St. Augustine: A Craft Beverage Destination

For two decades now, while driving to South Florida, we have been inclined to include a detour into St. Augustine to visit the historical sights such as the Old Town, the Spanish Quarter, the Castillo de San Marcos, the Lighthouse, and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine.  These visits also included a stop at the city's only craft beverage establishment - San Sebastian Winery - as we had become fans of their Blanc Du Bois and Port styled wines. They also provided an excellent tour of their facilities as well as a rooftop pavilion with satisfying glasses of white sangria.

In the past few years, other craft beverage outlets joined San Sebastian along the Trolley Tour Route such as St. Augustine Distillery - situated only a couple blocks away in the Historic FP&L Ice Plant (the first commercial enterprise to produce block ice in Florida over 100 years ago). The distillery is a business collaborative of 28 local entrepreneurs who utilize local sugar cane, wheat, corn, and citrus to produce whiskey, rum, vodka, and gin. They also contacted the world’s leading distilling experts to assist in crafting the spirits recipe and local bartenders on drafting recommended cocktails. They also emulated San Sebastian's tour design and provide one of the most insightful free walking tours of a distillery. Each station includes a free cocktail sample and the museum provides a history of block ice production as well as a legality neutral history of distilling in The Sunshine State.

For this trip, we intentionally targeted the distillery in order to purchase a bottle of their Port Finished Bourbon ($80, 102 proof).  This whiskey starts as their Florida Double Cask Bourbon which is made from a mash bill of 60% regional corn, 22% malted barley, and 18% regional wheat that is then finished in used San Sebastian Port barrels. For both the Florida Double Cask and Port Finished bourbons, distiller Lucas Smith worked closely with the late Dave Pickerell on the first blends and barrel selection as well as the final proof. Interestingly, the Florida Double Cask weighs in at on odd 93.8 proof as that was the proof that all "blenders" agreed upon.  The Double Cask refers to the use of initial 25-gallon barrels in which the spirit was then transferred to seasoned 53-gallon casks in order to slow the maturation process. The result is a phenomenon whiskey
and with the additional Port finishing imparts a slight sherry profile along with the raisins and cinnamon.

We also left with a bottle of the Pot Distilled Rum ($45, 90 proof) and the Florida Cane Vodka ($28, 80 proof). The rum is produced from regional sugarcane syrups and molasses and aged in used St. Augustine bourbon barrels. The spirit is straw-colored with a surprising coconut and baking spices profile. There's a mild dose of heat but the finish is very smooth and clean. The vodka is pot distilled from 100% Florida-farmed sugar. This provides a subtle molasses character with a clean finish.  The Florida Mule was its primary purpose and here are several other recommended cocktails:

Brooklynite •  2 ounces Pot Distilled Rum •  1 ounce honey syrup •  1 ounce lime juice •  few dashes of bitters Garnish with orange peel.	The Lolita •  1.5 ounces Florida Cane Vodka •  0.5 ounce fresh lemon juice •  0.5 ounce fresh grapefruit juice •  0.5 st. germaine •  0.25 ounce simple syrup •  3 dashes of peychauds bitters Garnish with a grapefruit peel.
Mojito •  2 ounces Pot Distilled Rum •  0.75 ounce lime juice •  0.75 ounce simple syrup •  10 leaves of fresh mint •  top with soda water Garnish with fresh mint.	The Florida Mule •  1.5 ounces Florida Cane Vodka •  1.5 ounces ginger-lime simple syrup •  Top with soda water Garnish with fresh mint leaves.
	Classic Vodka Collins •  2 ounces Florida Cane Vodka •  1 ounces simple syrup •  1 ounces lemon juice •  Top with soda water Garnish with a lemon peel

During this visit, we also stopped into two of the four craft breweries that have surfaced in the last couple of years. Ancient City Taphouse is located next to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine and the two standouts were the Castillo Coconut Porter and Brazilian Pepper Tree Honey IPA.  Old Coast Ales is located a short walk or drive over the Matanzas River and we walked out with crowlers of Salt Run Gose and the Hopper 2.0 N.E. IPA. Both nice beach beers.  Another solid beer is the Dog Rose Brewing Co. Palace Pale Ale which I had with lunch at the A1A Ale Works Restaurant & Taproom where Dog Rose owner and brewer, Doug Murr, used to brew. And finally, Bog Brewing Company and City Gate Spirits will have to wait until our return visit to America's oldest city.

San Sebastian Winery Vintner's Red

I'll finally got a chance to drink local based on various definitions by opening a bottle of San Sebastian Winery Vintner's Red. I think we had picked up the bottle the least trip to St. Augustine and as I recall I generally prefer the Vintner's White over the Red. However, the red was all we had. And it is what it is; a slightly sweet muscadine wine made from the Noble grape. And served slightly chilled, it works in the south Florida heat. Its full of flavor; smooth and complements a burger nicely. Tomorrow the remainder will be used as a base for Sangria. And while headed home we are stopping by to load up on some Blanc Du Bois.

St. Augustine Wineries

On our frequent trips along Route 95 in Florida, we most likely take a detour into historic St. Augustine to either see the sites or stop in at San Sebastian Winery. This winery has a great roof top terrace where we have enjoyed their wines made from unique grapes grown from their Clermont, Florida Vineyard. We are talking about Florida Muscadine, Blanc Du Bois, and Stover grapes. Many times we have had to fight through visitors shuttled to the winery via tour buses as tourists looked for souvenirs. San Sebastian used to be the only game in town, but on our most recent stop in St. Augustine we found that Florida Orange Groves and Winery has incorporated another franchise along St. George Street: Vino del Grotto Winery. Florida Orange Groves makes fruit wines and sells them through several channels - including wine stores at major Florida tourist enclaves: Key West, Miami, Panama City Beach, and now St. Augustine. The use all types of fruit in these concoctions starting with Florida oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, pineapples, mangoes, and even key limes, bananas and coconuts. Yes, many of these are gimmicky - but marketed to tourists; they sell. The winery also produces traditional fruit wines in blueberry, cherry, red raspberry, and blackberry flavors - with the dry versions of the cherry and blackberry not too bad. Many of the other versions where just too sweet for our blood. Vegetables are not forgotten either. Their 40 Karat Semi-Dry White Wine made entirely from carrot juice and then there is the Hot Sun Spicy Tomato Wine. The later is actually a medal winner - as are many of their wines. However, despite these intriguing offerings are favorite was their traditional honey wine made from - you guest it - orange blossom honey. Its sweet - but not gritty - typical of a sweet mead. So the next time you find yourself near this historic city - make sure you stop into San Sebastian Winery on your drive in or out; and while walking along the pedestrian street of St. George - take a look at Vino del Grotto Winery.

Wine 101 - Muscadine Wine

Muscadine or Vitis rotundifolia is often considered “America’s First Grape” and was consumed by the earliest explorers and settlers. In 1840, North Carolina was the largest wine producing state in the Union and the best selling wine before Prohibition was a muscadine blend called “Virginia Dare”. Today the grape flourishes in the southeast United States, where several types of muscadine are grown: Scuppernong, Carlos, Magnolia and Noble. Muscadine wine can be made either sweet as a dessert wine or sometimes dry.

North Carolina is still the largest producer of muscadine wine and state organizations encourage its production from the North Carolina Grape Council to the North Carolina Muscadine Grape Association. The North Carolina State Fair even has a separate entry for Best Muscadine wine which was won by Old North State Winery’s Starlight White in 2004.

Hinnant Family Vineyards & Winery is the largest muscadine vineyard in North Carolina. The Hinnant family started growing muscadine grapes because of the tremendous health affects noted above. They currently produce 5,000 cases of muscadine wine annually from dry Noble and Carlos to their Muscadine Blush and sweet Tarheel Red. Their wines have won awards through out competitions in the southeast as well as the New York Finger Lakes International Competition. In addition to the muscadine wine, the winery produces thousands of gallons of muscadine juice which is sold to grocery stores. Whereas their sweet muscadine wines have gained customer acceptance in the southeast, Hinnant Family Vineyards is working to convince the wine public that their dry muscadine wines are good alternatives to the more familiar dry red wines. They are looking forward to the day when muscadine wines become a household name.

There are also several muscadine producers distributed throughout South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, and even Texas. One of our favorite wineries, South Carolina’s La Belle Amie Vineyard, provides several opportunities each year to sample their muscadine wine by hosting themed festivals. In Florida, the muscadine grape grows with a slightly thicker skin then its northern neighbors, which produces a slightly sweeter grape. Florida wineries take advantage of this anomaly by creating sweeter versions of muscadine wine. Rosa Fiorelli Winery & Vineyard’s Red Muscatine Dessert is a Gold winning dessert wine and San Sebastian Winery fortifies muscadine to produce an excellent port.

During our Compass Tours we have visited several wineries that specialize in muscadine wine and have become enthusiastic supporters of the grape. In addition to the discussed health benefits we believe muscadine wine should have a spot in your wine cellar.