Tag: Sherry/Madeira/Port

Your Secret Sherry Destination

San Francisco was a pioneering city on the current sherry scene. Though sherry is still a spirits’ geek and bartender favorite more than it is a mainstream imbibement, there are now SherryFests and sherry-centric cocktail menus around the US, in keeping with the growth in popularity of spirits and fortified wines everywhere. A decade ago as I dug deeper into… Read more →

3 New Spirits of the Month

Almost daily, I’m tasting a wide range of spirits, wines and beers, whether at restaurants and bars, distilleries, wineries or breweries or as samples crossing my desk. For March, here are recently-released spirits standouts. WhistlePig Old World Series: Sauternes, Madeira, Port ($117.99) WhistlePig’s Old World Series was just released, showcasing WhistlePig Rye aged in three different types of wine casks… Read more →

December’s Best in Beer, Wine & Sherry

From my numerous articles a week as Zagat Editor, I summarize and link to some of this coverage here – you can follow along on Twitter @ZagatSF, where I post daily, or on my own @ThePerfectSpot via Twitter or Facebook. Special Features & Year-in-Review Bay Area Holiday Dining Survival Guide 2014 Bay Area Food & Drink Trends Cocktails Both surgical… Read more →

4 SPIRITS YOU DON’T KNOW… But Should: Pommeau, Gin, Ratafia, Sherry

CHRISTIAN DROUIN Pommeau de Normandie If you love spirits and apples, then Calvados is your is your ideal imbibement. The elegant French version of apple brandy grown in the Calvados region of France, the apple brandy is often rounded out by pears, and in the case of Calvados Christian Drouin, one of the world’s best-selling small Calvados producers (around 150,000… Read more →

In Love with Madeira

At a recent industry Vinho Madeira wine tasting at the Hotel Monaco, I sampled through a range of vintages and producers of the fortified Portuguese wine produced in the Madeira Islands. While some think sweet when they think fortified wines, I find one of the joys of Madeira is that there’s often funky, earthy notes contrasting the after dinner factor. Ranging… Read more →