Dowd on Drinks

News and commentary on wines, spirits and brews from around the world.

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30-label free wine tasting at All Star

Mar 13, 2010 3:23pm

The majority of free wine tastings seem to be very limited. Four or five wines to sample, if you’re lucky. Craig Allen is promising 30 different wines at the free tasting he has scheduled for 1 to 5 p.m. next Sunday, March 21, at his expanded All Star Wine & Spirits...

Invasive moth just one California problem

Mar 12, 2010 3:45pm

Courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle • From SFgate.com: A huge swath of [California] wine country, including vineyards where some of the world’s best grapes are grown, was quarantined this week after an invasive moth was discovered. The European grapevine moth has already destroyed at least one vineyard’s harvest and damaged other prime...

What is Bill tasting?

Mar 12, 2010 2:22pm

There is no organic matter that cannot be used to make vodka. Thus, what Harry Gorman, the distiller for Duncan’s Spirits of St. Johnsbury, VT, is producing makes great use of that fact and the fact that its home area has some very distinctive products. Go to Dowd’s Tasting Notes for...

‘World’s oldest’ single malt unveiled

Mar 12, 2010 2:18pm

William M. Dowd photo illustration • This is part of “Gotta Have …”, an ongoing series of occasional postings on unusual spirits products. What may well be the world’s oldest single malt whisky was unveiled Thursday in a ceremony at Edinburgh Castle in the Scottish capital city. Gordon and MacPhail’s Mortlach 70-Year-Old Speyside...

New vodka flood contains a shocker

Mar 12, 2010 1:39pm

The latest wave in the never-ending flood of vodkas includes one that also wins the Chutzpah/Bad Taste Award. Kabbalah is the newest brand of Russian Vodka, created by a beverage maker known as EZ Protocols. In fact, its entire formal name is “Kabbalah Vodka – With Christian Infants.” Kabbalah is the school...

What is Bill tasting?

Mar 11, 2010 11:37am

The King Family Winery of Crozet, VA, didn’t make much of its Meritage 2007, but what it did make is doing just fine, thank you. The blend had already won double gold in the 2009 Monticello Cup. Now, it has pulled down the Governor’s Cup, the top honor, in the recent...

Hudson-Berkshires Beverage Trail’s first event set

Mar 9, 2010 6:41pm

The first event of the newly-created Hudson-Berkshires Beverage Trail is a saucy one. Pasta and sauce, to be precise. The HBTT is sponsoring the Pasta Sauce Inaugural Trail Event from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 10. Guests may visit any Trail member and pay the normal tasting fees. Or, they...

Local farm treats at Troy brewpub

Mar 8, 2010 10:15am

Brown’s Brewing Co. in Troy will host the Capital Region Farmers Late Winter Harvest on Thursday, March 25. The event, presented by the Rensselaer County Farm Bureau, will feature an appetizer reception of dishes made exclusively with locally farmed meats and produce and Brown’s own brews. Admission to the event, set...

Anyone find a no-tomato discount?

Mar 6, 2010 1:30pm

It may or may not immediately affect your Bloody Mary, depending on your favorite watering hole’s recipe, but a harsh Southern winter has spoiled an estimated 80% of the Florida tomato crop. Add to that the February 27 earthquake and subsequent aftershocks that have wreaked havoc in produce-rich Chile and...

Tuthilltown micro-distiller wins ‘best bottle’ award

Mar 6, 2010 11:19am

Bill Dowd photo Tuthilltown Spirits of Gardiner, Ulster County, won top honors for “best bottle” in the 2010 International Review of Spirits Packaging Competition this week. The distinctive apothecary-style bottle the micro-distillery uses for its spirits took gold medals for form and style and silver medals for creativity and graphic design, leading...