Amy S. 

12 tags

BEER REVIEW: French Broad 13 Rebels ESB

Region: Asheville, NC Price: 5.2% ABV Style: Extra Special/Strong Bitter Sight: amber Smell: bread dough, toasted pine nut, cinnamon, earth Taste: toast, spicy, yellow pepper, peanut Overall: ESB!  This is the first beer of this style that I’m reviewing ever—I can’t imagine why, though.  I mean, what isn’t absolutely irresistible about something that describes...

May 4th

4 notes

5 tags

“Drink a glass of wine, as Scientific American notes, and you materially alter...”

– Bill Bryson: A Short History of Nearly Everything

Apr 15th

5 notes

0 tags

Apr 3rd

3 notes

17 tags

DOUBLE FEATURE: Neumarkter Lammsbräu Organic...

LAMMSBRÄU ORGANIC PILSNER  Region:  Neumarkt, Bavaria, Germany Price: $9.99/4-pk at Total Wine Style: Pilsner ABV: 4.8% Sight: hazy lemon yellow, speckly carbonation Smell: weed, white grapefruit, straw Taste: citrus, cantaloupe, sweet rolls, straw, grassy hops Overall: Organic and Reinheitsgebot-ready, this is a classic, clean, archetypal pilsner that you could confidently...

Mar 26th

3 notes

18 tags

BEER REVIEW: New Belgium (ft. Boon) Lips of Faith...

Region: Belgium & Colorado Price: $10.99/22-oz at Total Wine Style: Fruit beer Sight: clear ruby, cotton candy pink circlet Smell: fresh-picked cherry, Pinot Noir, purple or red Flintstones vitamins Taste: dark Hudson cherries, dry rosé, spice cake Overall:  My very simple understanding of this undertaking in the Lips of Faith series is that a cherry lambic from Old Belgium blended...

Mar 26th

8 notes

10 tags

BEER REVIEW: Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale

 Region: Kansas City, Missouri Price: $9.99/4-pk at Total Wine Style: Farmhouse/Saison ABV: 8% Sight: cloudy marigold, sudsy crown Smell: white grapefruit, orange rind, ginger, coriander, nutmeg Taste: citrus, yellow cake, herbal, ginger, cinnamon Overall: Even with a slow pour, Tank 7 is super-easily agitated and very quickly stacks up a very loose, soapy foam.  Huge carbonation...

Mar 12th

9 notes

13 tags

TASTING NOTE: 2011 Arindo Rueda Verdejo

Region: Rueda, Spain Price: $13.99 at Total Wine Sight: pale daffodil yellow Smell: lemon drop, pineapple, piña colada, flowers Taste: pineapple, wet rock, green and white Smarties, flowers, mango, medium-bodied Overall:  What a success.  Out of 8,000 different wines in the store where I work, this is consistently one of my top go-to recommendations for a winning bottle of white wine....

Mar 9th

3 notes

15 tags

PAIRING: Breakfast (Brunch) & Moa Breakfast

MOA BREAKFAST Region: New Zealand Price: $18.99/4-pk at Total Wine Style: Fruit Beer ABV: 5.5% Sight: slightly cloudy yellow-amber, steady carbonation Smell: cherry Tums, grape juice, yeast, sunscreen Taste: witbier, Capri Sun, cherry Tums, slightly bitter Overall:  Brewed with Nelson hops and cherry juice, this oddball little “breakfast” beer is just the style you’d...

Mar 6th

3 notes

17 tags

BEER REVIEW: Stone Enjoy By 4.1.13 IPA

Region: Escondido, California Price: $7.49 at Total Wine Style: Imperial IPA ABV: 9.4% Sight: furious carbonation, orange amber Smell: hay, weed, pine Taste: resinous, biscuit, basil, pine, tangerine Overall:  Sweet baby Jesus.  A giant wet haybale, bundled pine needles, and a thick haze of weed smoke shrieks out of the glass like some kind of hysterical disaster signal....

Mar 4th

9 notes

9 tags

Mar 4th

2 notes

11 tags

TASTING NOTE: Santi Nello Valdobbiadene Prosecco...

Region: Valdobbiadene, Prosecco Price: $14.99 at Total Wine Sight: pale, almost clear in color, very busy bubbles Smell: pear, lime, sugar cookie, cream Taste: pear, green apple, toast, lime finish Overall: This Prosecco is pale—but in color only.  It exuberantly bursts with personality the second it hits the glass.  The supercharged bubbles race to the top and form a crowded bead...

Mar 2nd

4 notes

12 tags

COCKTAIL: Jackcafé

I didn’t create this recipe; I found it in my hand-written recipe book & have since then lost the online source. Ingredients: 1 oz coffee liqueur, whiskey (originally Jack Daniels) Directions: fill shot glass with coffee liqueur, float whiskey on top over the back of a barspoon Overall: Yummy.  Shots are quick, so I don’t have a ridiculously in-depth review for you like I...

Feb 25th

3 notes

11 tags

PAIRING: Smoked Doppelbock with Tuna in Dijon

New Holland High Gravity Series Charkoota Rye Smoked Doppelbock Region: Holland, Michigan Price: $3.99 at Total Wine ABV: 8.4% Sight: molasses brown, good clarity (not cloudy or completely opaque) Smell: cedar, dead leaves, pretzel dough, gingerbread Taste:  cedar chips, molasses, scotch, campfire smoke, espresso Overall:  Holy smokes.  I mean really.   A LOT of smoke.  Not only do I...

Feb 23rd

3 notes

11 tags

BEER REVIEW: MillerCoors Batch 19...

Region: USA (national) Price: sample ABV: 5.5% Sight: clear honey-amber, soapy head Smell: shy hops, butterscotch, sugar cookie Taste: slightly sweet malt character, thin, mild Overall:  So this beer is really adorable.  It’s a sample I got from an awesome beer rep I know who is not only a sweet guy and a sharp thinker, but he’s a genius merchandiser.  Batch 19 is a relatively...

Feb 20th

11 notes

15 tags

COCKTAIL: The Titanic

Ingredients: vodka, Galliano, blue curaçao, dry vermouth Method: Shaker with ice; strain into cocktail glass Recipe credit: mybestcocktails.com Sight: between emerald and teal Smell: black licorice, Navel orange Taste: vanilla, anise, citrus, juniper, earthy, slightly sweet Overall: This is a visually stunning jewel-toned drink inspired by the sinking of a behemoth into the sea.  This is...

Feb 17th

3 notes

13 tags

TASTING NOTE: Montresor Capitel della Crosara...

Region: Veneto, Italy Price: $16.99 at Total Wine Sight: muted ruby Smell: cherry, plum, milk chocolate, lavendar Taste: fresh cherry, red currant, plum, mocha, roses, forest Overall: This is an Italian red for Pinot Noir lovers.  Valpolicella is known for being somewhat light; but far from being flimsy and fruity, the Ripasso style boast more density and complexity than an entry-level...

Feb 16th

8 notes

10 tags

BEER REVIEW: Atwater Conniption Fit

Region: Michigan Price: gift Style: double IPA ABV:  8% Sight: cloudy orange, tenable 1cm head Smell: menthol, butterscotch, cantaloupe, tangerine candy Taste: grassy, tangerine, concrete, menthol, dandelion Overall: I really like this IPA.   I will say this—you get more malt on the nose than on the palate.  The aroma is a tangle of citrus, tropical fruits, butterscotch, and the...

Feb 11th

5 notes

8 tags

BEER REVIEW: Dark Horse Perkulator Coffee...

Region: Marshall, Michigan Price: around $2 (sorry I don’t remember) at Good Bottle Co. ABV: 7% Sight: caramel brown Smell: Folger’s coffee grounds, plywood Taste: cold black coffee Overall:  My dad is always trying to get me to like coffee; it hasn’t happened yet.  I just don’t drink it.  I have made progress, though.  I actually used to 100% loathe any nuance of...

Feb 4th

7 notes

11 tags

TASTING NOTE: 2010 Scarborough The Rebel White

Region: Columbia Valley, Washington Price: $11.99 at Total Wine Grapes: Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier Sight: honeysuckle nectar Smell: peach, pear, honeysuckle, pineapple Taste: lemon candy, pears in syrup, buttercream, full-bodied Overall:  I probably love white Rhone blends more than anyone I know (see exhibits A and B)—saturated, perfume-bottle aromatics and a decadent, oily...

Feb 1st

6 notes

14 tags

TASTING NOTE: Finca Flichman Extra Brut Rosé

Region: Mendoza, Argentina Price: $11.99 at Total Wine Varietal: 80% Chardonnay, 20% Malbec Sight: very pale salmon pink Smell: Taste: strawberry wafer, tart peach, raspberry, lemon Overall: Plot twist: So this is a rosé—I really had no idea!  I poured it into my gorgeous Bormioli stemware and was utterly surprised to discover a pinkish-orange tinge to the wine.  The glass of the...

Jan 25th

4 notes

11 tags

BEER REVIEW: Bell's Best Brown Ale

Region: Kalamazoo, Michigan Price: $9.99/6-pk at Total Wine ABV: 5.8% Sight: tawny brown Smell: cola, caramel, walnut, molasses Taste: caramel, walnut, cocoa powder, black tea Overall: It’s been a while since I’ve had a good brown ale—I forgot how rich they can get.  Really strong aromatics on this one, some bakery ingredients dominated by dry walnut.  Round mouthfeel,...

Jan 25th

8 notes

12 tags

BEER REVIEW: Bell's Special Double Cream Stout

Region: Kalamazoo, Michigan Price: $11.99-6pk at Total Wine Style: Stout ABV: 6.1% Sight: opaque almost-black brown, khaki head Smell: dark chocolate, root beer, double chocolate cookie Taste: sweet milk chocolate, cola, dark roast coffee, gravy, creamy, black tea Overall: This little treat was a gift from my store manager; every year this is her favorite stout, and when we closed the...

Dec 28th

8 notes

10 tags

TASTING NOTE: 2011 Domaine Luquet Saint Veran Vers...

Region: Saint-Véran, Burgundy, France Price: $16.99 at Total Wine Varietal: Chardonnay Sight: straw yellow Smell: underripe strawberry, lemon, Golden Delicious apple, honeydew, slate stone Taste: medium- to full-bodied, lemon, marmalade, walnut, Bosc pear Overall: This unoaked Chardonnay is a neighbor to the slightly-more-popular Pouilly-Fuissé, and I don’t believe it’s...

Dec 23rd

3 notes

11 tags

BEER REVIEW: Olde Mecklenburg Dunkel

Region: Charlotte, North Carolina Price: $3.49/22-oz bottle at Total Wine Sight: russet Smell: praline, hazelnut, cigar, fresh baked bread Taste: malty, toffee, pumpernickel or rye bread, easy-going with only a slight bitterness Overall: If I’m going to seek out a beer for the winter season, it should taste something like this. This time of year, I want a malt bomb—nice to meet...

Dec 19th

4 notes

14 tags

BEER REVIEW: Boulevard Long Strange Tripel

Region: Kansas City, Missouri Style: Tripel Price: $9.99/4-pk at Total Wine ABV: 9.5%  Sight: honey amber, highly irritable but short-lived head Smell: banana, cantaloupe, white grapefruit Taste: scratchy carbonation, tropical fruit, citrus hops, orange peel, touch of sweet, white pepper, slate stone finish Overall: Excited about this considering how lately I’ve had nothing but love...

Dec 10th

7 notes

10 tags

TASTING NOTE: NV Brown Cow Chocolate Wine

Region: Florida Price: $9.99 at Total Wine Sight: chocolate milk Smell: McDonald’s chocolate milkshake (no whipped cream) Taste: Hershey’s Kiss, Bailey’s, chocolate ice cream, M&Ms Overall: I know some of you are thinking what I thought before I ever tried this: “Ew.”  I’d made a horrible assumption that someone was pouring Cabernet into chocolate...

Dec 5th

7 notes

12 tags

BEER REVIEW: Highland Cold Mountain Winter Ale

Region: Asheville, North Carolina Price: $5.99/22-oz at Total Wine ABV: 5.8% Sight: clear garnet, brick red Smell: maple syrup, milk chocolate, cinnamon-sugar, French toast Taste: root beer, sweet potato, cinnamon bread, pecan, earthy hops Overall: I regret opening this beer.  Not that it was bad—it was actually delicious and remarkably balanced.  But I just kind of wish I had saved...

Nov 30th

3 notes

15 tags

TASTING NOTE: 2009 Aramis Shiraz Cabernet

Region: McLaren Vale, Australia Price: $16.99 at Total Wine ABV: 14.5% Sight: opaque black, ruby rim Smell: red plum, burning firewood, dark chocolate, crème de menthe Taste: plush, black cherry, black raspberry, red velvet, soft spice Overall:  I could tell from the start of the pour that this wine was going to be villainously dark.  It pours a deep, almost murky black—impossible to...

Nov 28th

1 note

8 tags

Watch

On our way to the wine bar last night…

Nov 25th

1 note

9 tags

TASTING NOTE: NV Mallee Point Moscato

Region: South Eastern Australia Price: $5.99 at Total Wine ABV: 7.5% Sight: very pale greenish yellow, fritzy little bubbles Smell: peach, orange Taste: sweet, canned peaches/pears, orange Overall: Yes, really—a $6 Moscato.  Deal with it.  This effort is from Casella Wines, who are also the makers of Yellow Tail.  This sweet little value play is EXACTLY what most of my (OF AGE)...

Nov 24th

4 notes

10 tags

Watch

CELT NATIVE STORM ORGANIC CRAFTED ALE Region: Wales Price: $5.99/500mL bottle Sight: honey-amber Smell: clean, earthy Taste: earthy, hops, lightly bitter, black coffee

Nov 19th

1 note

11 tags

FRAGILE WHITES, & 2004 TERRE ROUGE ENIGMA

There’s Fragile Whites, then there’s Fake Fragile Whites… This particular bottle of Engima is what I believe to be a victim of the often ungrounded fear that wine retailers have of their white wine getting “too old to drink”, when in fact, it’s holding up just fine, thank you very much.  Sometimes retailers get scared, take a gamble, and end up practically...

Nov 18th

10 tags

BEER REVIEW: Fischer Amber

What am I doing?!  I HAD to try the only French beer in the store! Region: France Price: $4.99/22-oz bottle at Total Wine Sight: dirty amber Smell: sour, biscuit, chemical cleaner Taste: sourdough bread, crisp, prickly carbonation, ginger snap Overall: Une petite bière très étrange.  A little bit aromatically challenged, the most unique thing about this beer is the acidity.  There’s...

Nov 14th

4 notes

8 tags

COCKTAIL: Amy's Fluorescent Sour

Just made this one up!  Try it and let me know what you think! INGREDIENTS 2 oz Veil vodka 1 oz Rose’s sweetened lime juice 1/2 oz triple sec 1/2 oz absinthe INSTRUCTIONS Fill rocks glass with ice.  Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled 2/3 with ice.  Shake 10 seconds.  Strain into glass.  IMPRESSION Has the sweetened candy acidity of any good ol’ sour, and the little...

Nov 11th

2 notes

8 tags

TASTING NOTE: 2005 Tyrrell's Vat 1 Hunter Semillon

This became quite a significant bottle in my wine adventuring.  I’ll share a little backstory; the review is at the end. Preface Let’s start with the fact that I work in the wine business and white wine just doesn’t get enough love.   I hearegregious generalizations about it all the time—I’ll suggest a white wine to the wrong person, and they’ll scoff and...

Nov 6th

9 notes

11 tags

BEER REVIEW: Great Lakes Nosferatu

Region:  Cleveland, Ohio Style: Imperial Red Ale ABV: 8% Price: $10.99/4-pk at Total Wine Sight: between rust and garnet, heavy lace Smell: pine trees, smoke, dried apricot Taste: dead leaves, tangerine rind, pine needles, balsam, plum skin, earth Overall:  Autumn has arrived with all of its creepiness in the Great Lakes Nosferatu.  Aggressively hopped, it boasts a dry pine tree nose with...

Nov 1st

6 notes

11 tags

TASTING NOTE: 2011 Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon...

Region: Coastal Region, South Africa Price: $12.99 at Total Wine Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon Sight: saturated salmon pink Smell: grapefruit, strawberry, jasmine, lime Taste: crisp, strawberry, grapefruit, floral, mineral Overall:  If I were smelling this in the environment of a completely blind tasting, and wasn’t even aware of the actual color of the wine, I’m certain I would be...

Oct 29th

1 note

9 tags

Boulevard The Sixth Glass Quadrupel Ale

Region:  Kansas City, Missouri Style: Quadrupel ABV: 10.5% Price:  $9.99/4-pk at Total Wine Sight:   rusty, tawny amber, decapitated Smell:  molasses, sugar cookie, banana bread, fruitcake Taste: banana, creamy mouthfeel, ginger, toffee, licorice tea, alcohol Overall:  This is the second beer I’ve tried by Boulevard—we just got their stuff in about a month ago at our store.  The diabolical Sixth...

Oct 22nd

4 notes

11 tags

TASTING NOTE: 2011 Two Hands Sexy Beast Cabernet...

2011 Two Hands Sexy Beast Cabernet Sauvignon from A. Scheide on Vimeo. Region: McLaren Vale, Australia Price: $52.99 at Total Wine Sight: dark ruby Smell: red currant, raspberry, strawberry, black pepper Taste: raspberry, strawberry, acidity, spice, vanilla, silky Who would YOU describe as a Sexy Beast?

Oct 18th

2 notes

7 tags

UPDATE.

My life has finally settled somewhat into some semblance of normalcy. At this point, I’d like to insinuate myself back into your newsfeed with more regular posts and reviews. I have a lot of catching up to do.  There’s still a good bit of adventuring in Florida that I have yet to report to you. I’ve got some special bottles lined up for upcoming reviews that i hope will spark...

Oct 16th

2 notes

12 tags

TASTING NOTE: 2011 Spier Chenin Blanc

Price: $7.99 at Total Wine Region: Stellenbosch, South Africa Sight: greenish yellow Smell: honey, floral, lime Taste: dry, green apple, pear, lime juice Overall: I think this Chenin Blanc has some identity issues—he wants so desperately to be a Sauvignon Blanc.  This is on the very dry end of the Chenin Blanc spectrum, with enough razor-sharp citrus to make your cheeks pucker....

Oct 15th

6 notes

13 tags

BEER REVIEW: Samuel Adams Single Batch Series...

Region: Boston, Massachusetts Price: $5.99/22-oz bottle at Total Wine Sight: russet, reddish-brown Smell: earthy, evergreen, mint Taste: earthy, piney, toffee, white grapefruit, bitter hop Overall: This red IPA basically reminds me of a good amber ale with slightly more hop presence.  First of all, it pours beautifully.  On the nose, there is a familiar copper-amber-red-ale-earthiness with...

Sep 10th

8 notes

12 tags

BEER REVIEW: Stone Saison du BUFF

Overall:  Stone Saison du BUFF is the long-awaited final installment of the Saison du BUFF trilogy collaboration between Stone, Victory, and Dogfish Head.  The three brewers shared a recipe for an herbaceous saison brewed with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, and produced three different beers on their own respective turfs.  I would be lying if I told you that the three efforts are...

Sep 4th

11 notes

7 tags

TASTING NOTE: 2010 Charles Smith The Velvet Devil...

Region:  Washington State Price: $11.99 at Total Wine Sight: black-purple with ruby facets Smell: alcohol, plum, cherry, smoky Taste: medium-bodied, bitter chocolate, cherry, barbecue sauce Overall:  First of all, let’s talk about the color of this—it’s incredibly dark, almost a blackened purple, but it isn’t inky.  It’s not dense enough to blot out all of the...

Sep 1st

5 notes

8 tags

TASTING NOTE: 2010 Evans & Tate Margaret River...

Region: Margaret River, Australia Price: $12.99 at Total Wine Sight: pale mint green Smell: lime juice, fresh-cut grass Taste: lemon, lime, white grapefruit, floral, mineral Overall: This wine is a gosh darn citrus fruit convention.  The nose bursts with a grassy lime aroma, and on the palate, all of the other citrus fruits you can think of explode en choeur.  Lemon juice, tangerine, white...

Aug 6th

11 tags

BEER REVIEW: Dogfish Head Burton Baton

Region: Delaware Style: oak-aged Imperial IPA Price: $14.99/4-pk at Total Wine ABV: 10% Sight: reddish orange Smell: vanilla, huge caramel, cinnamon bread Taste: caramel, vanilla, creamy, citrus hop, cedar Overall:  I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one; it just sounds like it has a lot going on.  It’s not just an IPA, but an Imperial IPA (read: Extra-Super Mega-IPA...

Aug 3rd

6 notes

12 tags

Tampa Wine Shenanigans

For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently training to be a Wine Manager at one of the Total Wine locations in Charlotte, NC.  Training is happening in Tampa, FL, and I’m there for a total of four weeks with three other trainees.  One night after work, we decided to each bring a bottle of wine that we were curious about, and we opened them up, ordered a pizza, and tasted...

Jul 30th

4 notes

7 tags

TASTING NOTE: 2009 Château Megyer Furmint

Region: Hungary Price: $12.99 at Total Wine Grape: Furmint Sight: light straw yellow Smell: honeydew melon, green apple, floral, muscadine, pineapple Taste: dry,melon, green apple, floral, tropical, spice Overall: What a little oddball.  Furmint is a grape no one’s ever heard of, and to be honest, I’d never even seen it with my own eyes on a retail shelf.  So when I found it at...

Jul 28th

8 notes

9 tags

BEER REVIEW: Cigar City Brewing & The Bruery Dos...

Region: Tampa, FL and Orange County, CA Price: $13.99 at Total Wine Style: Farmhouse/Saison ABV: 9% Sight: marigold Smell: perfume, lemon peel, ginger, honey, vanilla, musk Taste:  spicy, coriander, lemon juice, orange, grapefruit, ginger, crisp, celery Overall:  ”Dos Costas Oeste” means “two west coasts.”  It’s a collaboration between The Bruery (from...

Jul 22nd

6 notes

10 tags

BEER REVIEW: Russian River Brewing Pliny the Elder

Price: gift Region: Santa Rosa, California Style: Double IPA ABV: 8% Bottled: 6/14/12 Sight: bright gold, frothy white head leaves elegant lace Smell: roses, steel, earth, delicate malt  Taste: floral, mushroomy, metallic, earthy, fresh, nutty finish Overall: Highly aromatic, right off the bat.  I’m sitting in front of it at a table and floral hops jump straight out of the glass....

Jul 16th

9 notes