On June 26, 2024, we had the great pleasure of attending a shochu media event at the Japan Sake and Shochu Information Center (JSS). Aside from hearing about the increasing recognition and appreciation of the beverage overseas, we had the opportunity to taste a couple of exceedingly creative shochu-based cocktails prepared by bartender Yukino Sato. … Continue reading The JSS Shochu Media Gathering
This is the fourteenth installment in our Days of Wine and Music series. We, once again, return to that Sammarinese winery upon which we have been focusing and report on a very special offering, indeed. Fortuity We just happened to be doing some recreational reading on the very day we tasted this wonderful wine. We … Continue reading Note Divino Riserva 2019
Jupiter, Philip Galle This is the thirteenth entry in our Days of Wine and Music series. This week we take a look at a red, the output of the same Sammarinese winery whose sparkling was reviewed in an earlier posting. Sangiovese is Italy’s #1 wine grape variety. It should come as no surprise that the … Continue reading Quaffing Jove’s Blood, Well, Okay, Not Exactly
This is the eleventh installment of our Days of Wine and Music series. As might be expected, in this week’s entry we will introduce a Sammarinese wine, one of exceptional quality. In future entries, we will let you know more about the winemaker. [Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that we mistakenly ran installment twelve last … Continue reading Music: Primary and Simple; Speech: Secondary and Complex: Tasting Notes for Note Divino Blanco 2021
This is the twelfth entry in our Days of Wine and Music series. This week we expose our taste buds (nothing wrong with that) to another Sammarinese wine, with more than a passing connection to music (more on that later in the series). This one is a sparkling with some pretty series bubbles. Everybody loves … Continue reading Cavaliere Spumante Tre Extra Dry and Bottle Aesthetics
Birch* The gin market is a highly competitive one at the moment. To survive, you have to have a unique offering that cries out to be tasted and keeps them coming back for more. We encountered such a product at JFEX this year. The catchy name that comes dangerously close to offending the sensibilities of … Continue reading A JFEX Gem: Son of a Birch Gin
Maximum Wolf* This is yet another Intermission in our Days of Wine and Music series. We return once again to JFEX 2024 and take a look at another one of the fine products we encountered there—Lone Bee Sparkling Mead from New Zealand. Some of our curious readers may have asked themselves that perennial question of … Continue reading A JFEX Gem: Lone Bee Sparkling Mead
Drinking Japan 