Dedicated to all things drinking well in the South
Today marks the first entry in our “Great Southern X” series – brewers, distilleries, coffee roasters, and even, yes, winemakers who are doing amazing things here in the South. Just as coffee is the best way to start a day, coffee must be the best way to kick off this series. First up, Counter Culture Coffee – a Great Southern Coffee Roaster. Check it out.
A recent search for the best craft beer selection in Memphis reminded us of one of the great sights to behold in the River City. It’s not Graceland, not the Pyramid, not the Peabody ducks, it is …. Sputnik.
Photo by flickr user naslrogues
“Sputnik” is a rotating neon delight of a liquor store sign, at Joe’s Liquor in Memphis. It was built way back in 1963 and was renovated about 10 years ago, restoring it to its full glory. If you’re ever in Memphis, make a drive by here before heading down to Cozy Corner for BBQ. If you can find a better liquor store sign, let us know!
Check out this great video at All South Networks to see the Sputnik roto-sphere in its full glory.
Photo courtesy of Precision Sign.
Last night’s Aqua Vino fundraiser for the Georgia Aquarium’s Correll Center for Aquatic Animal Health (got all that?) was a great excuse to sample a wide variety of wine from around the world, all for a good cause. While I didn’t come close to tasting even half of the wines available, there were a few things that stood out. First, kudos to the organizers for having a great selection of Georgia wines. Montaluce, Wolf Mountain, Three Sisters, BlackStock, Habersham, and Yonah Mountain were all there pouring.
Was it a coincidence that they were next to the Georgia swamp area of the aquarium? Just like the Georgia swamp exhibit, the Georgia wines might not have been the biggest names (or whales) in the house, but they made a great showing. A new one to me was Yonah Mountain‘s Traminette. Traminette is a gewurtzraminer hybrid grape, and for this bottling, Yonah Mountain sourced the fruit from the Finger Lakes region of New York, where winemaker Joe Smith grew up. So now we have a Georgia winery, producing a seldom seen hybrid varietal wine, sourcing from the Finger Lakes, with a winemaker who hails from that region as well. They win bonus points just for the audacity of it. And you know what? It was excellent. Great acidity, lovely floral notes on the nose, good balance and depth, a pleasant amount of residual sugar.
The other two discoveries that stood out for me hailed from California and Spain.
From California, the Hess Family has a relatively new label called Sequana, which is dedicated to single vineyard, California pinot noir. Winemaker James MacPhail was brought on as a pinot noir specialist, and, based on the two wines being sampled, is turning out some really nice, nuanced wines. The wines on offer were a Santa Lucia Highlands Sarmento Vineyard (from outside Monterey) and one from the famed Dutton Ranch in the Russian River Green Valley area. These aren’t cheap wines, priced around $30 – $40, but for single vineyard pinots from these areas, they do represent a pretty good deal. The Sarmento Vineyard pinot was my personal favorite, with floral notes and dark spices topping off a bright cherry backbone.
The view over the vines from Dinastia Vivanco in Rioja, Spain.
From Spain, Dinastia Vivanco is a winemaker whose magnificent wine museum is a must-stop for any visitor to Rioja. It is full of history, knowledge, and beauty. And now, for the first time, their wines are being imported to the US. Their current reserve release is the 2004 Reserva, which is 90% tempranillo. It has seen almost two and a half years in oak, followed by more than two years of bottle aging in the winery’s cellars. A quick check online shows it priced around $20, a great deal for a reserve Rioja with just enough age to be interesting, and this one can easily go another 10 to 20 years. Hopefully this will be showing up on local wine store shelves.
Finally, a taste of the 2006 Trimbach Gewurtztraminer reminded me how good and distinctive Alsatian Gewurtztraminer is. Thick, spicy, lightly honeyed tropical fruit. Gorgeous. Enough to send your mind off to a faraway place where graceful creatures drift through clear waters…
Full Disclosure: my attendance at this event was on a complimentary media pass
Following up on our recent dive into the Decatur, GA, drinking scene, here’s a wonderful fall cocktail recipe from Corina behind the bar at Cakes & Ale. The combination of apple and pomegranate makes for a nice balance of sweet and slightly bitter to blend in with the somewhat spicy Corsair Artisan Wry Moon, an unaged whiskey that is akin to a smooth moonshine. Be aware, the Corsair Wry Moon is a small batch rye whiskey that may be hard to find.
Ingredients:
One whole pomegranate, quartered (only one quarter to be used per drink)
1.5 oz Corsair Artisan Wry Moon (or other unaged whiskey)
1 oz good apple juice (bonus points for freshly pressed local apples, no Juicy Juice please)
Dash of simple syrup
Twist of lime
Preparation:
Muddle one quarter of the pomegranate in shaker. Add whiskey, apple juice and a dash of simple syrup. Shake well and strain into a martini glass. Best served up with a twist of lime (give the rim of the glass a quick rub with the rind side of the lime twist to impart a bit of the lime oil).
Enjoy! And THANKS to Corina at Cakes & Ale.
There is a Southern specialty that for some reason has not found the popularity and omnipresence that is so surely deserves. It is found most often in rural gas stations, across Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama. But it deserves a place at the bar. At every bar that serves beer, in fact. For there is no greater friend to beer than this delicious, salty, crunchy snack. As much as we regret to say this, it is NOT the pork rind or cracklins. It is… the peanut… but not just any peanut! Yes, the roasted peanut is a rich and grand thing, the boiled peanut is beautiful and bewitching, but the deep fried peanut, “shell-n-all”? THAT is the South’s greatest beer snack.
The first time one encounters a deep fried peanut, the initial temptation is to crack the shell open and free the peanuts from bondage. That would be a mistake. Once you’ve overcome your fears of the shell, accepted that maybe you should try just one since the bag proclaims “so good… you can eat ’em SHELL-N-ALL,” your mouth will soon tell you that you’ve made a wise choice. The crisp crunch of the shell and the saltiness and spice that have infused it hit your tastebuds first. Then the toasty, nutty goodness of the peanuts themselves layer on another wave of joy. And what could possibly follow that wave of joy other than a sip (or a gulp) of a cold beer? Like peanut butter and jelly, moon pies and RC cola, deep fried peanuts and beer are a match made in Southern heaven.
So, next time you’re off on a rural highway and stop for gas, be sure to check inside for the presence of this delicacy, then buy as many bags as your car will hold. You can thank “Uncle Bud” of Soddy Daisy, Tennessee for producing these wonders, or his rivals, Jerry of Polkville, North Carolina, or Bobby Salter of the one and only Plains, Georgia. And ask your favorite barkeeps to do the world a favor and bring some deep fried peanut goodness into the lives of their patrons. And they will thank you.
By the way, the basic salted, deep fried peanuts can also act as a blank canvas of sorts for adding your own spices. Simply heat up some oil and the spice mixture of your choice in a skillet and toss in some deep fried peanuts, mix well, drain on a paper towel, and you’re set. Here’s a not-so-Southern batch with chili pepper and Sichuan peppercorns, equally good with an IPA or a good German Riesling!
