This year Cinco de Mayo (one of our favorite holidays) happens to fall on our favorite day of the week — Taco Tuesday. It’s like the planets are all aligned for some sort of epic Cinco de Mayo Stay-at-Home Quarantine Party! And we’re ready, with an assortment of tequila recommendations and some can’t miss food pairings that will make your social distancing party one that you will remember for a long, long time!

Tequila — nectar of the Gods!

Skip those awful worm-in-bottom-of-the-bottle stories (that’s actually mezcal, not tequila). Real tequila is distilled from blue Weber agave and is exclusive to the Jalisco region of Mexico. The agava plant takes years to reach maturity—about a dozen to be exact—and is protected by thick leaves and razor-like thorns. To make tequila, the enormous heart of the agave plant is peeled, roasted and crushed to make a sweet juice that is fermented, distilled (often twice) and aged in bourbon casks.

There are actually three major categories of tequila: Blanco, Resposado and Añejo, with each having distinct differences in their production and flavor profiles.

Blanco - The purest flavor of tequila, this white tequila has been aged less than three months.

Reposado - Meaning “restful”, this type of tequila is aged or “rested” in white oak casks from 2 months to a year, giving it a mellow oak flavor combined with the flavor of the blue agave.

Añejo - A sipping tequila, Añejo is aged, in smaller batches, in white oak casks for over a year taking on the flavors of the wood, while mellowing the harshness of the alcohol.

How to drink your favorite tequila:
Blanco tequila is perfect for shots and is our recommendation for making the classic Margarita. Reposado and Añejo tequilas can be sipped like whiskies, enjoyed as shots, or used to create a truly decadent cocktail. 

Cinco de Mayo Food and Drink Essentials!

With your new-found tequila expertise it’s time to select the perfect tequila-pairing foods to really put your celebration into high gear. Obviously a Mexican spirit works best with Mexican foods and flavors, and there are so many options to choose from other than your basic taco. 

A few of our favorites:

Tacos - Blanco tequila works with fish tacos, Reposado for meatier tacos with beef or pork. 

Ceviche - perfect with Blanco tequila (which also happens to work with sushi if Mexican food is not your thing).

Grilled seafood - another great food partner with Blanco tequila.

Avocado - wonderful with Reposado tequila.

Grille Pork or Pork-filled Empanadas - serve with Reposado tequila.

Steak and Burgers - you can choose either Reposado or Añejo. Either way, you can’t go wrong. 

Chocolate - Añejo tequila, like other aged spirits, was practically made to pair with chocolate, both dark and milk varieties.


No Cinco de Mayo Party celebration is complete without Margaritas. Our recipe is wonderfully fresh, simply classic, and so refreshing. Choose the best quality Blanco Tequila you can afford to buy. A few of our favorites are:

1800 Tequila Silver   •   Avion Silver Premium Tequila   •   El Jimador Tequila Blanco

Classic Margarita (serves 2)

Ingredients

• Lime wedge, plus extra lime wedges for garnish
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt, for glass rims
• 4 ounces Blanco Tequila
• 2 ounces Cointreau
• 1 1/2 ounces fresh lime juice
• Salt for rimming the glass

Directions

   1. Run lime wedge around the outer rims of glasses and dip rims in salt. Set aside.
   2. Combine combine tequila, Cointreau, and lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake until thoroughly chilled, about 15 seconds.
   3. Fill glasses with fresh ice and strain margarita into glasses. Garnish with lime, serve and enjoy!


Happy Cinco de Mayo — Cheers!
 

The latin  translation of "AIREM" is "Air". The air and the wild nature of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Spain, the  place where this Organic Premium Vodka is elaborated.

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Following artisanal methods, the Vodka made out of organic wheat gets filtered through millenarian peat coal from the valley of Padul, a small village by the mountains. 

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With the purest snow waters of Sierra Nevada the vodka its filtered several times to eliminate any possible impurity so the vodka gets its maximum pureness.

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The handcrafted copper stills attain the distillation process , delivering an exceptional vodka with the highest quality.

You’ve got your holiday list and if it’s anything like ours, it gets bigger every single year! But what about those unexpected guests who show up around the holidays — gift in hand — while you mentally sort through things in your house that could be wrapped up and re-gifted in a pinch? 

This year why not be prepared with special little gifts for last-minute guests, the guy at the parking garage you see every morning, the coffee barista who always gets your order right or your favorite manicurist? A good bottle of wine (really good, in fact), hand-selected by us, and each just $10 or less! Add one of our exclusive single bottle holiday gift boxes (so festive and pretty, you can skip the wrapping paper) and you’ve got an oh-so appropriate gift you’ll be proud to give and they’ll be thrilled to receive. 

We recommend:

Dozen Roses Red
This exceptionally easy-drinking Tempranillo from Spain is perfect for holiday entertaining and one of the smoothest reds we've ever tried (seriously like velvet in a glass). Plus the lush, rose-covered label is practically made for gifting. We've noted some incredible reactions when we've done samplings of this wine in our stores — people absolutely love it (really, really love it) and they are shocked to find it in our $10 & Under section, but it is. Pick this one up, you will not be disappointed.

Stone Castle Vineyards and Winery Shiraz
This is one of those great wine surprises, from a region not traditionally known for its wine production. A hidden gem from the heart of Rahovec Valley in Kosovo, a region with more than 2.000 years of winemaking, and passion you can taste in every bottle.  This full-bodied Shiraz has distinctive flavors of forest blueberries and blackberries, with a long, exotic finish. Out of the ordinary and definitely worth trying.

Eaglestone Winery Pinot Noir 
We love finding truly unique, hard-to-find wines and this is one of our absolute favorites. Before you say something like, “that’s not impossible to find, I’ve had Eaglestone before.” True, you may have had their California Cabernet or their Red Blends (both excellent, we might add), but their Pinot Noir is the unicorn of wines. Practically impossible to find, but we have it  and it’s AWESOME. Fabulous at $30 or more, but you can get this one direct from our $10 & Under collection! No joke.

Adega Grande Reserva Tinto
If you're looking to explore the wines of Portugal, this is a great one to start with. It's fruity, soft, easy drinking and just right for sipping in front of the fireplace, while admiring your Christmas tree. A surpisingly good wine, at an incredibly good price. 

80 Vinho Regional Alentejano
If you like a good red blend, you'll love this one. A soft, balanced mix of Aragonez, Trincadeira, and Castellan grapes from Portugal, it's a uniquely different wine than the typical red blends from California. A find at any price, a steal under $10.

It’s all in the presentation…
Forget gift bags, and don’t even think about trying to wrap a bottle of wine. Pick up a few of our exclusive holiday design gift boxes (two shown above), perfectly sized for holding a single bottle of wine and wonderfully festive without a stitch of wrapping paper! 

Simple — and affordable — gifts for anyone on your Christmas list. See our entire assortment of $10 & Under Wines at your neighborhood Wine Country or Wine & Whiskey Country Store! 

Cheers!
 

Halloween is just for children, right? It’s a time for dressing up as a princess, superhero or
ghoul and going to door-to-door in pursuit of all the candy your plastic pumpkin can hold.

But in recent years, something has happened to Halloween and it’s not just for kids anymore.
In fact some would say that Halloween has been hijacked by adults. And the data
supports it! According to DDB Worldwide, 13% of Americans between the ages of 18-44
claim that Halloween is their favorite holiday, helping to turn this once kid-focused day
into an $8 billion a year industry for young and old alike!

Adults are getting dressed up, we are going to Halloween parties and we are definitely in
the Halloween spirit. So, if you’re hosting a Halloween party, the right wines can help
maintain the spooky mood for the night. And, if you’ve been invited to attend a Halloween
bash, gifting your host or hostess with a Halloween-worthy wine tells them you’re more
than just a great guest…you’re a great guest who knows how to choose the perfect wine.

We’ve pulled together a few bloody good reds for adding the perfect spirit to your Halloween
festivities. Read on…if you dare:

Apothic Dark
Winemaker’s Notes: Seamlessly integrates flavors of blueberry and blackberry with enticing
notes of coffee and dark chocolate for a rich and smooth mouthfeel with layers of texture.

Why We Like It: This limited-edition offering takes everything people love about Apothic
Red and turns it up a notch. A spectacular, mouth-coating blend of zinfandel, merlot, sirrah
and cabernet, it’s incredibly complex and coats the mouth with velvety goodness.

Freakshow Cabernet
Winemaker’s Notes: This 4th incarnation has more of everything…more depth, more ripe
fruit, more pizazz! Nicely balanced with fruit (pomegranate) and oak (showing some
smoke). Warning—it's gulpable!

Why We Like It: If you like classic cabernets, you’ll love this one. No need to aerate, it’s
super smooth upon opening.

7 Deadly Zins
Winemaker’s Notes: Crushed berry, soft oak and cigar box notes create a fragrant appeal
that leaves you wanting more.

Why We Like It: Consistently good. A multi-dimensional, easy-drinking zinfandel that
never fails to please. Buy it for Halloween, but drink it all year long.

The Velvet Devil Merlot
Winemaker’s Notes: This little devil is wrapped in a velvet robe. Full with density and
bursting with flavor. Dark fruit, cherry, blackberry. Brimming with cedar, pipe tobacco and
earth. Truth in a name: Velvet.

Why We Like It: The perfect Halloween wine. As the name implies, it’s velvety smooth,
with bold fruit flavor. We’re partial to Washington state merlots and this one doesn’t disappoint.

Spellbound Petite Sirah
Winemaker’s Notes: Intensity of color, rich black and brambly fruits, vanilla bean and
roasting coffee aromatics are complemented by remarkable approachability.

Why We Like It: Full bodied, highly drinkable, superbly consistent. It’s one of those wines
you can count on to deliver each and every year.

These are a few of our favorites, but there are dozens of wines with spooky names or scary
labels that are still frightfully good enough to please the palates of vampires, ghouls, werewolves…
and the rest of your friends, too.

Visit your local Wine Country Store or Wine & Whiskey Country store and scare up some
bloody good wines for your Monster Mash.

Happy Halloween!

In addition to spending time with loved ones and pausing to reflect on what we are most thankful for, Thanksgiving is all about food. Lots and lots of food. The centerpiece may be the turkey, but it’s your recipes that make your Thanksgiving meal distinctly yours. A reflection of your family, your ancestry, even the region of the country where you are from.

And, all of those dishes need wine (because everything does, doesn’t it?). And there’s no better holiday-worthy wine than Dozen Roses (even the bottles seem dressed for the occasion). After all, holidays call for crowd-pleasing wines, the kind you’ll enjoy just as much as your Great Aunt Mabel and your niece just home on college break.  

Because, whether you choose the red, the white or the rosé, Dozen Roses Wine has the perfect hint of sweetness to work with roasted turkey with cranberry sauce, candied yams, glazed carrots, sweet potato souffle, and of course, homemade apple pie.

But don’t take our word for it, try our Easy Apple Pie recipe, paired with a perfectly chilled glass of Dozen Roses White Wine and get ready for compliments!

Easy Apple Pie

• Store-bought puff pastry pie crust

• 8-10 apples, cored, peeled and sliced (choose your favorite variety, we like Granny Smith, Honeycrisp and Braeburn)

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 tablespoon flour

• 1 tsp. Cinnamon

• ½ tsp. Nutmeg

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Roll out dough if needed and place in bottom of pie pan.

Mix apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in bowl and place in pie shell. Top with second pie crust. Crimp edges together and vent top of crust by making 4-5 slits in top of crust. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 425º for 35-40 minutes. Serve with a chilled glass of Dozen Roses White.

Cheers!