June 2012
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Take a Peat Monster Poolside
Compass Box’s whiskymaker John Glaser doesn’t produce your typical Scotch whisky. With names like The Peat Monster, The Spice Tree, and Great King Street, these small-batch scotch whiskys bridge traditional techniques and more innovative approaches. USQ will be pouring tastes of four whiskys from the collection as part of our Fluid Fridays series for the month of June. But beyond whisky neat,...
May 2012
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New York Distilling Company Gins →
Our friend Allen Katz of New York Distilling Company and The Shanty talks to Paper Mag! We love a good navy strength gin and tonic. Oh, and we’ve got the gins here.
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I Want To Be a Master Wine Blender...When I Grow...
What does it take to be a master wine blender? A lot of patience and anxiety, it seems. USQ hosted winemaker Andy Erickson, known for his work at for Ovid, Arietta, Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, Dancing Hares, and his own label, Favia, for an Art of Blending seminar. The interactive session, complete with five barrels samples of 2011 Napa Valley grapes, pitted three “teams” against...
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Flowers in the Form of Drinks: Mother’s Day...
Who needs to give flowers on Mother’s Day when you can give floral cocktails?! Our friends over at Serious Eats agree that botanic-inspired drinks are definitely the way to go this Sunday and hence, have compiled a list of eight blossoming concoctions and recipes. Instead of creating our own cocktails this week, we figured we’d share theirs, such as the lavender- and honey-laced H.K. Rose and...
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Tis’ the Season…For a Rosé Like No Other
After a few weeks of teasing and flirting, it’s almost that time of year. The sun is starting to shine a little brighter, the air is warm enough to send your coats and sweaters packing for the back of the closet, and before you know it, city-dwellers will be heading to their summer homes in the Hamptons and Jersey Shore. That’s right, Rosé season is upon us, and while you can’t beat a light...
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Pinot Talk with Rudy Marchesi
A 1978 Beaune Premier Cru changed winemaker Rudy Marchesi’s perspective on wine. Funny, then, that he would become one of the top producers of Oregon Pinot Noir today, at Montinore Estate. He made his first wine 40 years ago, a student of wine since youth thanks to a winemaker grandfather. He remains a student, though, constanting looking for new and innovative techniques, biodynamic practices,...
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WatchMissed our Duero to Rioja event with Maria López de Heredia last week? Listen to what she has to say about her family’s famous bottlings of white and red Rioja, including the 1991 Viña Bosconia Rioja Gran Reserva, 2003 Viña Bosconia Rioja Reserva, and 2001 Viña Tondonia Rioja Reserva.
Video courtesy of our friend at The Zinfidel. Check it out!
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Off to the Races: Kentucky Derby Cocktails
Sure, we know that this Saturday, May 5, is the infamous margarita-guzzling holiday of Cinco de Mayo. But for those southern folks among us, it’s Derby Day, as the first Saturday in May always hosts the Kentucky Derby. This year marks the 138th running of the horse race, which kicks of the Triple Crown. Time to don those big hats with floral accoutrements and seersucker suits as you sip...
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Going Vertical: Kanonkop Pinotage From 1998 to...
What does a 1998 South African Pinotage taste like? Oddly enough, like a musty, saddle leather-driven Rioja—at least the bottling by Kanonkop. This week, we tasted ten Kanonkop Pinotage bottlings spanning 11 years with winemaker Abrie Beeslaar. Kanonkop is a historic wine estate in the Stellenbosch region, run by the same family for four generations. They grow Pinotage (a cross of Pinot Noir and...
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Jay McInerney Talks The Juice with Wine Critic Ray...
USQ and Strand Bookstore host Jay McInerney as he reads from his latest non-fiction book, The Juice: Vinous Veritas, followed by a chat with Ray Isle, executive editor of Food & Wine, and wine tasting. The Juice features more than 50 articles of McInerney’s adventures in oenology, hilarious anecdotes, and invaluable wine advice. Sip, listen, and talk vino during our Q&A session and wine...
April 2012
13 posts
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The Rum Diaries: Ron Santa Teresa
Sometimes great rums get overshadowed by classic Scotch and trendy Mezcal. But the lineup at Ron Santa Teresa, a Venezuelan rum company that’s been around for more than 200 years, should have you thinking rum is the new IT spirit. From their perfect-for-bartending Claro (hello, daiquiri!) to the first solera-made rum, the 1796 Ron Antigua de Solera, the brand has established a high standard....
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Dare I Say Sexy? 2009 Occhipinti Siccagno Nero...
I’m always a sucker for natural wines, so I find myself always looking to this certified organic producer from Sicily. Young female winemaker Arianna Occhipinti comes from quite the winemaking family. Her uncle is Guisto Occhipinti who owns Cos winery (also killer stuff). The thing that separates her wine from some of the other island producers is how fresh it is; it just reeks of...
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Earth Day, Brought to You by Jars of VeeV
Every time I fly Virgin America (which is often, NYC > SFO), I end up with a VeeV cocktail. But that’s hardly the only time I sip the açai spirit. Heralded for its earth-friendly approach to all-things alcohol, VeeV is distilled from the Brazilian fruit, açai, known for its healthy properties. (Surfers say so, at least.) It makes a good substitute for vodka- or cachaca- based drinks, or just...
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Txomin Etxaniz 2010 Txakoli de Getaria
I’ve been on a whites kick lately, and there is no better white to welcome warm weather than this lightly effervescent Basque bottling. Txakoli is, traditionally, a slightly sparkling, dry Spanish white wine boasting a pale green color and served as an aperitif. A blend of two native grapes, Hondarrabi Zuri and Hondarrabi Beltza, this bottling is one of three produced by the Txueka Etxaniz...
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Taken by Averna
When I saw the Salvatore Gives You His Word cocktail at Huckleberry Bar on Tuesday night, I immediately thought “shoes.” Hello, Ferragamo! But alas, no, the cocktail was named for the founder of Averna, Salvatore Averna, who developed the caramel-laced liqueur from Italy. And it has nothing to do with shoes, except you can wear really nice ones while sipping the amaro.
Made of all natural...
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Vintage Vodka?
Terroir is a common term for wine, but you don’t hear it so much for vodka. Well, EVER. That’s about to change with Karlsson’s Gold Batch 2008, a vintage vodka distilled from one specific type of potato. And you thought vodka had to be odorless and tasteless?
To catch you up to speed, Karlsson’s Gold is a collaborative project between master distiller Börje Karlsson, the...
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Sake to Me: Masumi’s Arabashiri Sake
USQ welcomes the Masumi Brewery back to the Salon tonight, 6pm to 8pm, for an evening in celebration of the newly minted Arabashiri sake, which will be unveiled for lucky attendees. This unpasteurized nama sake heralds the spring season and is among our most anticipated sake arrivals each year. Join special guests Katsu Miyasaka and Keith Norum as they present this year’s Arabashiri...
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Taking Easter Peeps to New Heights: Yellow Chickie...
Easter just isn’t complete without Peeps, those sugary, marshmallowy concoctions that come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. (And they are super fun to microwave. Try it.) But the classic Peep, the little yellow chicken, inspired our Easter cocktail 2012: Yellow Chickie Martini. It’s a lively combination of Karlsson’s Gold Vodka, Capri Natura Limoncello, Dolin Dry Vermouth,...
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Oregon's Montinore Estate: An Evening with Rudy...
Join USQ as we welcome our good friend Rudy Marchesi to the Salon tonight, from 6pm to 8pm, for an evening of top-flight wine from his Willamette Valley-based Montinore Estate. Attendees will enjoy luscious white wines like the honey-scented Pinot Gris and Borealis, a unique blend of Muller-Thurgau, Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Gewurztraminer. We’ll also uncork four Pinot Noirs, including two...
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At Barrel with Languedoc's Chateau Maris
USQ welcomes Jacques Herviou to the Barrel on Thursday, April 5, from 6pm to 8pm, for a duo of Languedoc cuvées from Château Maris. An entirley organic effort, from viticultural practices to a winery made completely of hemp bricks (that’s right, hemp!), Château Maris produces a delicious selection of biodynamic wines. Featured as a kick-off to Earth Month, we’ll pour two selections...
March 2012
17 posts
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A Miami Vice: Belvedere Vanilla Sour
I’m in Miami, trick! USQite Stephanie just returned from a trip to South Beach, where Belvedere seemed to be the vodka brand of choice. While strobe lights and sparkling bottle toppers may not be your evening routine, this Belvedere Vanilla Sour should make a guest appearance. Red velvet rope not included.
2oz Belvedere Vodka 1 oz vanilla syrup 1 oz lemon juice dash Angostura bitters dash...
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Heard It Through the Grapevine
Do you want to be my date to the Spring Fling? Twist and Shout your way over to USQ tomorrow for our annual Spring Fling Mega Tasting. We’ll be pouring wines from Italy, Spain, France, South Africa, and Greece, set to our favorite sock hop hits. They’ll be a Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On. Sip on summertime selections such as Nora Albarino, Naia Verdejo, Raats Estate Chenin Blanc, Hiedler...
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Pop the Portuguese Punch
Now that it’s officially spring, we decided to break out the punch bowls. USQite Seth White whips up a refreshing vinho verde punch, based on the young Portuguese white wine. We, however, determined that it needed a bit more…booze (to celebrate the warm weather, of course). Check out this vodka-and-vinho-verde version, the Portuguese Eastside Punch, to kick-start the sunshine season!
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We Be Jammin' at the Island Wine Party
Jam out to righteous Reggae while jet-sipping your way through the Mediterranean Sea’s prime wine-growing regions at USQ’s Island Wine Party, this Saturday from 2pm to 5pm. We’ll be your tour guides through Sardinia, Sicily, Corsica, Majorca, Canary Islands, and Porquerolles—no boat required! Sample popular varieties like Cannanou, Vermentino, Nero d’Avola, and Nerello...
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Kiss Me, I'm Irish
Catch some luck of the Irish tomorrow, as we host our USQ St. Patrick’s Day party from 2 to 5pm. Our pot of liquid gold features tastes of Irish whiskey and Irish cream from Emerald Isle producers including Jameson’s, Redbreast, Midleton’s, Bushmill’s, Tullamore Dew, Concannon, Coole Swan, and Ryan’s Irish. Be sure to don green, though, because you don’t want a nasty pinch from our team of...
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Leprechauns Like Single Malt...Irish Whiskey
Every now and then, we get the shakers and strainers out at USQ and come up with our own seasonal cocktails. The most recent was a springy St. Patty’s Day concoction based on Tyrconnell Single Malt Irish Whiskey. Since Scotch cocktails are “having a moment right now” we felt it necessary to include their isle neighbors. Tyrconnell’s is made from 100 percent malted barley, a sweet and complex...
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Stephane Tissot Talks Jura
Stéphane Tissot boasts just as much character as his well-respected, nuanced, biodynamic wines from the Jura. A wine region nestled between Burgundy and Switzerland, the Jura’s chillier climate, late harvest times, and marl, clay and limestone- based soils provide the framework for unique and innovative wines, such as the sherry-like Vin Jaune and the native variety, Trousseau. Tissot’s “quest...
Take Me to Tuscany
Tuscan wine is more than straw-covered bottles of Chianti. But you know that. What you might not know, though, is just how exciting the historic Italian wine region has become in recent years. According to David Weitzenhoffer, who hosted our Wine 101: Tuscany tasting last week, Tuscany is experiencing a transition right now, one in which the notion of terroir has taken front and center....
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Pack a Punch: La Tigresa
It’s warm and sunny, and we’re ready to pack a punch. This South American-themed cocktail may be a bit pre-mature (It is still March, after all) but tequila sounds delightful. Spirits Director Tom Smith discovered La Tigresa years ago during an interactive mixology session at the Salon, and well, hasn’t stopped drinking it since. Named after Argentine boxer Marcela “La Tigresa” Acuña, (as she...
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Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth
One of my favorite things to drink, period. This red vermouth, based on Giuseppe Carpano’s original recipe from 1786, is a delightful melange of candied red cherry, bitter gentiene and quinine notes, and touches of orange peel and mint. Silky, spicey, herbal, bright are all adjectives that come to mind when sipping on a Carpano Antica. Enjoy as I do, simply over rocks, or as an addition to...
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Viaggio a Italia
Take a stroll through “la dolce vita” this Saturday as USQ takes you on on a tour of Italy with our Viaggio a Italia Tasting. Sip more than 15 wines from famed appellations of the Mediterranean country, such as Barbaresco, Valpolicella, Chianti Classico, Campania, and Fruili, among others. We’ll have producers in the house too! Chat with winemakers and representatives, including Bruna Grimaldi,...
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Wine: 101 Tuscany with David Weitzenhoffer
Our Wine 101 series continues with a look at the wines of Tuscany. Guest host David Weitzenhoffer returns to the Salon with an array of wines from a number of this famed region’s top producers. Attendees will enjoy Chianti, Brunello, Carmignano, and super-Tuscan red from producers such as Felsina, Villa I Cipressi, Il Borghetto, Due Mani, and Podere Forte. A seated event, guests will enjoy...
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USQ's Southern Exposure Tasting
It may still be winter in New York, but it’s summer in the other hemisphere! Join USQ tomorrow from 2pm to 5pm and head south of the equator for our Southern Exposure Tasting. Warm up with sunsoaked sips from South Africa, Argentina, Chile, and New Zealand, including tropical Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, structured Chilean Pinot Noir, electric Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc and silky Mendoza Malbec....
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"Fleur de Pologne" Zubrowka Cocktail
Flavored vodkas may have gone too far with marshmallow and whipped cream, but we all agree bison grass was a good move. Zubrowka, the ubiquitous bison grass vodka from Poland, won our 2012 Martini Bowl, and finds a home with plenty of our customers. In fact, Zubrowka brand ambassadors were mixing up cocktails at The Barrel every Friday in February! Considering spring is just around the bend, try...
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Flint, Rubber, Toaster Oven: 2004 Santadi Shardana
We regularly open wines here at the shop for purposes of educating customers as well as ourselves. The other night we took advantage of trying a very cool red wine from the island of Sardinia, the 2004 Santadi Shardana Valli di Porto Pino. It would have been easy to taste Cannonau, which is probably the most famous red varietal from Sardinia, but the island offers so much more. This particular...
February 2012
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Fabio Alessandria on Video Here →
Fabio Alessandria of G.B. Burlotto visited the Salon for a tasting of his Barolo wines, including a vertical of his Barolo Cannubi. One our favorite tasters captured his talk on video. Check it out here.
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At Barrel with Daniel Boulle of Domaine les...
Rising southern Rhône producer Daniel Boulle considers himself a vigneron before a winemaker. Having tended vines and sold off his grapes for years, he, in 1999, began crafting his own Côtes du Rhône wines. Robert Parker wrote that they “may be the richest Côtes du Rhône I have tasted” and we appreciate the ripe character about them. USQ welcomes Boulle to the Barrel for a Tuesday evening...
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Classic Sidecar
After our Cognac & Blues event on Wednesday, we’ve had a hankering for more Cognac brandy. Which brings us to the choice cocktail of the weekend: Sidecar. The Sidecar is thought to have been invented in Paris for a patron of the bar who typically arrived by motorcycle sidecar. The first mention of the drink can be found in Robert Vermiere’s Cocktails: How to Mix Them. His...
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Tasting Romanée-Conti with Aubert de Villaine
“What we saw on the sorting table was beautiful, some of the best Pinot Noir you can dream of.”
This is how Aubert de Villaine, self-described “steward of the domaine,” referred to the 2009 harvest at yesterday’s trade tasting in the The Library at The Palace Hotel. One of the highlights of the year for each that I’ve been in the business comes with tasting the...
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Winemaker Profile: Morten Hallgren, Ravines Wine
French-trained oenologist Morten Hallgren has long been convinced of the wine potential in New York’s Finger Lakes. He and his wife, Lisa, a chef, settled among the shale-stoned soil of the region in 2000, founding Ravines Wine, and never looked back. Today, he produces dry Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, and Meritage on 17 acres near Keuka Lake. The New York Times described...
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RiesLin-sanity Takes Over USQ: Riesling in Winter...
Everyone is going crazy for Lin-sanity and New York right now, not least of which is USQ! Which brings us to tomorrow’s tasting in the Salon: Riesling in Winter, including New York Riesling (local pride!), as well as exquisite pours from Germany, Austria, and Alsace, from 2pm to 5pm.
By now, most wine enthusiasts recognize the amazing potential of Riesling in New York’s Finger Lakes region,...
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The Winemaker Profile: Fabio Alessandria
If Fabio Alessandria can’t have wine with dinner, he drinks water. The winemaker at the famed G.B. Burlotto estate in Piedmont, Alessandria is the great-great grandson of Giovan Battista Burlotto, a distinguished producer who was among the first to bottle Barolo and brand it under the family name. Alessandria has brought renewed acclaim to his family’s holdings in and around the village of...
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Dirty Dog Martini
At the Martini Bowl 2012 last Saturday, Bulldog Gin served up one “Dirty Dog” of a martini. While the London-based spirit didn’t take home the top prize (that went to Poland’s Zubrowka bison grass vodka), it did win in our minds for the herbed feta-stuffed olives. Make one yourself with the recipe below. 3 oz. Bulldog Gin ½ oz. olive juice speared olives for garnish Shake well. Strain into a...
