north of Madrid-settled in with firm, consistent, ripe but undeniably Old World wines. Most are made entirely from that quintessential Spanish grape, Tempranillo, with maybe a dollop of Cabernet Sauvignon (which has been planted in the area since at least as far back as the 19th century), but nothing else. In some indefinable way, they taste like Spain.

So far, so goo

Maison with a Modern Mindset

17 — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte

How does an upstart brand fit into the sophisticated world of champagne? That was the question that Pascal Boyé asked himself ten years ago when he joined the House of Nicolas Feuillatte, a relatively recent name in this hundreds-of-years-old category.

Boyé, Director of Sales for Feuillatte, made a special visit to Los Angeles in April with Jean-Pierre Vincent, the first and only Chief Winemaker for the 30-year-old brand. Five Nicolas Feuillatte rosé champagnes were presented for tasting, each with a personality of its own.

Tito's Handmade Vodka Proves American Passion is Alive and Well

20 — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Wente Vineyards

31 — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Under the Tuscan Sun

19 — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 07:00:00 GMT

June is National Iced Tea Month

20 — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Blue Best Buys

19 — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Glory Days

50 — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 07:00:00 GMT

CHERRY HEERING CELEBRATES THE OLD AND THE NEW IN NEW YORK

Cherry Heering is a brand with a great deal of history, to say the least. Sipped by kings, shipped worldwide as far back as its birth in 1818, Cherry Heering is an iconic part of classic cocktails like the Blood & Sand and the Singapore Sling that remain globally popular today. Recently, the brand has also been behind several innovative and interconnected marketing campaigns with a good cause at their core and a spotlight drawing appeal throughout.

The Main Squeeze

23 — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The U.S. Develops a Crush on Funkin Purées

Women in Wine: The Communicators

34 — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 07:00:00 GMT

THE TASTING PANEL continues its year-long look at women in wine and spirits. This month, Lana Bortolot talks with three women who have proved that communication is an art.

Bringing Home the Silver with Jose Cuervo

37 — Fri, 21 May 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The van bounces along a dirt path off a small road in the countryside of Jalisco, and our little group is gaily recounting the previous night's adventures in Guadalajara, fueled by tequila cocktails and some crazy blue Mexican energy drink. Rows of giant aloe-looking plants stretch out to meet the horizon on the other side of each window. I've written about and worked on tequila- and mezcal-based concoctions for years, yet this is the first time I've seen actual Mexican blue agave face to face. I'm more than a little thrilled.

Blue Best Buys

19 — Thu, 20 May 2010 07:00:00 GMT

New York Bar Trends 2010

60 — Wed, 19 May 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Vodka Is Not Dead in the South

71 — Wed, 19 May 2010 07:00:00 GMT

MEDEA is the Message

69 — Thu, 13 May 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Medea is the First Vodka for the Digital Age

". . . as the fine spirit loosens your tongue, the world's first interactive bottle unleashes your inner poet, your inner philosopher, your inner flirt."

www.medeaspirits.com

Someone wise once quipped that "There is nothing as great as an idea whose time has come." And while that axiom may be overstating things a bit with regard to spirits, Medea Vodka founder and creator Tim Goldburt would beg to differ: "I saw the idea for Medea in my head at 5 a.m. on the morning of September 26, 2006," says Goldburt; "it made me jump out of bed."

Retailers of New Jersey

70 — Thu, 13 May 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Somewhere between the turnpike and parkway lies the truth about New Jersey- a state so diverse that it both confirms and confounds all of the stereotypes. And if it's truth you're after, what better way to find it than through the state's wine and spirits retailers? Amidst all of the suburbs, the farmlands and the factories, they as much as anyone would have an insider's perspective on the true tastes of the people.

So, you wanna know what's really up in Jersey? Come with us as we check in with a few of the state's more idiosyncratic and successful purveyors of our favorite pours.

More Blue Reviews

19 — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 07:00:00 GMT

In addition to the Blue Reviews that appear in our print edition, here are scores and notes on additional wines I have tasted over the past several weeks. —Anthony Dias Blue

The French Connection

19 — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Four French winemakers dig into California terroir

Blue Best Buys

19 — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 07:00:00 GMT

A Trip to Ribera del Duero

62 — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 07:00:00 GMT

HARLEM - The Shot Heard 'Round the World

21 — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The sleek glass exterior of the modern Nolet Spirits USA headquarters in Aliso Viejo, California gives no indication that it represents 319 years of a Dutch family’s distilling history. Nor that, in rococo contrast to the crisp architecture, the interior is accented with antique embellishments of centuries past.

Indeed, ancient spirits are literally seen along the halls of the Nolet offices, for on the walls are framed antique labels from the family’s ten generations of distilling, all of which culminated in 1983 with Ketel One, named after the Holland distillery’s original copper pot still, Distilleerketel #1 , and which has subsequently become one of the most called-for vodkas in America.

And now, conceived by the Nolet family’s tenth and eleventh generations—Carl Sr. and his two sons, Carl, Jr. and his younger brother Bob—a new spirit is about to reinvigorate a sleeping giant of a category with a product so innovati

Sonoma 2.0

32 — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Of the attempts to attach a name to the emerging school of winemakers whose palates and vintages are poised to redefine the wine market, perhaps the most fatuous are “Wine 2.0” and, even more obtusely, “Generation Yne.” The former suggests that wine and social media are one in the same and the latter, at least in print, reads more like a typo than a buzzword.

Perhaps the best way to frame the bumper crop of winemaking talent emerging in Sonoma County is to do away with nifty neologisms altogether and simply regard them—or, more specifically, their wines—through a glass.

UpFront with Alma Tequila

24 — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 07:00:00 GMT

In Jalisco, one family has been producing some of the smoothest tequila for generations. Now, thanks to a two-man team, the U.S. is getting a chance to discover Alma Tequila.

A Rival for Burgundy?

19 — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

The crisp, juicy, herbaceous and, yes, aggressive style of Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough has become a standard for this white variety throughout the world. The mention of the words “wine” and “New Zealand” elicits an immediate association with Sauvignon Blanc. But that’s changing.

Slowly but surely, the New Zealand wine community has been honing its skills with another variety, this time a red wine. The new fixation is none other than the star of Burgundy,Pinot Noir.

Books and More Books

23 — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Blue's Best Buys

19 — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Argentina, Discovered

20 — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

“Argentina has fifteen hundred miles worth of wines, north to south,” exclaims Andrew Miller enthusiastically. As the founder and General Manager of Eco Valley, one of the most adventuresome U.S. importers of wines from this South American nation, Miller is in a unique position to know.

The North Carolina–born 32 -year-old spent a year in graduate school at the University of Buenos Aires on a coveted Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship. During that time, he not only perfected his Spanish (spoken now with the authentic porteño accent of Buenos Aires) but also started Ecosur Group, a business dedicated to working with small and medium-sized companies in Argentina, helping them develop cogent business models and providing them with an entrée to the all-important U.S. market.

Ecosur would eventually morph into Eco Valley, a joint venture with Argentina’s Valle de la Puerta winery,

UpFront with Akvinta Vodka

17 — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

It started in Croatia, where crystal clear springs from Red Lake—known to be one of Europe’s purest bodies of water— filter through the earth from the foothills of the Dinaric Alps.

Where Croatia was once synonymous with slivovitz, a somewhat bitter distilled beverage made from plums, Akvinta brings a new romance to this part of the world. Mediterranean sunshine, fresh sea breezes and wheat grown in Tuscan soil create the telltale terroir that forms the character of a new vodka—one so pure it has nothing to hide.

The Perfect Vacation

19 — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

It was hot, steamy and noisy as we pushed our way through the crowd of vacationers in the San Jose del Cabo airport. Three full planes had landed at once, and chaos reigned. We had about 15 bags between us, and the porters seemed to be on break.

Everything changed when we straggled out onto the sidewalk in front of the terminal. We were met by two Villas del Mar employees in crisp white uniforms, who took charge of our luggage and hustled us into an air-conditioned, leather-lined Suburban stocked with cold water, sodas and beer. Our perfect vacation had begun.

Reaching New Heights in Las Vegas

21 — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Women set the standard for service at the new CityCenter.

Opened less than four months ago, CityCenter rises from the neon-studded necklace of the Las Vegas Strip like a glistening, multi-spired electronic jewel. Sprawled across 67 acres between Bellagio and Monte Carlo, this modernistic, ecologically-certified tribute to luxurious dining and drinking confirms the philosophy that “If you build it, they will come.” Even in a recession.

New Gin-eration

19 — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

America’s artisanal distillers bring new life to gin

Blue's Best Buys

19 — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Wrap-Up: U.S. Drinks Conference 2009

34 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Nearly 150 wine, spirits and beer professionals from around the world attended the U.S. Drinks Conference in New York City, Oct 13–14, 2009. Previously held in London, the conference, in its third year, focused on entry to and regulations of the U.S. market, as well as industry trends, marketing opportunities and challenges.

Seven panels covered the wine, spirits and beer categories with topics ranging from on- and off-premise partnerships, launch and brand-building strategies and, for the first time, a special focus on social media marketing.

The panelists included presidents of start-up brands and new beverage “think tanks,” and officers from established companies such as Sherry-Lehmann, Winebow and Pernod Ricard USA.

The conference was organized by Brand Action Team, MHW, Ltd. and Next Level Marketing.

2010: Year of the Woman in Wine

20 — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

As we declare this the Year of the Woman in Wine, our celebration begins with a look at some current leaders

Old World Meets New

39 — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Ribera del Duero offers the best of both to curious enophiles

UpFront with Chris Hanna

32 — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Chris Hanna keeps the family-owned spirit alive at Hanna Winery & Vineyards

The Mule's New Kick

20 — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT

The classic Moscow Mule cocktail goes authentic with Russian Standard, Russia's #1 premium vodka

In the 1940s, a new cocktail took Hollywood by storm. Introduced at the celebrity-studded Cock ‘n Bull restaurant on Sunset Boulevard, the Moscow Mule—a tasty concoction of vodka, ginger beer and lime, served in a copper mug—became the most talked-about drink of the decade.

Today, the craze for classic cocktails means that the Mule is back. But this time around, it brays with a Russian accent because it’s made with authentic vodka from the Motherland: Russian Standard, the #1 premium vodka in Russia.

Luck of the Irish

19 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Whiskey is an ancient delight on the Emerald Isle

Raise Your Glass to Social Networking

60 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:00:00 GMT

You’ve heard of The Macallan, but @TheMacallan? On a recent evening in New York, a group of journalists gathered at the Michelin starred restaurant Chloe 81 to taste the famed Scotch. Graeme Russell, the brand ambassador stood at the front of the room and highlighted the nuances of the 15 year barrel as compared to the 20 year batch.

Blue's Best Buys

19 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Anthony Dias Blue's "Blue Reviews" are one of the most popular features of THE TASTING PANEL's print edition. Here are some extra reviews of Andy's favorite wines and spirits tasted over the past month. Mid-priced or wallet-friendly, each of these selections deserves its "Best Buy" rating because of its outstanding value-to-price ratio.

Making Connections with Baileys

30 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Baileys is the spirit of the holidays—past, present and future

Curran Events

17 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Foley and Lincourt are making headlines now that Kris Curran is leading the winemaking team