|
|
&
syndicated content powered by FeedBurner
-
Posted: 2026-10-30 08:32
We do enjoy sipping our craft beverages with Halloween candy and Sherry is a versatile pairing because its range of styles offers different levels of sweetness, acidity, body, and nutty or caramel flavors. Sherry is produced in the Jerez region of southern Spain, primarily from Palomino, Pedro Ximénez, and Moscatel grapes. After fermentation, the wines are fortified with grape spirit and aged using different methods depending on the style. Oloroso is fortified to a higher alcohol level before aging under oxygen, developing its deep color and characteristic aromas of walnuts, pecans, and toasted nuts. These sherries from Gonzalez Byass are excellent examples of their respective styles. Harveys Bristol Cream is a blended cream sherry made by combining different styles of sherry to produce a richer, sweeter wine with notes of nuts and caramel, balanced by acidity. Nectar Pedro Ximénez is made from Pedro Ximénez grapes that are typically sun-dried to concentrate their sugars before fermentation and fortification. The resulting wine is aged to develop its dense texture and flavors of raisins, figs, caramel, and dried fruit.
How do these Sherries work with Halloween candy? Dry Oloroso brings savory complexity and toasted nut characteristics that complement chocolate and peanuts, while cream sherry balances sweetness with acidity and flavors of nuts and caramel. Pedro Ximénez, one of the sweetest styles, has concentrated flavors of raisins, figs, and caramel that work well with rich chocolate, coconut, and chewy caramel candies. The key to pairing sherry with candy is to match the wine’s intensity and flavor profile with the candy’s sweetness, texture, and ingredients.
What is your favorite pairing?
-
Posted: 2026-10-27 07:00
I just realized that the two recent distillery stops in Louisiana ( Jean Baptiste Rum and J.T. Meleck Distillers) pushed me past visits to 900 distinct North American craft beverage establishments. I started documenting these excursions at WineCompass.com and recently using theCompass Craft Beverage Finder. I apparently began documenting my travels in May 2005, following a visit to Loudoun County's Tarara Winery during a Memorial Weekend celebration. Sadly, the process of creative destruction has led to the closure of that winery, my second official stop at Maryland's Catoctin Winery, and 163 other establishments that are no longer operating. Specifically, over the past 21 years, I have visited 902 distinct establishments over 1,393 total visits. The most frequent stops have been to nearby Caboose Brewing Company and our friends at Corcoran Vineyards & Cider, both of which I've visited dozens of times. These travels have taken me to 32 states plus Washington DC and three provinces consisting of 42 check-ins at Canadian establishments. Of the 902 establishments, 425 are breweries, 334 wineries, 91 distilleries, 44 cideries, six meaderies, and two sake breweries. theCompass Craft Beverage Finder contains information on 21,218 craft beverage establishments in North America. The application is still only available on Android and Amazon devices; hoping to see an iOS version sometime in 2027. And winecompass.com has all the same information in an html format. Cheers.
-
Posted: 2026-10-23 07:00
 With my new cyborg hip, I am finally able to hike again and decided to test my body with an excursion along the Appalachian Trail in Linden, Virginia. The best place to start is the two small parking areas at the intersection of John Marshall Highway (Rt 55) and Rt 725 just east of Linden. For a challenging climb head north over the A.T. Bridge Crossing or for an easier hike, walk south.  But afterwards, be sure to visit one of the five wineries surrounding Linden: Silver Dog Vineyards, Linden Vineyards, Capstone Vineyards, Crimson Lane Vineyards, and Accord Vineyards (formerly Fox Meadow Vineyards). I decided to start my post-hike recovery at Silver Dog Vineyards. I had seen the vineyard many times during visits to Capstone and the winery just opened to the public late this summer.  Getting to the tasting room is slightly challenging, requiring navigation of a short but steep gravel road. However, the drive also demonstrates how the steep terrain benefits the vines. First, the steep grade allows for ample drainage, ensuring the grapes must struggle for water. Second, the grade and elevation minimize frost damage. This was evident during the April 2026 freeze, when only the lowest-planted vines suffered damage, whereas those at higher elevations survived mostly unaffected.  These vines were first planted in 2018, when Eric Gronning convinced his wife, Lori Robertson, to expand their roles in the wine industry. At the time, they owned Maple, a wine bar and restaurant in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Gronning chose to plant a combination of common French grape varieties, including Petit Manseng, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot, along with two Italian varieties less common in the Commonwealth: Barbera and Sagrantino. He utilizes the assistance of Virginia Tech's Virginia Cooperative Extension - a program that provides a wealth of information for potential viticulturists. The grapes are processed and bottled at nearby Blue Valley Vineyard and Winery in Delaplane under the direction of wine consultant John Levenberg.  Interestingly, the contemporary tasting room is completely off-grid, with solar-generated electricity, water supplied by an on-site well and spring, and captured rainwater used in the vineyard. The energy-efficient design incorporates large overhangs to provide shade in summer and large doors to take advantage of cooling winds, while expansive glass, steel, exposed concrete floors, and American cedar define the building's aesthetic. The tasting bar was also recently enhanced with a large, beautiful wood slab from a tree felled by a storm. These features don't surprise those who know that Eric is also an architect, furniture designer, and wood and steel fabricator through his company, Gronning Architects.
After arriving at this unparalleled tasting room and taking in the scenic views of Capstone and Crimson Lane, a flight of their five wines was in order. All the wines are made from estate grapes. Starting with the 2023 Chardonnay, I found it well made. The wine combines barrel and stainless-steel fermentation, resulting in a savory mouthfeel balanced by lively acidity. My overall favorite is their 2023 Rock Island Red - a blend of Barbera, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Sagrantino. Think fresh black cherries, a slight earthiness, approachable tannins, and balanced acidity. Their 2023 Barbera was close behind with its bright plum overtones and black pepper spicy kick at the tail. Well done. Cheers.
-
Posted: 2026-10-21 08:00
Our frequent trips to the Hub City have introduced us to unique aspects of south Louisiana’s economy, particularly the dominance of sugar cane in agricultural production and, more interestingly, the relationship between crawfish and rice farming. In Louisiana, rice and crawfish often thrive in the same fields through a farming system that takes advantage of their different seasonal needs. Farmers typically plant rice in March or April, then seed the slightly flooded fields with adult crawfish a couple of months later. The rice plants provide crawfish with food, shelter, and a place to reproduce, while crawfish contribute nutrients to the soil through their natural waste, helping support future rice crops. In July or August, the rice is ready to be harvested, the fields are drained and the crawfish burrow deep into the mud to escape the summer and fall heat and survive until the fields are flooded again. Soon after harvest the fields are reflooded, triggering the crawfish to return to the surface where they feed on leftover rice stalks, decaying plant material, and tiny organisms in the water until they are harvested from January through May. Many crawfish-rice operations rotate production between fields, allowing adult crawfish from one field to seed the next.  The Meleck family has been farming rice in the Heart of Acadiana for five generations starting in 1896, when John T. Meleck planted his first rice crop in 20 acres of marshland in south Louisiana. The family encountered many problems over the next century, including repossessions but in the early 1980s brothers Mike and Mark Frugé (great-nephews of J.T. Meleck) began rebuilding the family estate by leasing family land back. Starting with crawfish, they added rice back into the equation and eventually were able to repurchase the original estate and more. Much more. Today Frugé Aquafarms encompasses 3,500 acres, with approximately 1,700 acres devoted to each of crawfish and rice production utilizing the alternate year rotation approach. During a recent visit to the farm, Production Manager Ed Guidry described the symbiotic relationship between the two crops and discussed the generations of Guidrys who had worked alongside the Frugés. He showed us the crawfish processing line where the crop is cleaned and sorted before moving the conversation to our primary interest—the farm’s vertical integration into distilling. Since 2000, the rice market has fluctuated with prices peaking in 2008 (because of a global food crisis) followed by a prolonged slump, with prices bottoming out in 2016. This instability necessitated adding more value to their rice crop. Mike realized that there was no American spirits brand producing a 100% rice whiskey or vodka and as an added benefit, a distilling operation would satisfy the the increasingly popular farm-to-table movement. In 2017, Mike founded J.T. Meleck Distillers and it now consumes 30% of the Frugé's overall rice harvest.  The distilling facility sits adjacent to Frugé Aquafarms and uses two stills, multiple fermentation tanks, and a large cooker, with the stills used according to the type of distillation run. Each batch starts with two thousand pounds of Frugé rice milled locally in Crowley - the Rice Capital of America. The rice is cooked for seven hours followed by seven days of fermentation for whiskey and 14 days for vodka. In a typical week, they use 10,000 to 16,000 pounds of rice with each individual distillation run taking 10-12 hours. This operation is managed by Ed and Distiller Brett Hebert - another veteran of Frugé Farms.  Although most of the distillery’s current production is devoted to whiskey, as evidenced by the more than 2,000 barrels aging in its barrel house, vodka was its first spirit. The J.T. Meleck Louisiana Rice Vodka ($24.99) is distilled to 191 proof before being slowly proofed down to 80 proof for bottling. Sweetness on the nose is followed by a creamy, vanilla wafer profile. Nicely done. In 2022, J.T. Meleck introduced the J.T. Meleck Small Batch American Rice Whiskey ($52.99) aged nearly five years in new American oak barrels. The whiskey comes off the still around 120 proof and after the oak aging proofed down to 96 proof at bottling. They also offer the J.T. Meleck High Proof 118 Small Batch American Rice Whiskey ($67.99) that I thought was a solid option to bring home. Because of its higher proof, adding a few drops of water helps soften the alcohol and bring out the dominant butterscotch and toffee followed by more subtle vanilla and chalky baking spices. This whiskey was awarded the Best Rice Whiskey in the 2026 American Council of Tasters (ASCOT) competition helping J.T. Meleck Distillers to be designated the 2026 Craft Distiller of the Year. Try this whiskey. Cheers.
-
Posted: 2026-10-19 18:05
The Christian population of the West Bank has dwindled over the past century, particularly around Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ. In 1950, Christians made up approximately 84% of Bethlehem’s population; by 2007, that share had fallen to about 28%, and today, estimates place it about 11%. The decline reflects a combination of emigration, limited economic opportunities, and political instability. Tourism, an essential source of income for Bethlehem’s families, has also suffered repeated disruptions, particularly during this current period of conflict. Despite these challenges, Christian families continue to maintain churches, traditions, and ties to the land their ancestors have cultivated for generations, preserving a living Christian presence in one of the most historically significant places in the faith. Representatives of Christians in the Holy Land visited various churches in the Arlington Diocese this month emphasizing these demographic trends and limited economic opportunities. They also provided opportunities to purchase hand carved olive wood statues and Al’Ard Holy Land Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Olive oil from the West Bank comes from some of the oldest cultivated groves in the world, tended by families who have farmed the same terraces for generations. Two traditional olive varieties, Rumi and Nabali, reflect this deep agricultural heritage. Rumi is an ancient variety associated with the region’s historic olive-growing traditions, while Nabali, particularly Nabali Baladi, is one of the area's principal cultivars, valued for its suitability for olive oil production and its adaptation to the region’s largely rain-fed farming conditions. Oils produced from these olives can offer a distinctive Mediterranean character, with fresh green aromas, herbal notes, and a peppery finish, although flavor varies with the variety, harvest timing, and production methods. Nabali olive oil is known for its phenolic compounds, which contribute to its bitterness and pungency. Al’Ard does not stipulate the varietal blend for the Holy Land Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil but I would suspect that it is higher in the Rumi variety since the olive oil has a green and herbal character with less bitterness as expected. It is very approachable for those seeking a smoother profile.
|