National Drink Wine Day is celebrated annually on February 18 across the United States.

The purpose of National Drink Wine Day is to spread the love and health benefits of wine. Wine has played an important role in history, religion and relationships. We embrace the positive benefits of wine such as new friends, reduced risk of heart disease and the enhancement of food and life. Check out media coverage of National Drink Wine Day. Facebook at facebook.com/drinkwineday Twitter at twitter.com/drinkwineday

Ah. Nothing increases my tasting experiences as Texas Election Fund raisers... Becker Vineyards Tempranillo Reserve.

Tempranillo Wine Profile
Posted by Wine Folly : http://winefolly.com/tutorial/tempranillo-wine/


MAJOR REGIONS: Spain, Portugal, USA, Australia (hot and dry regions)

Tempranillo Characteristics
FRUIT: cherry, plum and tomato
OTHER: leather, tobacco, vanilla, and clove
OAK: Yes. Commonly 12-18 mo. in American or French Oak
TANNIN: Medium (+)
ACIDITY: Medium (-)
ABV: 13-14.5%

What Does Tempranillo Wine Taste Like?

When you first taste a Spanish Tempranillo you’ll get hit with the flavor of leather along with cherries. The finish is mild, smooth and lingers with tannin on both sides of your mouth. American and other New World Tempranillo delivers tons of cherry and tomato-sauce flavors followed by chunky tannin. Tempranillo is technically a medium-bodied wine with red fruit characteristics. If you’ve never tried Tempranillo before you’ll find it tastes similar to Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon.

My first tasting was in 1972 in a Rioja Crianza from Spain in Austin, Texas. It was remarkable then... and it still remarkable in this Becker Wineyards Tempranillo Reverse from Texas. Thankfully, it does not have the taste of leather in it! It is ironic that it was recommended me by Dan Santhos of Dan's #4, which I must report today is closed, for the purpose of curing a Spanish leather wine bag for a friend at Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas. The Becker Tempranillo tasted nothing like leather, either before or after the first slip. It was a beautiful, tasty red wine. I hope you find it to be so, too.

" An Irishman, A Kentucky Colonel, and A Japanese Samurai enter a bar ... Whiskey Party!"

County Louth Cooley distillery which makes some of Ireland's best-known whiskey has been bought by the US-based Beam Inc. Cooley distillery owns and produces the Kilbeggan, Connemara, Tyrconnell and Greenore brands. Beam Inc. is one of the world's leading premium spirits companies owning brands such as Jim Beam, Maker's Mark and Canadian Club. The leading markets for Irish whiskey, according to Impact, the popular spirits, beer, and wine publication of M. Shanken Communications, Inc. are the United States, Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, South Africa and Germany.

Japanese family-owned Suntory is to buy the US Beam, the company behind the Jim Bean bourbon brand. It will make Suntory the world's third largest maker of distilled drinks. The two companies have a previous partnership whereby they distribute each other's brands in different markets. Beam's brands also include Maker's Mark bourbon, Sauza tequila, and Courvoisier cognac. Suntory is best-known for the Japanese whisky brands Yamazaki, Hakushu, and Midori liqueur and Bowmore Scotch whisky. In 2013, UK's GlaxoSmithKline sold its Lucozade and Ribena brands to Suntory.

Off the Drinking Path recommends you save a lot money and have a better time drinking Whiskey by reading: Whiskey Detectives

As in the past, I have recommended a lot of better blogs for making Wine decisions than this one.

I simply don't drink enough or in my case taste enough wines to keep up with good recommendations.
My objective was to write a general, educational blog on wine tasting, based on wines I taste at social and political functions. I hope that you find my archive of  old entries useful.

However, the other day, I find myself in a local liquor store making a poor choice of whiskey.

It is near the winter holidays and I was looking for one brand for my $20 budget and found another brand that will remain nameless for my readers. That evening I poured it for a friend, who is a much better judge of whiskey, he promptly pour it out and told me to stop drinking cheap whiskey: "Life's too short to waste it on cheap booze" was his actually phrasing.  When I explained that it was a $20 whiskey and that was not cheap, at least not to me, he told me to either stick with the brands I like and pay the going rates, buy a smaller bottle of a good brand; or finally, take up reading someone else's blog on the subject of whiskey if I was going to be serving it to him.

So, my reader, you shall profit by my mistake and my $20 will have been well spent after all.


By using my purchased brand as a Google search, I read reviews of several blogs for the same brand I had purchased. Only one blog provided what I considered a fair evaluation of what I purchased this week: Whiskey Detectives - http://whiskeydetectives.blogspot.com/

Jim Beam Jacob's Ghost White Whiskey

Frankly, I have not had many opprotunities to taste white whiskeys. In Texas and though out the South, I have read about how moon shine and white dogs are popular; but I don't like the corn taste of bourbon. Bourbon was Dad's favorite whiskey: corn mash and sweet favour was not my tastes. However, Tennessee rye has always been a unique favor treat. And this week at a private screening of Capturing Oswald here in Dallas,Texas, they were serving Jim Beam Jacob's Ghost White Whiskey. I liked it.

I have been told that Jacob's Ghost (named after 18th century Jacob Beam, the patriarch of the Beam clan) is the standard Jim Beam bourbon, made with their typical mash and distilling methods; however, this light ghost gets less than a year in charred oak barrels,and then filtered to remove both coloration and harshness. So, I found it to be an easy-drinking, young whiskey.

You still taste the sweet corn with a hint of vanilla and just a whisper of wood. On the palate, the corn sweetness continues combined with a surprisingly robust body. There's just a touch of smoke, and what some might call barrel spices on the finish.

It's definitely smoother and does not have the traditional bourbon favor of Jim Beam and Jack Daniel. I see why Jim Beam is promoting this white whiskey as a cocktail mixer like other clear spirits like gin white rum and blanco tequila. At the screening it was offered with traditional Southern Sweet Tea, a classic mixer for Boubon.

Jim Beam was only $19.99 at retail and under $15 at SPECS. If you want to try a mild, smooth, inexpensive white whiskey, this should be on your list.

What Type of Beer are You? : What does your choice of Fall Beer says about you?

Are you an ale, a lager, or a stout? See the full comic by Steve Adams: http://on.mash.to/1ae8kPT

Svedka, imported Swedish Vokda

Saving money on vodka is a tricky subject because it is very easy to get a really bad and cheap vodka. There are many brands that cost around $10 for a 750 ml bottle, some are considerably better than others. Those listed below are my favorites that, depending on the market, will only pinch your pocket book for $10. Some people like to really save money on vodka and go for the $10 or less liters like McCormick, Popov and Hawkeye. Unless you use a filtering system of your own like the VodkaStick or want an enormous hangover tomorrow, I recommend you stay away from those. The cost savings is not worth it. 6 of the Best Brands of Vodka for $10 By Colleen Graham, About.com Guide

I have not posted anything this year: I have not tasted anything new or interesting either... and then I come across a fund raiser where vodka not wine is served for guests. There was not much variety offered that afternoon... in fact, I had to ask what was in the small plasic cup. The Steward showed be BIG empty bottle with the Svedka blue band around it.  I was just as impressed with the size of the JUG as with it contents. I don't drink vodka with any regularity and never straight, so I was surprised by the favor and smoothness....

Review Notes:


Lantamannen is a Swedish farmers co-op that was commissioned by Constellation Brands to produce vodka... in this case, resulting in the Svedka label. Svekda vodka is made from Swedish winter wheat and claims to have been voted the best vodka of 2033. That's not a typo... they have claimed victory at a future date; which is nicely in keeping with their robot-lady (the party bot) mascot.

68 reviews of Svedka For the price (15 U.S. 750 ml), this vodka can't be beat! I was expecting some antiseptic tasting liquor, but I was pleasantly surprised. The smell is quite pungent, no berries here, but it goes down smooth and has a refreshing aftertaste. ... Give this stuff a try. It's well worth the price. Reviewer: d mirante | Score: 3