Posts Tagged ‘type’
Vice
Here is a “delightfully chilling blend of Canadian icewine and vodka ~ VICE.” It is produced by Vineland Estates Winery, in Ontario, “one of Canada’s oldest and most renowned wineries.” The Vice website tends to suggest that Vineland would have liked to present this as a “martini,” but TTB can be protective of this term, and so it looks like Vineland settled for the term “cocktail” instead.
Speaking of vice, perhaps it’s time to sort out whether we are in the “vice” business or not. The Online Etymology Dictionary defines “vice” as “moral fault, wickedness.” The term dates back at least 700 years, to about 1300, from French. I can think of many things more wicked and fault-worthy than a 45 proof wine concoction, taxed and regulated out the wazoo. If this is vice, what is virtue? Here is a lawyer who scrupulously gravitates toward vice matters in his practice.
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What is Eau de Vie?
Every now and then, TTB approves another eau de vie. This leads to wondering if it’s the same as brandy. At long last, Tim Patterson has explained how they differ:
Unlike grape brandy, eau de vie puts the emphasis on freshness, liveliness, and capturing the intense essence of fruit — rather than on depth, weight, and the complexity that comes from years of interaction between spirit, oxygen and wood.
By way of example, here is Peak Spirits Peach Eau de Vie. And here is Clear Creek Plum Eau de Vie. Patterson explains further:
In the market for distilled spirits, dominated by slick, multi-million-dollar ad campaigns for super-premium vodkas and single malts, eau de vie is nearly invisible. If there’s something smaller than a niche market, eau de vie has it sewn up.
Yet for those who seek it out, and are persistent enough to find it, great eau de vie can be an exquisite experience.
The name translates as “water of life,” a reminder that the invention of distillation in the 17th century came in pursuit of cures for plagues like cholera.
Put another way, eau de vie is the anti-vodka. The point of vodka distillation is to remove all those annoying flavors; the point of eau de vie is to preserve as much of the original fruit as possible.
The economics of production provide an equally stark contrast. [Vodka] can be made from almost any source … for a cost of less than fifty cents a bottle. A quality eau de vie consumes about 30 pounds of first-rate fruit, picked at the moment of peak ripeness.
I have quoted extensively from Patterson’s excellent article, and still it contains much other compelling information, such as the fact that both of the leading producers of American eau de vie happen to be lawyers. TTB does not seem to recognize eau de vie as a distinct category; the above examples are classified as brandy and have the term “brandy” on the label alongside “eau de vie.”
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Spirits Distilled from Sotol
Is it Tequila? Is it Mezcal? Is it a cactus or agave?
TTB has approved many Sotol products. The labels don’t do an especially good job of explaining what sotol is, but here are three fairly recent approvals:
All three are classified as “Spirits Distilled from Sotol,” are made in Mexico, and are about 80 proof. According to Wikipedia, sotol is a spirit made from the Dasylirion wheeleri plant. It is the state drink of Chihuahua. The plant is known as Desert spoon in English and sotol in Spanish. It is a flowering shrub.
The Polished Palate seems to do a good job of distinguishing among Sotol, Tequila and Mezcal. It says they are all made from the agave (agavacea) plant and:
Tequila is made only from the Blue Weber agave. Mezcal can be made from a larger variety, the most popular being Espadin and Tobala. Sotol is made only from the agave grown in the Chihuahua State.
It remains confusing, however, because Ian Chadwick explains that sotol is not made from agave. He says it is made from an altogether different genus and species.
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Dandelion Wine
Today we have dandelion wine. This piqued our interest because we have heard faint murmurings about dandelion wine for many decades but never really tasted it or knew much about it, so we thought it was time to get a handle on the situation. As it turns out, the murmurings seem to have more to do with Ray Bradbury’s 1957 novel of the same name, and less to do with the popularity of this wine.
We find very little information about the history of this wine. Bigger Than Your Head describes it as well as anyone else we could find:
The closest I have come to a glass of dandelion wine was reading Ray Bradbury’s evocative novel about Midwestern small-town life, Dandelion Wine, about 50 years ago. … One expects a flower wine to be sweet, and this was, but it wasn’t as sweet as I had anticipated. In fact, I found it delicate, finely structured and just balanced by clean acidity. Aromas of spiced pear and fig wafted from the glass, with hints of dusty meadows. In the mouth, those spiced pear and fig qualities persisted, with touches of something wild and foxy, a little weedy, all of this encompassed by a texture that was almost oily. The finish brought in cinnamon and hay. It felt as if I were sipping the essence of a sunny summer’s afternoon on a blustery Fall day.
TTB has approved quite a few dandelion wines, and even some dandelion beers. The beer is made by Northern Ales of Northport, Washington. The dandelion wine is classified as an agricultural wine and made by Ackerman Winery of Amana, Iowa.
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Real or Fake?
Would anyone expect this to be a big seller in the US? In Macedonia? It’s not clear why it ought to be considered “diluted,” since it meets the 80 proof threshold required for regular brandy. For the answer, click the label.
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