Ready to Stock the Bar and Fridge? Here are my latest finds

I hope your holiday season is going as well as mine. I have been spending lots of time with family and friends.

Get out the basket…
We’ve all seen those standard fruit, cheese, and meat baskets passed around during the holidays and other occasions throughout the year. The cheese is simply “cheddar,” or something just as generic. I was happy to hear from Murray’s Cheese about their selections, which are anything but ordinary.

They sent me The MVP: Most Valuable Player. It includes: tasty Murray’s Gruyere, tangy Humboldt Fog, mild and delicious Grazier’s Edge, and hearty Point Reye’s Bay Blue cheeses, as well as an excellent Prosciutto San Daniele and a lean Creminelli Wild Boar Salami. The Pistachio Cranberry and Olive Oil Crackers were a perfect accompaniment, and the buttery Marcona Almonds are addicting.  

One of the other things I love about Murray’s Cheese is that they let you build your own basket from all these interesting ingredients. Definitely give them a try for your next gift giving.

Grab the Little Black Dress…
If you haven’t tried LittleBlack Dress Wines yet, you should. I sampled and enjoyed their Diva Red. It was quite fruity and not too dry. Their Cabernet Sauvignon is also a bit less dry than most, retaining its dark raspberry notes.

A different kind of red…

Pinot Noir is far from my favorite wine, but I did a double-take when I tasted the 2014 from AdlerFels. It’s unlike any other I’ve tasted. This Monterey, California, selection is light and filled with blackberry, cassis, and other dark fruit.

International wines…

Some wines from around the globe I would definitely recommend you stock up on.

Astoria Caranto Pinot Noir carries the more traditional oak and dryness of a pinot noir, but it’s smooth enough that you don’t need a big steak with it.

La Cana Albarino is an easy drinking white, with light citrus and a bit of acid.

Luna Nuda PinotGrigio is something I could drink all the time. It’s very fresh and filled with fruit.  

One 8 Distilling…
I didn’t have a chance to visit One8 Distilling on my trip to Washington, DC, but they sent me a box full of samples of their spirits to try out. The company’s name comes from it’s opening date, January 8, 2015. Despite only being open two years, they have quite a selection of gin, vodka, and whiskey.

I’m not a huge fan of barreled gin (I think the spirit should have enough flavor on its own, as their Ivy City Gin does), but the One 8 Untitled No. 1 had a fairly short (3-10 months) aging in old bourbon barrels so it doesn’t lose its juniper and spice. I also recommend their White Whiskey, and their District Made Vodka, which is made from rye and uses Russian Distilling.

                                                                                                                                                              

Experiment with cocktails…

There’s more to life than gin & tonic, Captain & Coke, and Bloody Mary’s. You need to mix it up a little and why not do some mixing with something healthy?

Natalie's Orchid Island Juice Company has a selection of all natural juices that mix very well with your favorite spirits.

We paired the sweet Honey Tangerine with tequila, the tart Strawberry Lemonade with vodka, Orange Beet with gin. Their newest flavor, Pumpkin Apple Spice, was excellent with whiskey. And, of course, you can mix the Orange or Lemonade with endless possibilities.

What a great combo…
I was excited to try Belle de Brillet Pear Liqueur, which is a blend of cognac and fresh pears. I was not disappointed. This is a perfect after dinner drink with or without ice, or mix it in some cocktails such as these:

Spiced Pear Affair
.75 oz. Belle de Brillet Pear Liqueur           

1.5 oz. Premium Reposado Tequila 

1 oz. Lime juice 

.75 oz. Agave nectar        

Dash cinnamon and cayenne     

Cinnamon and sugar, for garnish

Shake with ice and strain into martini glass, rimmed with cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Snowy Pear Lager

1.5 oz. Belle de Brillet Pear Liqueur

4 oz. Winter Lager

1 oz. Apple cider

.5 oz. Lemon juice

Apple slice and cinnamon, for garnish

Shake together Belle de Brillet, cider, and lemon juice. Strain the mixture into a glass. Add beer. Garnish with the apple and a shake of cinnamon.

Healthy frozen vegetarian…
I’ve tried and enjoyed cedarlane frozen meals before. They had sent their delicious breakfasts to me in the spring. This time I was able to taste two of their gluten-free vegetarian options, the Three Layer Enchilada Pie and the Chile Relleno. Both were flavorful and very filling, and under 400 calories for a complete meal.

Boulder Spirits to Lingering in Denver

I go on a lot of wine country trips, but my Colorado adventure is based on spirits. On day two it was time to get to some serious sampling of what the area had to offer in food and drinks, but first I had some mountains to check out.

After a good night’s sleep in my beautifully decorated room at Hotel Boulderado, Kim from Boulder’s visitor’s Bureau picked me up and we headed up to Chautauqua Park. It was a clear and warm day and she told me about this beautiful place as we walked the trail. I honestly could have spent the day in the fresh Rocky Mountain air, but I had a job to do and the first course of business was at Boulder Distillery & Clear Spirit Company.

Boulder Distillery is just a bit bigger than most garages, yet you would not believe all the spirits that come out of there. They are most known for their 303 Vodka which is “infused” on the premises with seasonal ingredients. The Colorado liquor laws actually allow for distilleries to not only serve samples, but to act as bars, with cocktail menus and events. This has been taken to the limit at 303 – in a very good way.

First, we have the infused vodkas. On my visit, the choices were Vanilla, Peach, Raspberry Cucumber, Pickle, Strawberry and Olive. I sampled a bit of them all and could certainly tell the difference between these freshly infused libations (with organic fruit) and flavored vodkas in bottle. I was encouraged to try some of the cocktails and before I knew it there was a Pickletini in front of me. Yes, pickle infused vodka with pickle juice and pickles.

When it comes to pickles, I can take them or leave them. Honestly, I stared at the drink for a few minutes with no desire to taste it, but I was encouraged by the knowledge that it was a best seller around here and I have to say it was delicious!  I think I’m still a gin girl, though, and there was someone there to take care of that too. It seems Rob’s Mountain Gin shares this same space and his Formula No. 11 has an ingredient known publically as “angel’s tears” (I will never tell) that really makes it an outstanding product. (For those who like the darker spirits, Boulder Distillery also makes 303 Whiskey, aged in French Oak.)

My last stop in Boulder was at Salt Bistro and it was quite a food and drink extravaganza. Kim and I were joined by the restaurant’s public relations rep, Kuvy, Beverage Manager Evan Faber and my friend Jackie, who works at nearby Babolat. We were quite a large group, but we didn’t have to worry about running out of food as it looked like they brought out everything on the menu! The theme was as I saw it on this trip – fresh and local, with lots of fruits and vegetables.

Before we knew it, the table was filled to the brim with such treats as Quinoa Fritters; Tomato Salad with Mint; Vegetable Tasting (with the best soft polenta I’ve had); Duck Confit Salad (perfectly cooked); Peach Flatbread; and Fried Polenta with honey.

As good as the food was at Salt, I was most impressed with the drink options. Stoddard came up with an ingenious idea: Pick your glass size, add your favorite liquor; chose a flavor; and pick a style.  Patrons are actually given a menu to mark off their choices in each category. I had two small ones – a Gin & Blackberry Martini and a Rum, Mango & White Wine Sangria.

Elysia from Colorado Tourism drove me back to Denver. I had a few hours back at the hotel to try to get my ailing computer to function (and work up an appetite) before Elysia picked me up for dinner. It’s not often you get to have dinner in a mortiuary, or even a former one. That’s exactly what Linger is. It’s a large restaurant with great views of Denver in the home of the former Olinger Mortiary. The restaurant plays on that theme throughout, with everything from menus that look like charts to business cards that look like body tags.

Elysia is a vegetarian and I always welcome meatless nights, so we decided to fill the table with small plates. Linger divides their dishes into the areas the dishes originated and we picked an assortment that covered the bases: Meze Plate with Smokey Eggplant Spread  & Naan from Africa; Saag Paneer Fries with Rhubarb Ketchup & Spinach Puree and Masala Dosa from Southwest Asia; Carrot & Lentil Kofie with Tahini Yogurt wrapped in Lettuce from Eurasia (my favorite); and Cold Peanut Noodles from Asia.

To go with our food, we had Linger’s Bar Manager Anika Zappe mix us up a few specialties from her seasonal cocktail menu. I enjoyed the Pueblo Chili Flip and Elysia had The Last Sunset, with a Colorado Coffee to finish off.

We ended the day on a perfect note, with a freshly made cobbler with Colorado peaches, topped with homemade vanilla ice cream. It was time to call it a night because there were still more spirits to check out in the morning.

Traveling through the Wine and Spirits

Updated 6/16/26

After many years as a (magazine, web and book) tennis writer, I found myself without full time work in that field in 2008. I was lucky enough that I had the experience and opportunity to continue my work as a writer, but I needed an additional niche to fill my schedule (not to mention my pocketbook). I stumbled upon the obvious one purely by accident.

Let me begin with the beginning. I have been a writer for as long as I can remember, working for magazines even while I was a “kid” in school.  One of the things I did to push my career forward was to join the staff of the C.W. Post Pioneer.   It was a wonderful experience to be on the newspaper staff then (where I worked my way to Managing Editor), but it led to an even more exciting opportunity now.


In January of 2008, there was a reunion at C.W. Post of past editors of the newspaper and magazines.  I hadn’t seen anyone in years so I thought it might be fun.  It was by chance that I met former fellow Pioneer editor Frank Coleman, who was living in the D.C. area and just happened to be in New York that weekend.  Frank is now the Sr. Vice President of Marketing for Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS).  He overhead me mention to someone that I was a freelance writer at a crossroads of looking for an additional writing subject to focus on. It just happened that he was for another journalist to go on an upcoming trip to Cognac, France.

When I obtained an assignment and agreed to go on the trip, I was focused on the travel–something that was always a part of my life. My love of travel was born before I was as my father believed vacations were a necessity in life. In the early days, it was just car trips, but it later grew into adventures that led to the Caribbean, Europe and even Israel. I would continue to travel as much as I could over the years. As a tennis writer there was always a tournament somewhere to go to and I did my best to build trips around them.

The interest in wine was another one of mine. It was on a tennis trip to Croatia that I stayed with a family who had their own vineyard. I found it fascinating to take the tour through the grapes just outside the door of where I was staying. I remember photographing it endlessly and thinking about all the places that were starting their own small vineyards.

I always loved visiting Napa and the wineries in my longtime Long Island home. I remember the smells as I strolled the Bacardi factory and the aromas at Busch Gardens. It had never occurred to me that I could combine my love of travel with a desire to learn more about spirits -- until that college reunion.  There I was offered the opportunity to go to Cognac and learn about the drink and the town at the same time.  Even then I didn't imagine that I would step off that high speed train into a new career.

It took just a week of watching, drinking and photographing in Cognac to know I found my new niche was as a Wine and Spirits Traveler.  I've been the Wine And Spirits Travel Examiner for six months now. I've found myself writing for additional publications (Travels Golflink, Trails & EHow for Matador ) with more assignments added recently (GoNomad, GirlsGetaway, Gadling). It seemed only appropriate that I have my own place for the personal experience of my recent travel and the many trips to come. 

So, welcome to Wine And Spirits Travel!