Making Wine

Zack Lough rode out many days of the pandemic in a garage. It was fellow sailor and business partner Nicole Lounsberry’s garage in Greenwood, to be exact. But Lough is pretty used to riding things out. Not long ago, he rode out a hurricane season in New Zealand. Sailing during hurricane season can be rough going, so instead, he took up seasonal work in the wine industry, making sauvignon blanc. He worked across the street from an apple orchard, and while reading a book that detailed the life of Johnny Appleseed, he decided to try his hand at making cider. Not surprisingly, everyone who tried his cider, loved it.

Far more attractive than sailing through a storm – in this perfect storm, Lough found himself making wine, across from an apple orchard, with an interest in cider. This project carried over when he returned to Seattle. With Lounsberry and another friend, Chris Irish, the three set off to form Channel Marker Cider, with Lough serving as head brewmaster. The flavors Channel Marker makes aren’t your run-of-the-mill ciders, and now is the best time to become a fan. Then you can brag to your friends that you were an honorary Channel Marker sailor before they became the hottest new taproom in Ballard.

Ballard is a fitting neighborhood for Channel Marker. In the nautical world, channel markers are navigational guides, marking the way for sailors to avoid potential dangers like sandbars, shallow rocks, or anything else you don’t want to run into, like other boats.

Off the water, Channel Marker is where you’re about to fall in love with Rhubarb Raspberry cider, Cucumber Blackberry cider, and the year-round favorite: Habanero Lime. Lough said the team uses as many local ingredients as possible with the star of the show, the apples, coming from Eastern Washington.

“We want people to feel acquainted with their beverages,” Lough said. “There’s this familiarity with our ingredients. People interact with these ingredients all the time in Seattle. It’s kind of like tasting your city.”

Channel Marker’s Rosemary Cran Ginger cider is a perfect example of this.

“You can literally walk down any street in Seattle and find a rosemary bush,” Lough said. But…dogs potentially pee on those, so you won’t find the Channel Marker team harvesting Seattle-sidewalk rosemary. But the blackberries, apples, and cucumbers may have come from their own backyards when they’re in season. Lough said that’s an especially great way to connect to the ingredients.

But backyard production is certainly not enough to meet the demand for Channel Marker Cider production, and they’ve also outgrown Lounsberry’s garage. The pandemic allowed the trio to focus on expansion and getting more local cider out to the community, which included offering cider in cans for the first time.

“We want to get bigger,” Lough said. “We’ve been bootstrapping this business since we started in 2016.”

But bootstrapping has worked. Channel Marker Cider has a collection of major awards like Craftcider Magazine 2020 Judge’s Pick for their Lavender Bergamot cider, a silver medal for the Honey Badger Cyser with a silver medal, and gold for the Rosemary Cran Ginger.

Soon those medals will move from their current home in the Channel Marker Cider garage to their new home base in Ballard, which will be both a production facility and a public taproom.

“Having people come interact with us on a daily basis in a taproom, it’s gonna be a huge game-changer,” Lough said.

Being a part of the community is one of the major reasons Channel Marker Cider is excited to open their taproom. Cider making itself is a community process, from the farmers growing apples to the harvesting crew, those pressing them into juice, all the way to the people cleaning a glass before pouring your cider of choice. “That’s why I love cider,” Lough said. “It’s a distillation of all of this community effort, and it’s representative of Washington state, too.”

Whether you’re adventuring out on the water or up for trying new flavor combinations in your own backyard, Channel Marker has a cider for that. “There’s a cider for everyone,” Lough said. And we’re not one to disagree with a brewmaster.

Channel Marker Cider anticipates their Ballard production facility to open in the fall and hopes the taproom will open by the end of 2021. In the meantime, check out Channel Marker’s website for info on where to grab yourself a can or where to find it on tap in the Seattle and Tacoma area.

[ad_2]
Originally Appeared Here

Greg Brewer has already covered the basics of proper wine storage: A sideways or inverted bottle to keep the cork moist and airtight, a dark, consistently cool place, and a physically stable environment (without a lot of jostling and shaking and such.)

That’s probably all most of us need to know, but for a bit more insight, Brewer explained: “So if you want to go all in and buy a little wine refrigerator or build a closet in your house or whatever, that’s great. But for the reality of most people, the middle of the house is good as opposed to walls — certainly avoid south-facing walls — and going low is advantageous, like the bottom of a closet.” Brewer called it “as simple as that” and said  “just consistent, dark, cool, and then sideways or upside down would be the five main things” about wine storage.

If you do want to create the absolute ideal wine storage conditions, then here are a few more specific pieces of information to keep in mind as you build out a space in your home. According to MasterClass, no wine should ever be stored at temperatures below 25 or above 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and in general, for both red and white wines, 55 degrees Fahrenheit is the ideal temperature for long-term storage. As for humidity, that should be between 60% and 68%, with lower humidity the greater worry, as it can cause corks to dry out. And while wine bottles with modern artificial corks and screw tops need not be stored on their sides, doing so can still ensure you are generally maintaining best practices for all your bottles.

Now that you know how to properly store your wine, stop by Brewer-Clifton’s tasting room next time you’re in southern California, or pick up a bottle of their award-winning wine online.

[ad_2]
Originally Appeared Here

Sometime during the most intense phase of lockdown, The New York Times asked readers to send a sentence describing their philosophy of life — or at least of coping. The request got me thinking about “what I live by” and my pithiest — just four words — possibility was “First do no harm.” I quickly realized, though, the impossibility of that. I do harm every time I turn on a light, start the car or heat water. And then there’s ordering something from Amazon: harm squared.

So I amended it to “do as little harm as possible,” not so succinct or catchy but more serviceable. (And yes, it is possible to live without Amazon, I remind myself when I’m tempted.) With this on my mind, I was struck by a line on the Two Shepherds Winery website in which the “shepherds” write that their role is to guide their wine along, protect it from harm, and otherwise not intervene. In other words, to shepherd it. A good philosophy for raising children and inhabiting the earth as well as making wine.

Their wines are, indeed, very low intervention — no additives save a minuscule amount of SO2, whole cluster fermentation in neutral barrels, native yeasts, no fining or filtration, etc. And the shepherds believe that “winemaking is an art, not a science, regardless of what UC Davis says.” In an interview, one of the shepherds, Karen Daenen, placed her commitment to natural winemaking in a wider, more inclusive context: “It’s also how I choose to eat. I read ingredients on food labels, enjoy cooking from scratch and eat minimally processed food.”

I had a specific reason for looking at this website: some friends recently shared with us a bottle of 2017 Two Shepherds Centime, a grenache blanc (Two Shepherds specializes in Rhone varieties) from Catie’s Corner Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. It’s a skin contact or “orange” wine that I took one sip of, interrupted the conversation, and just said, “Wow.” I continued to say (or at least think) “Wow” until the bottle was empty.

Two Shepherds is just a small team consisting of the shepherds, Daenen and William Allen, and their cellar master, Lorenza Allen (no relationship to William). William and Karen have full time jobs and run a farm as well as a vineyard (they also use other vineyards, like Catie’s Corner, all grapes handpicked and organically grown). “We make the wines we want to drink” — surely the very best policy for a small operation.

And I can see why they “want to drink” this spicy, lively, multi-faceted beauty with its hints of grapefruit and ginger as well as intense minerality — my cheater phrase for imagining myself able to taste the alluvial soil of the region.

Now one of my urgent missions in life is to visit the Two Shepherds Windsor warehouse tasting room and try everything they’ve got.

Wine drinkers on a strict budget have a hard time finding “no harm” wines. The above grenache blanc, for example, costs $30 (totally worth it, though!). It’s especially difficult to come upon domestic “no harms” in the lower price ranges. And importation brings its own harm. Nevertheless, many producers, who already use more earth-friendly growing techniques, are trying their best to lower their carbon footprint in bottling and delivery as well.

One is the family-owned Proviva Winery in Mendoza, Argentina, also called Chakana Winery. The son of an Italian immigrant with roots in northern Italy’s viticulture, Juan Pelizzatti, founded the winery in 2002 in collaboration with a young and innovative winemaker named Gabriel Bloise, and it’s now one of the leading projects in “new” Argentinian wines.

Their Inkarri brand features estate-grown wines produced exclusively from organic and biodynamic vineyards in the best terroirs of Mendoza, like that of the small village of Agrelo at the foothills of the Andes — most known for its malbec. The dry, desert-like climate features warm, sunny days and nights cooled by winds from the snow-capped Andes.

The Co-op carries the Inkarri white, a blend of sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and viognier. It’s a bright, clean, dry, spirited wine that tastes of honeysuckle and tropical fruit as well as summer stone fruit. You can practically taste the regions’ distinctive calcareous soil. It’s a perfect wine for patio sipping or to accompany seafood of any sort, a big vegetable burrito (such a tempting dinner dish for a hot summer evening), or Asian dishes like pad thai.

Not so complex as the Two Shepherds bottle, it is nonetheless a delicious, easygoing, appealing wine. And at just $11 a bottle, it’s an excellent bargain as well, especially given the wild fermentation, and the fact that, unusually, there are no added sulfites. In a further reduction of “harm,” it comes in a very light-weight bottle.

Hippocrates was (as far as we know) the first to advise “do no harm,” and we think of this phrase as part of the oath physicians take (which they no longer do — hmmm). But if we all pledged to do as little harm as possible (and to support businesses trying to do the same), who knows what healing — of ourselves and the planet — might ensue?

— Susana Leonardi is a Davis resident; reach her at vinosusana@gmail.com. Comment on this column at www.davisenterprise.com.

[ad_2]
Originally Appeared Here

DALLAS “GARY” OSBORNE, passed away Friday December 4, 2020 at the age of 84, in Madison Ohio. Formally from Winfield WV,

Gary was born in Liberty West Virginia to Dallas and Ethel Osborne. Proceeded in death by his wife Maryann Osborne, daughter Patty White, grandson Bob Miller, sister Susan Ford and brother Arlan Osborne.

Gary was an inspirational man, who with no formal education headed up the Electron Microscopy lab at the Cleveland Clinic and Charleston Area Medical Center where he retired.

Gary was also a wonderful husband, father and grandfather.

Gary is survived by his two daughters, Paula Osborne and Cindy Pomietlo, two sister Beverly Parsons and Camille Ball, 6 Grandchildren and 9 Great-grandchildren.

Outside of work and family Gary had two passions gardening and growing his own grapes for making wine.

Our hearts are sad but we are joyful that he is home.

A Celebration of his Life will be August 14, 2021 at 11 a.m., Haven of Rest Chapel, Red House.

[ad_2]
Originally Appeared Here

From the City of Covington

Covington’s new city clerk is an amateur genealogist, makes wine and names the labels after her family’s rescue dogs, and was a Girl Scout Troop Leader for 13 years.

But what Covington residents most need to know about Susan Ellis is that she’s a problem solver who loves to interact with the public.

For Ellis, each chapter of her professional life has evolved into her next best career and afforded her the opportunity to do what she loves: find solutions.

For example, Ellis was teaching elementary math in Toledo, Ohio, when she recognized a need for instructors to teach computer classes for businesses – in language that they could actually relate to rather than technical terms. Later, she found an opportunity with a computer retailer who was seeking instructors.

“The gentleman who ran the program was thrilled that I was a teacher,” Ellis said. “He said, ‘You can’t teach a technical person how to teach, but a teacher can learn anything and teach it.’ ”

Over 17 years as a computer, software, and IT consultant, Ellis worked with businesses, schools, and organizations to find solutions to the technical problems that plagued them. Her long list of in-demand skills included analyzing business needs, database development, accounting, report development, and conducting software training classes.

Then came another opportunity: In 2016, she was working on an IT issue for a client of hers, the City of Fort Wright, when she heard about an opening for assistant city clerk. Ellis applied and was hired. By 2018, she’d become city clerk, and in 2019, she was promoted to Treasurer.

The one thing she enjoyed most about her job as city clerk, she said, was getting to know the residents.

“At tax time the residents loved to come in, pay their taxes, and then they would stick around and talk,” Ellis said. “I really enjoyed the interaction with the residents.”

She’s brought that same helpful, inquisitive attitude to Covington, where she was selected from 110 applicants to replace Maggie Nyhan, who retired after 20½ years with the city. Ellis has been on the job now a little over two months.

As city clerk, Ellis prepares agendas and compiles minutes for meetings of the Covington Board of Commissioners. In addition, she makes sure legal notices and ordinances are published; is responsible for records maintenance, retention and retrieval; is continuing the digitization of city records; processes improvements for paper flow; and responds to Open Records requests.

She’s a Certified Kentucky Municipal Clerk (CKMC) as well as a Certified Municipal Clerk (CMC), through the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.

“I love that there’s always a puzzle, things to solve,” Ellis said. “It’s just a great field.”

Recently departed City Solicitor Michael Bartlett – to whom Ellis reported – said she was a fine fit from both a professional and personal standpoint.

“Susan has experience with both the role and functions of the city clerk position,” Bartlett said. “She also has a positive attitude and is eager to help, which are key attributes for that position.”

Ellis said she is excited to be working in a city that she’s watched evolve over the years.

“There’s so much going on in Covington,” Ellis said. “It’s really nice to get off work on a Friday evening and see so many people utilizing the vendors in the city.”

When Ellis isn’t at work, she can be found navigating family genealogy – it’s how she discovered her Lithuanian roots – or making wine with her husband, Dennis. Ellis became interested in making wine after a Kentucky wine tour with her girlfriends.

To date, she and her husband have produced 43 varieties of wine, which they enjoy sharing with friends and family.

“At our last inventory, we had 675 bottles,” Ellis said.

Those bottles are fashioned with labels bearing the names and faces of the family’s beloved rescue dogs, such as “Brody’s Rescue Red” and “Bordeaux Collie,” a nod to her daughter’s Border Collie, which Ellis claims as her “grand-dog.” Though they don’t sell the wine, Ellis and her husband have named their brand “Classy Canine Wines.”

While she takes great enjoyment and pride in her professional career, Ellis says she’s particularly proud of the time she spent encouraging her children’s talents and interests.

As a Girl Scout Troop Leader for 13 years, she saw her daughter, Arrianne, earn a Girl Scout Gold Award after working with a faculty member from NKU to develop a self-guided trail in Fort Wright, identifying trees along the trail. Today, Arrianne is a program coordinator and Interpretive Naturalist.

Ellis’ son, Mitchell, is a chemist, but during her years as a Connor High School band booster, Ellis saw him as a talented trombonist. In true parental fashion, she hopes he’ll continue to take his trombone out of its case for a song or two.

[ad_2]
Originally Appeared Here

It’s perhaps a statement of the obvious, but the great terroirs of the world always seem to find a way to stand out. That, it seems to me, is one of the defining characteristics of a top vineyard: A patch of the planet that, vintage after vintage, leaves its mark in predictable, extraordinary ways on the grapes that are grown there, and whose essential character shines through in the wines that ultimately result.

My white Wine of the Week today, the Elena Walch Vigna Castel Ringberg Pinot Grigio 2019 Alto Adige DOC, is a transporting example, and a particularly affecting one, too, given the somewhat…challenging reputation of Pinot Grigio itself.

Mainly because of the veritable ocean of mass-produced, characterless Pinot Grigio that’s flooded the American market for a seeming eternity now, the grape has earned the bemusement (at best) and ire (at worst) of a generation of wine connoisseurs. And, indeed, the overwhelming majority of those wines are anodyne examples of the kind of white wine that pairs with anything and seems to fit into every conceivable situation not because of its inherent character but, indeed, as a result of the lack of any perceptible one.

Yet it doesn’t have to be that way, as this delicious wine proves. It’s grown on the Castel Ringberg vineyard in northeastern Italy’s Alto Adige region. At a little over a thousand feet of elevation, this nearly 50-acre plot boasts diverse soils (gravel, limestone, richer moraines), plenty of sunshine, and excellent drainage. The Walch family has been making wine for five generations, and is currently being steered by Karoline and Julia Walch: This is a true family enterprise, and the wines across the portfolio, I find vintage after vintage, are excellent.

This one is, too: Subtle, structured, and layered, yet still so energetic and graceful. Mineral-flecked aromas of hard apples and subtle herbs are joined by lemon pith before a palate of concentration and acidity, with an almost chalky mineral character informing lemon pith notes and a finish that rolls in on a subtly briny wave that’s kissed with apple fritters. Drink this one over the next few years: It’s easy to find for less than $30, and it seriously over-delivers for the money. It’s also the perfect wine to pour for people who claim to never have had a Pinot Grigio that spoke to them: It’ll change their minds in the most delicious ways.

The Elena Walch Vigna Castel Ringberg is one of the world’s greatest terroirs for Pinot Grigio.

Courtesy of Elena Walch

My red Wine of the Week, the Penultimate 2016 Napa Valley, is from another world-class terroir. It’s produced by the team that makes Promontory, one of the stars of the Harlan family stable of iconic reds. The land itself, perched on the other side of the ridge from Harlan, ranges from 500 – 1,150 feet above sea level and boasts a fantastic diversity of soils (volcanic on the west-facing flanks, metamorphic on the east-facing ones, and sedimentary on the higher portions, which face primarily west). The 800 acres of land are very steep, surrounded by forest, and, as a result of the tendency of the cooler air to linger, the fruit there tends to be harvested anywhere between 10 and 15 days later than at Harlan Estate. And because of the sheer diversity of the property, picking can last a month, despite the fact that only around 10% of the land, or approximately 80 acres, are planted to vineyard.

Penultimate occupies a unique place in the portfolio of the Harlan family domain. Winemaker David Cilli recently explained to me that it’s not a “second wine,” since most of those tends to be blends of younger vines or crafted from the wines leftover from the production of the grand vin. Instead, this is its own entity, made from vines that are farmed with the intention to go into Penultimate all along. The fruit comes from mature vines that “are taking longer to understand,” Cilli told me. These vines aren’t quite right for Promontory, though there are a number of blocks that have progressed from Penultimate to Promontory. Cilli explained that Will Harlan, who runs Promontory, describes Penultimate as being like a sketch before the final painting. At $375, compared to $850 for Promontory, it’s also far more accessible…and still a blockbuster. I recently tasted two bottlings, the 2014 and 2016, to try and understand the character of the land as seen through the lens of two very different vintages.

The nose on the 2014 is magnificent—eucalyptus, mint, and assorted balsamic notes are shimmeringly clear and detailed, and joined by Amarena cherry pastry creme, mineral, pine, sage, thyme and, as Cilli said, not the forest floor but the canopy—a fine but deeply important distinction. The palate drips with currants, cherries, cherry pipe tobacco, blood oranges, star anise, Chinese five-spice powder, and mineral, all of it vibrating with energy. It’s a wine of deep character and soul, weightlessness and balance, and with length and depth to spare, tannins that are brilliantly integrated and lifted, and the ability to age for at least the next decade and beyond…but I wouldn’t wait that long: Right now, it is impeccable.

As for the 2016, it’s also stellar, with cedar and a touch of sandalwood, currants and black-cherry pastry creme, singed mint and sage, all before a beautifully structured palate with a deep mineral core, herbs and savoriness, and the potential to gain greater plushness and depth as it ages. Cilli thinks that it will “gain even more flow, with tension, freshness, and minerality…it will be so much fun,” he told me. I couldn’t agree more, yet even now, this gorgeous evocation of its place of origin is haunting, and promises to evolve for another two decades-plus. The new vintage of Penultimate, the 2016, will be released to members of Promontory’s allocation list on August 10th, in addition to limited quantities of the 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Penultimate is a wine that’s deeply tied to its place of origin, a red of character, longevity, and … [+] grace.

Courtesy of Harlan Family

[ad_2]
Originally Appeared Here

A decade ago, we knew there were local grape varieties, grown for centuries in the vineyards of the Holy Land, but we never thought of them as being wine grapes. Yet the wineries that were founded by Jewish families like Shor and Teperberg in the 19th century, used the same local varieties that we are talking about today, purchased from Arab-owned vineyards mainly in the Hebron area. 

The indigenous varieties now being made into wine include Bittuni and Baladi for reds, and Dabouki, Hamdani (aka Marawi), Jandali and Zeini for the whites. These varieties survived the Ottoman Empire because they were sweet and tasty. It is as simple as that. They were used as table grapes, to make raisins, for creating a grape molasses (dibs), or distilling for arak. Local Jews and Christians always made wine, but it was a domestic affair, not an industry. Some have traced the mentions of words sounding like Hamdani and Jandali back to Talmudic times and then to the 16th century. 

THE DABOUKI produced by Palestinian winery Domaine Kassis. (photographer: DOMAINE KASSIS)

cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: ’36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b’ }).render(‘4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6’); });

if(window.location.pathname.indexOf(“656089”) != -1){document.getElementsByClassName(“divConnatix”)[0].style.display =”none”;}else if(window.location.pathname.indexOf(“/israel-news/”) != -1){ document.getElementsByClassName(“divConnatix”)[0].style.display =”none”; var script = document.createElement(‘script’); script.src=”https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js”; script.setAttribute(‘pubname’,’jpostcom’); script.setAttribute(‘widgetname’,’0011r00001lcD1i_12258′); document.getElementsByClassName(‘divAnyClip’)[0].appendChild(script);}

However, in those days vineyards were usually a mishmash of different varieties, without even being identified and separated. Vineyards were not the manicured gardens of today. In ancient times they more likely grew up trees, were trained on a pergola or sprawled along the ground. Furthermore, wines were described by place or style, not variety. However, there is no doubt that these varieties have been here for centuries.

All these varieties are still grown, particularly in the Hebron area. Barkan-Segal and Recanati Winery have also planted Marawi and Jandali, respectively in the Judean Hills and Upper Galilee. As for Dabouki, it is the indigenous variety that has always also been in Israel. Today, there are only a very few old vine Dabouki vineyards left in the Mt. Carmel area, Jezreel Valley, Lower Galilee and Judean Foothills. 

The pioneer of indigenous varieties in our times is Cremisan Wine Estate from Beit Jalla, which is part of the Cremisan Monastery, founded in 1885. They were the first to make varietal wines from these varieties from the 2008 vintage. Fadi Bartesah, a young Palestinian, studied in Italy, and wrote a thesis about the local varieties. He is now the manager and winemaker of the winery. 

FADI BATARSEH, winemaker of Cremisan Wine Estate, checks the barrels. (photographer: CREMISAN WINERY)

In Israel, the pioneer is Dr. Shibi Drori. He is also the winemaker of the Gvaot Winery, which is situated in the Samarian mountains. They produce a couple of wines from indigenous varieties, but it is the research Dr. Drori is doing that is more significant. Since 2012 he has been gathering any local grape he could find, categorizing them, researching them and collecting data. He has found 12 varieties that may be suitable for making wine. He is growing these varieties, making experimental wine at a micro-winery and continuing his groundbreaking research at Ariel University.

The first modern Israeli wine from ancient varieties was produced by Recanati Winery with the Marawi 2014. The launch of this wine created more international interest than ever before. The grapes were grown by a Palestinian grower on a Hebron pergola and the wine was made by an Israeli winemaker. It was certainly newsworthy. 

I RECENTLY held a tasting of most of the wines made from local varieties. The main producers using local grape varieties today are 1848 Winery, Ariel Beyehuda, Barkan-Segal, Feldstein, Gvaot, Jezreel Valley, Recanati and Teperberg wineries from Israel and the Palestinian wineries Cremisan, Kassis, Philokalia and Taybeh. 

Dabouki is a variety that may have its roots in Armenia. The word means “sticky” in Arabic, in the sweet sense. Once, Dabouki was for Israelis mainly a distilling grape. The wine produced from Dabouki can have a honeyed nose, with a touch of melon and be faintly floral. Overall it is relatively neutral. The Cremisan Star of Bethlehem Dabouki 2019 was the most balanced we tasted. The Feldstein Dabuki (sic) 2019 had the best acidity. I think highly of the Kassis Dabouki 2018, but it was a year older than the others I tasted and it showed. The Segal Kdumim Dabouki 2019 with more oak treatment than the others, finished last. (‘Kdumim’ meaning ancient, is the brand name in Israel. ‘Native’ is the name used for export.) In the category of “others,” Jezreel Valley Winery produces a super fun Pet-Nat (naturally sparkling) wine made from Dabouki, and Teperberg also has a blend with Dabouki, accompanied by Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurztraminer. It is under their Inspire label and is full-flavored and refreshing.

Marawi is a synonym of Hamdani. Traditionally, south of Jerusalem it is known as Hamdani, and west of Jerusalem the grape is referred to as Marawi. I find Marawi slightly savory and saline, a little fat, with delicate peach or apricot aromas. There are two Marawis in the marketplace. The Segal Kdumim Marawi 2019 is from a Bar Giora Vineyard, whilst the Recanati Marawi 2019 is from the Bethlehem area. Out of the two, we preferred the Recanati this time. 

Jandali is a variety with more tropical aromas than Marawi, but less on the palate. Both Barkan and Gvaot have made varietal Jandalis, but it seems to be more successful as part of a blend. The Cremisan Star of Bethelehem Hamdani Jandali 2019 was the freshest and Gvaot Gofna Hamdani Jandali 2019 was a fuller bodied version. Both were the best white wines in the tasting. 

The indigenous reds we tasted were the Recanati Bittuni 2019, Gvaot Gofna Bittuni 2019 and Cremisan Star of Bethlehem Baladi 2017. The Bittuni comes from near Hebron and Baladi from the Bethlehem area. These are light-bodied wines, refreshing when served chilled. The Bittuni can have bright red fruit with raspberry aromas, somewhere in between a Gamay or a young Pinot Noir. Both have a well-defined, cranberry-like acidity and finish slightly short. They are wines to drink, rather than taste and are good “summer” or lunchtime wines. In our tasting the best was the Recanati Bittuni, followed by the Cremisan Baladi.

(LEFT TO right) Barkan Argaman; Feldstein Dabouki; Jezreel Valley Argaman; Segal Marawi; Gvaot Bittuni; 1848 Winery Argaman. (photographer: Courtesy)

THE MOST Israeli variety is Argaman, because it was created here. Argaman was developed from a cross between Carignan and Souzao in the 1970s. The meaning of the word is crimson or deep purple. Winemaker Avi Feldstein, then of Segal Winery, was the pioneer who planted the variety in the Upper Galilee and launched a quality varietal Segal Rechesim Argaman from the 2006 vintage. When the 2008 won a gold medal in a major French wine tasting competition, Argaman was on the map. 

Of the current Argamans in the market, there are two distinct styles. The first are serious, oak-aged quality wines. The second are light, fruity wines, which may be best served chilled. Jezreel Valley was a start-up winery founded in 2012, which from the beginning embraced local and “adopted varieties,” like Carignan. Their Jezreel Valley Argaman 2016 is from Givat Nili, in the northern coastal plain. The wine is deep, plush, oaky, with a bit of spice and an earthiness on the palate, which gives it character. The newest member to the Argaman club is 1848 Winery. This winery was founded by Yossi Shor, the eighth generation of the Shor family that founded Israel’s oldest winery in 1848. Their 1848 Winery Argaman 2017 is a single-vineyard wine from Ramat Sirin in the Galilee. The wine is New World in style, deep, ripe fruit and velvety, with a smooth texture and soft tannins. Both are good expressions of a quality Argaman. The 1848 is more pure, the Jezreel Valley expression is more characterful. Which you will prefer, will depend on personal preference. There was not much in it. 

There are two examples of the lighter-style Argaman. Both are made by Barkan Winery. The Beta Argaman 2017 and Limited Edition Argaman 2018 (made for the Yayin b’Ir wine store chain) are similar, both with bright, crunchy fruit with pronounced acidity. They are good drinking wines, refreshing, perhaps best summarized as lunchtime wines. Certainly my experience is that these wines show better the younger they are. The main qualities of Argaman, apart from the color, are cherry fruit, a peppery character and a good acidity.

Another grape, not part of the tasting, that survived under the auspices of the Ottoman Empire is the Sultanina (aka Sultaniye in Turkey, Thompson Seedless in California and Sultana throughout the world), which is still used in the Aegean region of Turkey to make wine. However it is mainly famous as a food grape and for making raisins. Vortman Winery made a wine from this variety in 2017 from its Shefaya Valley vineyard. It was flowery and fresh, interesting as a curiosity and certainly drinkable. Then there is the so-called Margalit Blanc, possibly a mutation of Cabernet Franc and Colombard, which occurred naturally in Margalit Winery’s vineyard, producing a new local white variety. This is blended with Chardonnay in a steely white wine called Optima.

RECANATI WINERY’S Marawi and Bittuni, the first wines produced by an Israeli winery from these varieties. (photographer: Eli Prachter)

I DON’T want to overrate the importance of scores, but some of these wines have garnered international recognition. The Kassis Dabouki, Recanati Marawi, Segal Marawi and Cremisan Hamdani Jandali have all scored 90 points in important publications, for what it’s worth, and the Jezreel Valley Argaman has scored 91 points.

At the moment we can say that wines produced from these varieties come only from the Holy Land, though because the Ottoman Empire was without today’s borders, I think it is quite possible they will be found in neighboring countries too. Many winemakers say we should concentrate on making the finest wines we can, and these will be from international varieties. The local aspect comes from the terroir. However, others are experimenting and seeing how far they can reach. Certainly worldwide there is a new fetish for local varieties that are either revived or newly discovered. Our region is no different. So the research and trials should continue and take us where it leads. There is no reason why we can’t have our own Malagousia (a variety saved, revived and now thriving in Greece.) At the same time, we should understand these indigenous varietals are not the finest wines Israel produces. Not by a long shot. To paraphrase Jancis Robinson MW, the world’s leading critic and wine writer: “We should not confuse interest with quality.” They are also as yet produced only in small, even tiny quantities.

However, if you want to taste wines from grapes that are part of the DNA of the land where they are grown, then you now have the option of drinking local. 

Certainly we are going to hear a lot more of names such as Argaman, Dabouki and Marawi in the future.

The writer is a wine industry insider turned wine writer, who has advanced Israeli wine for 35 years. He is referred to as ‘the English voice of Israeli wine.’ www.adammontefiore.com

[ad_2]
Originally Appeared Here

August is the cruellest month if your summer plans of lounging by a Tuscan swimming pool have been scuppered by quarantine. However, if, like me, you are now stuck on the sofa with nothing but canoe slalom and synchronised 3m springboard from Tokyo for distraction, there is a daily ray of sunshine: aperitivo hour.

That time when you close the laptop and contemplate the evening ahead with something cold and wet accompanied by a small dish of something salty. Part drink, part mindset, an aperitivo is a ritual that brings joy.

“The colour of a negroni — how can you not be happy when clutching something that colour?” says Matt Hranek, the author of The Negroni, a celebration of the punchy Florentine classic (built

[ad_2]
Originally Appeared Here

Coming down from his last film “Touch the Wall” (2014), an acclaimed documentary about two Olympic swimmers from Colorado, Brock admitted that his next film would have to be something closer to home so that he could be more present in his young daughter’s life.

He had a few ideas floating in his mind. But brewing? It hadn’t even made the list.

The local documentary filmmaker first thought he’d dive into the history and process of making wine (he’s been mostly a wine drinker all his 56 years) or delve into the fresh world of cannabis farming. Then there was the idea about what makes country music songwriters tick.

But a lightbulb went off in his mind one day when he discovered the mad backyard scientists of the Long Beach Homebrewers, a tight-knit local brewing community where its members convene once a month to sip their homebrews and share recipes.

“I just thought, wow, that sounds pretty awesome, I wonder whether that’s the way the craft beer movement started,” he said. “And it turns out, through research, that’s exactly what happened.”

He attended the first meeting incognito, posing as a “newbie” homebrewer looking for some creative tricks of the trade. There he met Dan Sundstrom and his son Jesse, who he overheard were in the process of opening their first brewery, what would later become Ten Mile Brewing in Signal Hill.

Through Sundstrom, Brock later met the guys who in 2018 opened Liberation Brewing Co. in Bixby Knolls: Dan Regan (formerly the trombonist for Reel Big Fish), brewer Eric McLaughlin and partner Michael Clements.

Eric McLaughlin (left) and Dan Regan (right) of Liberation Brewing Co. Image courtesy Brocklamation Films.

“Brewmance” follows the journeys of Ten Mile Brewing and Liberation Brewing Co. from their discovery of homebrewing to their escapades while they attempt to take their backyard hobby and level up to beer entrepreneurs.

As we follow the inevitable ups and downs of our local homebrewers building their breweries from the ground up, the film also recounts the rise of the U.S. craft brew movement of the 1970s and ‘80s through interviews with some of the forefathers of craft brewing, including Anchor Steam’s Fritz Maytag, Sierra Nevada’s Ken Grossman, Sam Adam’s Jim Koch and Charlie Papazian, considered to be the godfather of craft brewing.

After three years of filming (over 600 hours of footage), 18 months of editing, plus a pandemic tacked on top, “Brewmance” was finally released April 14 and, more recently, made available for streaming on Amazon Prime June 11.

On Saturday, July 31, “Brewmance” was publicly screened for the first time at Liberation Brewing Co. to an audience of about 70 guests, including friends and family of the film’s protagonists. Those in attendance experienced the film as Brock had intended it: with lots of beer to go around.

For the occasion, Liberation Brewing Co. brewed a wheat lager they named “Essential Insanity,” arguably the quality all homebrewers must possess to brave the haphazard path of launching their own brewery.

It wasn’t easy having the cameras around, Dan Sundstrom said of the experience, and his family had a tougher time adjusting to the cameras than he had (he was a food photographer in the ‘80s and worked in film). But overall, he said, the film was positively received.

“I absolutely loved it, you know, it really tells the story of beer in America. And it being a kind of truly American thing,” Dan Sundstrom said of the film. “It used to be that America was like the laughingstock of the world when it came to beer.”

Dan Sundstron’s son, Jesse, pouring a beer inside his taproom at Ten Mile Brewing. Image courtesy Brocklamation Films.

Brock expanded on this by explaining that craft brewing was born out of a “wasteland of beer,” dominated by the industry giants (Budweiser, Coors, Pabst) who had set the status quo for beer. Namely, muted lagers.

“And it was this kind of rebellion on the part of certain rascally homebrewers who said, ‘screw that, that beer sucks, I’m gonna make beer that tastes good and that I want to drink,’” Brock said.

“Brewmance” is a palatable film that breaks down the complexities of brewing for the average viewer, but honest and entertaining enough for the pros who are likely to commiserate and celebrate with their on-screen comrades.

And for locals, the coming up story of the beloved breweries will fascinate viewers and perhaps conjure some wistful emotions as the movie is a golden snapshot of a localized industry in full swing, cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I watched craft beer sort of take hold in Long Beach, which is pretty awesome,” Brock said.

Brock said he hopes to show the film at the Art Theatre of Long Beach in the coming months. The film is also available to stream on iTunes, Google Play, Vudu or Amazon Prime. Click here to find a streaming platform.

[ad_2]
Originally Appeared Here

Too often, the best beauty stories go Untold, solely based on a person’s skin colour, religion, gender expression, disability, or socioeconomic status. Here, we’re passing the mic to some of the most ambitious and talented voices in the industry so they can share, in their own words, the remarkable story of how they came to be — and how they’re using beauty to change the world for the better. Up next: Ade and Antonia Ogunsola, the mother-daughter duo behind the West African-inspired beauty brand Okiki Skin Care, made from their kitchen in Kent, England.

Ade: I was born in England — raised partly in England, partly in Nigeria. My recipes and learnings of soap-making come from Nigeria. When I was younger, my mommy used to make soap back home. She’d make all the concept classics — we call it Kongi Soda soap because the solid bars are actually used for bathing as well as doing your dishes and washing your clothes.

Growing up, my grandma also liked to infuse her oils with dry herbs so they’d have a scent when she used them; that’s how I learned about infusing oils. She had different jars for hair and body and if she was going out in the evening, that’s what she used as perfume.

“We started going to markets together, mainly as a way to bond whilst I was at college, and it quickly became more than just soap,'” Antonia said.

After my mom passed away, I started to miss her dearly and told my other half, “I’m going to start making soap.” That’s how the journey started — first as a hobby.

Antonia: For me, my journey into beauty was a bit different. I grew up with bad skin — I had loads of acne and hyperpigmentation, which is very tough to get rid of. I did the Clinique 3-Step — I think everyone I know who has hyperpigmentation has tried the 3-Step — and I forked out for the Obagi treatment, which was hundreds of dollars. That didn’t really help and I just broke down to my mom one day. It got to a point where I wouldn’t go out without makeup and that wasn’t healthy. She made the Lolu Facial Soap for me.

I used the soap twice a day for 60 seconds and I said to my mom, “You’re onto something here because I can actually see my face changing.” A couple of my friends had purchased it too and they said it was really good. I said to my mom: “You should definitely start selling this product.”

We started going to markets together, mainly as a way to bond whilst I was at college, and it quickly became more than just soap — it became body lotion, balms, bath salts, and lip balm. She is always keeping busy — she can’t sit still.

Ade: I’m always creating new things. Before I started making soap, I was making wine. I soon realized the food I used to buy to make the wine could also be used to make soap. In the second batch of soap I made, I used fresh fruits like blueberries, carrots, and papaya.

Image Source: Okiki Skin Care

Antonia: At the time I was working at Victoria’s Secret, so I was quite good at selling. Being able to interact with people and sell whilst my mom worked on the formulation side worked well. Initially, we only sold at markets; we both worked full-time alongside doing Okiki. That was, until I was let go due to COVID-19, about two weeks into the first lockdown.

At first, it really threw me. I’m like my mom in that I do not like being idle. She suggested I build a website for Okiki so I did on Wix. That took about a month and then we launched online. We only sold two products all of May and they were both to my friends. I thought, No, I’m not happy with this; I know my mom’s products are good. What can we do?

I’d followed Iman Leila, founder of Lima Communications, for a while and finally asked her, “Do small businesses get PR?” and she told me to reach out to her. Initially, my mom was unsure, but I told her to trust me that this would help. Iman was so useful in helping people to reach our brand.

After working on Okiki full-time during COVID-19, I found my dream job and got an offer and my mom encouraged me to take it. For us, there’s this misconception that because we’ve had all this press, everything is flying off the shelf and we’re making hundreds of thousands of dollars. That’s not the case: we’re very much still a small business. From a financial perspective, in order to fuel the business, we need to be bringing in some sort of money as well — getting a business off the ground doesn’t happen overnight.

Image Source: Okiki Skin Care

Ade: I’m an early bird; I wake up around three or four in the morning and I make products or pack any orders that need to be done before I even get ready for my day job. When I finish my work, I go to the post office and drop the packages off for delivery.

Antonia: My time is spent organizing our social media, working with Iman on our brand refresh, Facebook ads, and email marketing. Those sorts of things take a bit longer for me because I’m dyslexic.

“I’m an early bird; I wake up around three or four in the morning and I make products or pack any orders that need to be done before I even get ready for my day job,” said Ade.

It’s a lot to balance and it was hectic last year, even with working on the brand full-time. After just two sales in May, in June, we had 200 orders. We basically sold out of mom’s stock for the year overnight and our soaps take a minimum of four to six weeks to create (the Aleppo soap takes nine months). This was peak pandemic, so getting the ingredients was a struggle, too.

Speaking frankly, we feel the initial growth came off the back of the Black Lives Matter movement and that wave has slightly died down. So, when people are buying from us, I know they’re buying because they really like our products. We have a lot of repeat purchasers; one guy just bought his 70th order from us.

Ade: Even though I spent most of my adult life in the UK, you always go back to your roots and I wanted a place that I could give a little bit of my profit back to from Okiki. Something for people back home. I came across One Tree, an organization that works to plant trees in Ghana. They don’t plant in Nigeria, but my other half is from Ghana so we have roots there. With every sale we make, we donate to them monthly to help plant trees.

Antonia: We’ve spent a lot of time deciding on the best packaging for the rebrand. It’s hard because, as a small business, you can be as environmentally-conscious as you want to be but it’s difficult and expensive. In addition to the tree planting donation, we have a lot of leftover soaps that we don’t sell because they’re not quite right and instead of throwing them away, we donate them to local food banks.

When it comes to the future of Okiki, we both agree that we want our products to be sold in a store in small batches.

Ade: My vision is something similar to Lush, but different. I have around 200 licenses for products currently, but we’re waiting for the right time to make them because it’s only the two of us and every single product is made by me.

I love it when people using my products comment on them because I’ve come a long way in formulating, especially bearing in mind I’m not a science student. It’s so nice to see people use the products and coming back to buy more.

[ad_2]
Originally Appeared Here