Cahors, is located due north of Toulouse, and the birthplace of the Malbec grape and is known locally as Cot or Auxerrois. AOC regulations in Cahors stipulates that Malbec must comprise at least 70% of all blends with Merlot and Tannat rounding out the rest. These are black wines, dark and chewy as perfected illustrated by the Cosse Maisonneuve 2009 Cahors Le Combal. This is a fantastic wine, cassis and stewed plum on the aroma, with deep chewy tannins. And I mean chewy and made from organic grapes. 
The two wines are blends of four southern Rhône varieties. The grapes for the La Ferme Julien Blanc are sourced from the Côtes du Luberon and consist of Bourboulenc, Grenache Blanc, Ugni Blanc, and
Vermentino. Not exactly your household names. The wine starts with stone fruit aromas, leading to a citric flavor - both lemon and grapefruit. It starts nicely, but then falls flat at the finish because of a lack in acids and vibrancy. The La Ferme Julien Rouge is comprised of Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault sourced from the Côtes de Ventoux. Both Ventoux and Luberon are located in the extremely southeast region of the Rhône leading to Provence. This is a simple wine, the term "rustic" is used quite often as a descriptor, and is very easy on the palette. Nothing exciting about either wine, but at $6, you get what you pay for.
Planning for a night out at the 930 Club, DC9, or Howard Theatre in Washington DC's Shaw neighborhood? Then head out a little early to sample some delicious beer and food from Right Proper Brewing Company. This past week before attending Centro-matic's farewell tour at DC9, I stopped in for dinner and a couple beers. The beauty of these beers start with their low ABV levels; no one wants too much alcohol before watching a show. Or maybe so. In any case, despite these low ABVs, the beer are diverse and flavorful. I started with the farmhouse radler Kodachrome Dream(ing) - a sour tart, creamy, and citrus collaboration with Michael Tonsmeire - The Mad Fermentationist. Love the sours.Being an Uncle Tupelo and alt-country fan, I had to order the No Depression country alt - a solid offering. I need this in the can for road trips. I had time for one more which had to be the Haxan porter - a dark chocolate, creamy, slightly bitter treat. A versatile beer - breakfast or dessert. There's plenty of good music on the horizon so I envision many return visits to Right Proper. Cheers. Need directions? Check out theCompass. 
This spring, I was reintroduced to the smoky peat flavor of Laphroaig Scotch Whisky at the Food & Wine Festival at National Harbor and have settled into a long term relationship. At that time I sampled from their Quarter Cask and Triple Wood, both with distinct and varying degrees of smoke, sweetness, and spice. These two whiskies follow the same production and maturation process. After the malt is smoked with dried peat, mashed and distilled, the whisky starts aging in American Oak (retired Bourbon barrels). The second maturation occurs in even smaller Quarter Casks. At this point, the whiskey bound for the Triple Wood undergoes a final maturation in large European Oak Oloroso Sherry Casks. The Quarter Cask is very Laphroag-ish with plenty of iodine and smoked peat, even some seaweed, on the nose and body. And the maturation process induces some major vanilla and sticky honey which is more evident with a few drops of water. On the other hand, the Triple Wood is a different Beast. The Oloroso Sherry Casks tones down the iodine and peat with even more smoky, syrupy, and nutty vanilla honey. The peat comes back slightly with water, but the Triple Wood is all about the wood: nuts, vanilla, and honey. Initially I favored the Quarter Cask, but lately I'm all about the Triple Wood and its smoky jam. And this Christmas I'll be looking to add some more square footage to my lifetime lease on Islay. Cheers.
Turning to the Malbec, the tasting notes read "this medium bodied red has luscious red fruit flavors and silky, smooth finish. Pair with your favorite burger". Gares said the grapes were harvested at 24 brix which equates to a higher ph and lower acids. He spent two weeks pumping over and pushing down the fermenting juice and skins until the wine acquired the color and flavor he targeted. The wine was then aged in American oak. The result? There's a lot to love about this wine starting with the character, fruit forward, approachable, soft tannins, and a hint of spices. I also detect some cedar leather in both the aroma and palette. Finally, you have to like the low alcohol (13.8%) and the suggested chocolate pairing is smooth dark at 50-60% cocoa. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the beauty. Cheers. 
The Lodi AVA is located in California's Central Valley - east of San Francisco Bay and west of the Sierra Nevada foothills. It's Mediterranean climate of hot days and cool nights (maritime breezes) creates a conducive environment for wine grapes - particularly Lodi's signature grape: Zinfandel. And usually old-vine zinfandel. Old vine? Some of these vines are 120 years old, gnarly, with very small yields. The Historic Vineyard Society, documents
older vineyards in the interest of preservation and defines old vines or historic vines as: 
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| Benmarl Winery & Vineyard |
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| Millbrook Vineyards |
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| View from Glorie Farm Winery |
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| Whitecliff Vineyard & Winery |
In most cold climate regions, French-Hybrids usually dominate and in the HRR, Seyval is a leading white grape. Before this weekend I think the only Seyval I tasted that left an impression was from Linden Vineyards. In most other cases they were just average nondescript wines. However, I tasted several tasty Hudson Valley Seyvals - starting with Clinton Vineyards - who not only, only produce wine from Seyval, but they also produce champagne methodoise versions. These were quite nice, citrus and effervescent. Hudson-Chatham Winery and Glorie Farm Winery both featured Seyval that were dry, light, fruit forward, with a lemon-citrus and acidic finish. And the Whitecliff Vineyard & Winery White Awosting is a very tasty blend of Vignoles and Seyval Blanc. Another benefit of these Seyval wines are their low price points, $15 on average. 
Moving to red wines, the Hudson River Region appears to be a bright sport for Cabernet Franc and Baco Noir. Once again Millbrook Vineyards & Winery provided our party with a solid offering in their Proprietor’s Special Reserve Cabernet Franc. This was followed by the Glorie Farm Winery estate Cabernet Franc - which quickly became a TasteCamp favorite. And count Tousey Winery as another winery producing a solid cab franc. While driving around the Marlboro area the day after TasteCamp, I stumbled upon newly opened Brunel and Rafael Winery. Check out their Hudson River Region Cabernet Franc. My favorite goes to Benmarl's 2012 Ridge Road Estate Cabernet Franc. This is the bomb. One of the best wines of the weekend. 
Our host for TasteCamp was the proprietor of Hudson-Chatham Winery, Carlo Devito. Carlo planned the entire weekend, which included a lunch tasting of area wines and ciders at his winery - all this in the middle of harvest. While his winemaker Stephen Casscles & crew crushed grapes, Carlo also opened his entire portfolio for us to sample. And this included several Baco Noirs, Carlo's most famous wines. There are not many producers of this hybrid anymore, but Hudson-Chatham specializes in Baco Noir as we sampled four vineyard designate wines. The estate vineyard at Hudson-Chatham, North Creek Vineyard, has four year old vines growing in Block 3 - hence the Block 3 North Creek Vineyard Baco Noir. The also produce theCasscles Middle Hope Baco Noir from a vineyard Casscles planted while in high school. What foresight. My favorite two were from Mason Place Vineyard, the Field Stone Baco - Old Stones & Old Vines - Mason Place Vineyard and the Old Vines Mason Place Vineyard. This last wine is outstanding, the grapes harvested from 60 year old vines. 
There were also several other reds to praise, in particular, the Hudson-Chatham Winery Chelois, Clearview Vineyard Noiret, and Whitecliff Vineyard & Winery Reserve Gamay Noir. First, who in the U.S. even produces a Chelois outside of Hudson-Chatham. Second, its a killer wine. The Clearview Noiret was easily the best I've ever tasted from this Cornell bred grape. And the Whitecliff Gamay Noir was simply spectacular.
Seems like we've been visiting Hershey, Pennsylvania quite often in the past year, and why not, with the zoo, chocolate factory, and amusement park. And Tröegs Brewery is always on the agenda. Hard to believe the brewery is almost 20 years old; first operating in Harrisburg and moving to the new location in the fall of 2011. Not only does the Hershey plant host the brewing and bottling operations, but it also includes a large taproom-snack bar; gift shop, and a self-guided tour area. The latter works for families with kids since visitors must be 21 for the guided tours. My son had a blast watching the bottling of Mad Elf Ale, running back and forth following a particular bottle of beer as it was cleaned, filled, capped, labelled, and boxed. And he sat quietly watching the quality control mechanism reject bottles after capping. 
The taproom provides an opportunity to taste or consume any variety of available beers. But, it's the food menu that sets it apart - talking gourmet food. There's cheeses, venison, seared foie gras, beef marrow bones, crispy pork belly, "poutine" hand-cut fries in turkey neck gravy, charcuterie house-cured meats, duck confit, beef short rib pot roast. You get the picture. And the grilled cheese and tröegswurst were delicious. As for the beer, we took the low alcohol approach with their everyday Dreamweaver
Wheat and Sunshine Pils. Both solid representations of their styles. 
Yesterday I had a free afternoon so I battled major headwinds to visit Old Ox Brewery in Ashburn, Virginia. It had been since my last visit and the brewery has settled in nicely. With the new sign on the bike path there's really no need to depend on theCompass and there was constant traffic from the W&OD path to the brewery. Many of these riders camped in the brewing area in front of the projection screen -- watching football; I think I need to return for a Redskins game. There was also a larger selection of beer with the Golden Ox Belgium Golden Ale (6.5% abv) and Alpha Ox Session IPA (4.5% abv) now accompanied with the Black Ox Rye Porter (6.0% abv), The Oxorcist Pumpkin Brown Ale (6.0% abv), and the Saison d'Ox French Farmhouse Ale (5.7% abv). This farmhouse ale is fantastic, it's refreshing after a bike ride with orange flavors and subtle spices on the tail. Nicely done. I also enjoyed the rye porter; there was symmetry between the rye spice and chocolate notes with a slightly hoppy finish. Looking forward to a brewery - brewery ride when Caboose Brewing Company opens later this year. Cheers and safe riding. 
From numerous trips to Greenwood Lake, I've become very familiar with two Hudson Valley cider makers, Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery & Applewood Winery. The former produces apple and pear ciders under the Doc’s Draft Ciders brand, while the latter recently introduced their Naked Flock ciders which replaced their Apple Dave's Stone Fence Cider. TasteCamp presented a few opportunities to expand my Hudson Valley cider experience -- starting with a trade tasting at Robibero Family Vineyards.
Among the various wineries at Robibero, Bad Seed Cider Company was pouring their inaugural release: Dry Hard Cider (6.3% abv, $12). The ciderie is co-owned by Devin Britton and Albert Wilklow, a 6th generation apple farmer. Devon is the cider maker - having a history of fermenting anything that would make a tasty beverage. Their Dry Hard Cider was clean, tart, and refreshing and hearing that they produced other styles incited me to visit on Sunday. The taproom was only a week old, yet there was already a decent crowd on my arrival. Devin was pouring four Bad Seed ciders as well as guest ciders from other Hudson Valley producers. I stuck with a sampler of his Dry, Cherried Away, Mapled Monk, and Blueberry. The Cherried Away was easily my favorite, basically the Dry fermented with tart sour cherries. This is one tasty cider. It took a few sips to start to appreciate the Mapled Monk, which is their Belgian Abbey augmented with a touch of maple syrup. There's a bit of funk from being unfiltered and inoculation with Belgian abbey beer yeast. Very interesting. Expect a lot more of these artisan ciders - I hear there's a bourbon-maple combo on the horizon.
Another participant was Orchard Hill Cider Mill, from New Hampton and using fruit from Soons Orchard. They produce still and sparkling cider, the latter using méthode champenoise, whereas both styles are bottle fermented and unfiltered. Their traditional Red and Gold labels (still vs sparkling) are clean and dry with the Red Label (7.25% abv, $10) having some toasted apple elements. The Gold Label (8% abv, $18) is slightly sweeter and lighter. Orchard Hill also introduced us to their Ten66 brand - the Jerry Lee Lewis of ciders - the killer. Named for the year of the Normandy invasion of Britain and inspired by that region's Pommeau de Normandi, both the Red and Gold labels are delicious. The Red Label (20% abv, $30 375 ml) is mixed with apple brandy distilled from Soons Orchard apples and aged in French oak wine barrels. The aged brandy is then blended with fresh unfermented Soons' cider and returned to the barrel for extra aging. The result is a tart apple pie flavor with vanilla and nutmeg on the tail. The Ten66 Golden Barrel (20% abv, $30 375 ml) is even better, brandy distilled in 2005 combined with fresh juice and barreled in 2009 - a single barrel mistelle. Not a cider, but one of the best ciderie beverages on the market. 
In Part I - Hillrock Estate Distillery of my TasteCamp series, I described the field to glass philosophy of Hillrock Estate Distillery and expressed surprise at the breadth of Hudson Valley distilleries. In historical terms, I shouldn't have been. In the early 1800's, New York, with major help from the Hudson Valley region, produced over half of this country's barley and rye. And with these grains, distilleries followed. In fact, approximately 1,200 farm distilleries were operating in the Empire state when Prohibition destroyed the industry. In recent years, the distillation industry in New York has slowly materialized, thanks in large part by entrepreneurs in the Hudson Valley. 
Ralph Erenzo is the face of the spirits industry in New York, both as co-owner of Tuthilltown Spirits and the driving force behind the four year effort to pass the Farm Distillery License Act. According to EdibleManhattan.com, Erenzo "was researching the possibility of booze-making and discovered a little-known 2000 law on the books that allowed locavore micro-distilling at a greatly reduced licensing rate. The state had slashed the $65,000 distilling permit to just $1,500 — so long as the producer was a little guy, making less than 35,000 gallons a year. " When Tuthilltown was founded in 2003, it was the only farm distillery in the state; today, thanks to the Farm Distillery License Act, there are over 40. As long as distilleries use NY grain or fruit, they can self-distribute - ignoring wholesalers when suitable - and sell directly from the tasting room. 
industry due to the Farm Distillery License Act led our TasteCamp party to Hillrock Estate and the Saturday morning spirits tasting. A dozen distillers participated in this event - which organizer Carlo Devito billed as the largest single tasting of Hudson Valley spirits in modern times. And appropriately, Tuthilltown participating pouring their Indigenous brand, the Half Moon Orchard Gin, and Cassis Liqueur. I started the tasting with Millbrook Distillery,
founded by Paul Coughlin and Gerald Valenti in Dutchess County. Their
Dutchess Private Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey (90 proof / 45% abv, $37) is made from local
corn and rye (25%) with natural spring water from Rolling Hills Farm.
Plenty of caramel to finish off this very drinkable bourbon. 
Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery table was vacant, so I parked in front in order to sample their Black Dirt Distillery series - named after the fertile soil in Orange County. The Black Dirt Bourbon (90 proof / 45% abv, $45) produced from 80% corn, 12% barley, and 8% rye and aged a minimum of three years in new American Oak. The result is a clean, slightly honey sweet whiskey with the rye coming through in the tail. I'm a lover of apple jack and was excited with the Black Dirt Apple Jack (100 proof / 50% abv, $45) made from
Jonagold apples and aged in charred new American oak. This starts with honey and vanilla which then yields to the apple profile, finishing with pie spices. Nicely done. The final offering was the Warwick Gin (80 proof / 40% abv, $27) and uses classic botanicals such as juniper, coriander, angelica root, and anise. It also includes lemon and lime peels which gives it a citrusy profile. 
Nearby, Dutch's Spirits had the most interesting spirit, Sugar Wash Moonshine (80 proof / 40% abv, $28), a 100% cane neutral spirit produced in
small batches from pure Demerara sugar. Very clean with hopscotch notes. Sugar Wash is a traditional moonshine recipe when corn is scarce and is a perfect fit for this distillery's past. There's too much to convey for the full story, but click here to read it's connections to mobster Dutch Schultz and his clandestine underground distillery. Co-founder Ariel Schlein was also pouring the distillery's Peach Brandy (80 proof / 40% abv, $42) - subtle peach and very smooth. They also concocted a cocktail of the Moonshine, hard cider, and house made bitters - delicious. 
The newest player in the Hudson Valley spirits is Denning's Point Distillery, who just celebrated their Grand Opening September 20th. They were pouring two products, the VisKill Vodka and Beacon Whiskey. The vodka is distilled from a mash of Finger Lakes winter wheat and is quite smooth. The Beacan Whiskey is light, smooth, with hints of caramel. 
I wish I had more time to spend with Angus MacDonald, Master Distiller of Coppersea Distilling.Like Hillrock Estate Distillery, Coppersea floor malts and mills their grain - for the later sourced from various Hudson Valley farms. However, I was given the two minute warning to hurry up so savored their Pear and Peach Eau De Vie as well as the Coppersea Green Malt Rye (90 proof / 45% abv) - a 100% malted rye whisky made from unkilned malt (unroasted malt). Very limited quantities for this herbal treat. 
While walking out I noticed that Hudson Valley Distillers, LLC had arrived and were sampling more Apple Jack. The bus could wait a little longer, right? This veteran owned distillery is owned and operated by Thomas Yozzo and Chris Moyer, who utilize the fruit from Moyer's Spirits Grove Farm orchard. They also built greenhouses to grow botanicals for their future Tom’s Old Tom gin. I quickly sampled the Adirondack Applejack ($25 350ml) and the Hardscrapple Applejack ($25 350ml). The former was aged in white oak barrels like an whiskey while the later is produced to align more with Scotch. The latter also honors Chancellor Robert Livingston, entrepreneur, contributor to the Declaration of
Independence, and former owner of the land that now includes Spirits Grove Farm. That's the beauty of the burgeoning Hudson Valley distilling industry. Young, but loads of history in every bottle. And the Hardscrapple is more like a whiskey than applejack - toasted nuts, vanilla, and caramel. Very nice. 
