There is a tradition in Siena, an annual event held in la Piazza Il Palio, the name of the event derived from the name of the piazza, or vice versa. Il Palio is a contest, the 17 contratae (districts of Siena) competing with a single horse and a single rider. They ride bareback around the outer ring of the piazza, a large imperfect circle that looks to be about a quarter of a mile around. The sidewalk café at which we sat is in this ring, and during the competition the tables are cleared away and dirt is poured and packed over the cobblestones. Thousands of people pack into the center of the piazza for the races and the vendors all around sell photographs of the intensely popular event. It will be something to plan for on the next visit over.

By Brenda Audino

I was recently on a trip to Oregon wine country in the Northern Willamette Valley and had the opportunity to visit with several well renowned wine makers. While they often disagree on whether it’s best to use a single vineyard for purity of the vineyard’s expression or which specific Pinot Noir clone makes the best wine, they all seem to agree that to make great Oregon Pinot Noir they must first start with great grapes. 

I love to have the last word… but made by a bartender, or a mixologist? 

by Paul Gingrich

I have been a Maker’s Mark Ambassador going back to before I got into this wonderful life I live.  For those unfamiliar with what a Maker’s Mark Ambassador is, I will explain.  Maker’s Mark has a group of core enthusiasts that love Bourbon and more to the point love Maker’s Mark.  They have an online program that you join, for free, to become an ambassador for the brand.  You swear your undying love for the brand (not a hard thing to do if you love Bourbon) and you are not only assigned a member number, but your name, along with a few others, is put on a plate and attached to a barrel at the distillery in Loretto Kentucky.  When your barrel comes mature and ready for bottling, you and the other Ambassadors that have been assigned to that barrel are invited to come down and not only purchase a bottle or two from your barrel, but actually do the red wax-hand dip of the bottles that is the signature of Maker’s Mark. You also get notified, via email, of events that are geared to Ambassadors only.  The most famous of these events is the Maker’s Mark Ambassador’s weekend.  This year it took 

by Paul Gingrich

-I had the singular pleasure of doing a bareboat vacation in the British Virgin Islands for eight days at the end of May 2010.  Judging by the response I got to my Facebook postings, a lot of friends, customers and family (that seems redundant) of Twin Liquors have been there before me. There are so many things to see and so much Rum to drink, that it’s hard to pack it all in. Even an extended week was not enough.  The British Virgin Islands are a place that draws people from all over the world.  It would be hard to see it all without having the freedom to move about that a sailboat provides.  I have been to Grand Cayman and to Hawaii on land based vacations in the past.  That works fine for those places.  To truly experience the BVI demands that you do it from the deck of a boat.  Seven of us were on a forty-one foot Catamaran for eight days.  It was a perfect platform with the perfect crew.  We went from Virgin Gorda on the eastern extreme to Jost Van Dyke on the western extreme. 

When I was asked by Freixenet to spend a week in Barcelona (and surrounding Penedès) learning about Cava, I immediately started packing.   My friends all know that I have a huge weakness for sparkling wine.  When they are all ordering martinis or gin and tonics, I am ordering Champagne, Prosecco or Cava – basically anything with bubbles.

Sure I know that Cava is a value sparkling wine, but that is just the start of the journey.  This was the “Earth to Effervescence Trip in Penedès”.

The first day was a vineyard tour where I learned the best vineyards for Cava are protected by the Montserrat Mountains.  These mountains are not extremely high, but do offer protection from the elements.  Cava primarily utilizes the native Spanish grapes of Macabeo, Xarel-lo and Parellada although they are now allowed some Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Climate, soil, grapes and people...

I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Walla Walla in an effort to better understand what makes Walla Walla wines unique.
 
First the climate in Eastern Washington is the complete opposite of Western Washington.  We all know that the area around Seattle is cool and rainy most of the year.  The area around Walla Walla though is hot and dry.  Rainy Seattle gets about 35 inches while Eastern Washington is considered more of a dessert with rainfall ranging from 6 to 12 inches a year.  This contrast is due to the Cascade Mountains protecting Eastern Washington from the rain coming off the Pacific Ocean.
 

It’s not often that such a large group of Twin Liquors’ managers and associates can get away to wine country together, but this week we did!  There were ten of us and two Republic National Distributing representatives, our beloved drivers, who descended upon California last Sunday.  We were able to eat, drink and still learn a thing or two about wine while in Napa and Sonoma for 2 ½ days.

After checking into our cottages and rooms at Sutter Home, we quickly left for Domain Carneros.  Sparkling wine is a fabulous way to start any trip!  As we sipped Domain Carneros La Reve, we not only learned about the process of making sparkling wine in the traditional method, but we could actually observe bottles in different phases of their sparkling wine evolution.  Although we hated to leave our bubbles, we then headed to Ravenswood Vintners for some fun as well as dinner.