LATEST NEWS AND REVIEWS

Editor’s Note: This is a regular series of articles about bartenders (both professional and home enthusiasts) and the inspirations and fun behind their creations. We are delighted to share their stories! Interested in sharing yours? Simply email us at unchartedwine@gmail.com! 2020 caused us all to re-evaluate our hobbies, and home bar enthusiast Staci Perry chose cocktails as her quarantine project. As she states "in April of 2020, one month into COVID quarantine, I watched

Virginia is one of the hottest wine regions right now. It is known for Viognier, Petit Manseng, Norton, and Cabernet Franc, but several other varietals are making their presence known. As this wine region approaches top-tier status, it is still difficult to find Virginia wine on the shelf, which is why we were eager to sit down with the 2017 Barboursville Vineyards Cabernet Franc Reserve. Barboursville pioneered Virginia plantings of Cab Franc, and their nearly 45 years of ex

Cider is having its day (and you will see lots of it being reviewed on this site). Michigan is apple country, and Journeyman Distillery has been making some great products, so our tasting panel was eager to sit down with their OCG Apple Cider Liqueur. OGC stands for “Old Country Goodness” and is made from Michigan apple cider and spices, fortified with some unaged rye whiskey. Clocking in at only 10% ABC, it is a stretch to call this a liqueur, and is perhaps best referred to

When you make it your mission to taste unusual wines and spirits, people take you up on it. We tasted “chocolate wine” long before it was briefly cool. Since then, we have seen the rise and fall of strawberry, coconut, red velvet, and mint flavored wines, some of which we tasted, some of which we were lucky enough to avoid. Some of these were better than the mesquite, prickly pear, garlic, lemon, lime, tomato, and jalapeno wines we have been offered in the past, some of thes

Editor’s Note: This is a regular series of articles about bartenders (both professional and home enthusiasts) and the inspirations behind their creations. We are delighted to share their stories! Interested in sharing yours? Simply email us at unchartedwine@gmail.com! Patrick Riley is the Lead Bartender at Balance Restaurant in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He takes particular delight in seeking out undiscovered spirits to create new cocktails for Balance’s award-winning cocktail

When you grow grapes in regions not suitable for a wide range of vitis vinifera, you are always looking for the great grape hope. Finding a grape that can reliably survive your winters, deal with your late or early frosts, is disease resistant, and avoids foxiness is easier said than done. The subset becomes smaller when you further insist the grapes make wine you can actually sell. In Indiana, that great hope is seen as Traminette, to the point of even making it the “State G

We have already discussed the University of Minnesota’s cold-hardy wine grape program when we discussed Marquette here. Let’s discuss a white UofM varietal gaining a lot of attention these days, La Crescent. First marketed in 2002, its bracing acidity and complex bouquet allows it to assume a versatile place in a winery’s lineup. Need an aromatic dry white? An off-dry or semi-sweet floral beauty? A zippy bubbly or even a dessert or ice wine? La Crescent could check all of the

For over 200 years Peter Heering has been making its namesake cherry liqueur, and it might just be the best fruit liqueur out there. It certainly is the best cherry liqueur. Made from cherries, spices, and oak aged for five years, the secret recipe hasn’t been replicated. Our tasting panel recently sat down with some. Deep red with browning visible in the glass. Sweet syrupy smell as you pour, backed with allspice and clove. Pops with cherries, giving way to a more reductive

Thanks to cocktail enthusiast James Thompson for submitting this classic cocktail and his wonderful photo. Interested in sharing your inspirations? Email us at unchartedwine@gmail.com. The term "corpse reviver" was the term used to describe a family of cocktails perfect for the morning hangover. "One will revive a hung-over corpse but it is said upon drinking 4 in quick succession, one will become a corpse again." Many of the original corpse reviver recipes have been lost to

We won’t be doing a lot of Scotch reviews on here. However, when a member of your tasting panel brings a bottle of Aberlour 12 Year to a tasting meeting, and you already have your notes out, you might as well. Peat, orange peel, smoke, cherry, and light sweetness on the nose. Bold up front, some reductive fruit, vanilla, and pie spice, sherry butts come in the mid-palate, with wonderful caramel and nuts, followed with a more mellow medium finish of char and spice. A member of

It is no secret we are fans of the Finger Lakes. Its maturation as a wine region provides the template for any Northeast or Midwestern wine region. Certainly, the eponymous lakes give it an advantage other places can only dream of, but carefully choosing sites and varietals (with a healthy dose of experimenting) is what regions need to do to find the perfect varietals for them. You may not be lucky enough to be able to grow great Riesling, but there is something for every reg

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a regular series of articles about bartenders (both professional and home enthusiasts) and the inspirations behind their creations. We are delighted to share their stories! Interested in sharing yours? Simply email us at unchartedwine@gmail.com! Patrick Riley is the Lead Bartender at Balance Restaurant in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He takes particular delight in seeking out undiscovered spirits to create new cocktails for Balance’s award-winn

Amaretto is one of those liqueurs (like sloe gin) many drink when they first start drinking, but unfortunately they often have the cheap, artificially flavored, version. It can take some persuasion to overcome those memories to seek out some good amaretto, which is made from real apricot pits and almonds. Lazzaroni makes excellent amaretto (in fact they are the original maker of this liqueur), crafting it from an old recipe involving an infusion of Amaretti del Chiostro di Sa

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention. And for as long as humans have joined together, they managed to ferment whatever local ingredients they could find into booze. If you are desiring to make alcohol on the plains of North Dakota, you could just go the easy route and make beer. If you are looking to make wine, several cold weather hybrids will do just fine up there. But mead is perhaps the most elegant option, and for the past thirty years, Prairie Rose has been doing

Since Indiana passed a craft distillery act in 2013, several Hoosier wineries expanded into distilling. One of the more extensive operations is Best Vineyards, located in the Indiana Uplands AVA in the southeastern part of the state. Our tasting panel recently tasted their Blackberry Liqueur. Sugar evident in the viscous pour. Nose has medium-low blackberry aroma, with a touch of citrus. Warming in the mouth, touch of bramble fruit tartness, blackberry flavor not cloying. In

This light but herbal cocktail takes full advantage of January citrus. Try this with naval oranges, cara caras, blood oranges or whatever exotic brands your store may have in stock. 2 ounce Gin (a wonderful floral gin like Bloom is perfect, but London Dry will do) 3 slices orange, plus an additional for garnish 1 sprig rosemary, plus one more for garnish 1 ounce simple syrup Club soda or seltzer In a cocktail shaker, add the oranges and rosemary and muddle well. Add gin and

We love reviewing orange and natural wines. While they sometimes are a bit too funky and out there, they are going to continue to demand a larger and larger market share, and if you are serious about learning more about wine, you need to learn to tell a good one from a bad one. Our tasting panel recently tasted the 2019 Amber Natural from Romania, which not only shows the burgeoning flex of natural wines, but that of Romanian wine in general. Blended with Chardonnay, Feteasca

Europeans have long had a lock on the great nut liqueurs. Frangelico, Nocello, Amaretto, Morey, and our recently reviewed Nux Alpina Walnut. Now the Americans joins the top shelf with Rivulet. This hickory pecan liqueur was recently tasted by our tasting panel and comes highly recommended. Deep gold in the glass. A medium nose of pecan, vanilla, sugar cookie, and toast make evident the base of this spirit is barrel aged brandy. Smooth up front, lots of butterscotch, caramel,

This classic cocktail was first written down in the 1930s Savoy Cocktail Book, but it likely existed long before that. While variations exist calling for peach liqueur instead of apricot, applejack instead of Calvados, or the addition of lemon juice, we think this version is the best, both for taste and for the beautiful golden color the final product makes in a clear coupe glass. This is the perfect winter warmer. 1 ounce dry gin (we used Beefeater) 1 ounce apricot brandy 1

Liqueurs made from spicy ingredients can go south quickly, especially in today’s manufacturing climate, where producers often confuse might with right. When our tasting panel recently tasted Big O Ginger Liqueur, we were nervous we would have a hammer whacking Hot Damn like experience. Instead, we got a perfectly balanced and smooth warming drink perfect as a cocktail modifier. Ginger and pie spice fill the nose, but the scent is not overwhelming. Medium-plus body, lots of gi