Oude Geuze (lambic), Drie Fonteinen, Belgium   (6.5% abv)   Last night, one of my co-workers asked me what my favorite beer on our list is.   I was paralyzed.  Whoa, choose one?  But these are my babies and they’re all unique in their own way!  How could I possibly zero it down to one?  I felt like […]

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La Lettre à Élise (100% Chenin Blanc), Domaine Mosse, NV, Loire Valley (13.5 % abv) I’m a ridiculously huge fan of the whites from the Loire Valley.  Just as Pavlov’s dogs salivate at the sound of his bell, simply saying the words “white” and “Loire” in the same sentence around me will cause feverish sweats […]

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“Epic”: very imposing or impressive; surpassing the ordinary (especially in size or scale); “an epic voyage”; “of heroic proportions” This past Friday night, we embarked on an epic voyage.  Like brave conquistadors in search of the riches of the world, our ragtag faction of BrewYorker’s (a group of NY-based homebrewers, probrewers, beer bloggers and all-around […]

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Dearest readers, I am stoked to share some exciting news with you.  In addition to my vinous, brewish and libatious duties here at Grapes & Grains, I am pleased to announce that I will be expanding my reach further into the realm of the blogosphere… I have been invited to join the staff of the New […]

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Can the spirit of the land be captured in a bottle?  Can time, geography and culture be turned into liquid?  Yes it can. The Finger Lakes is a place of magic with rolling countrysides, vineyards, orchards, lakes and hamlets that remind me more of Ireland than the US.  And there, Finger Lakes Distilling is cranking […]

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There’s some funky shit going on in the US craft beer scene, and one brewery is leading the charge.  Located far from the usual suspects on the West coast, the East Coast and the Colorado beer belt, one must travel to the tiny town of Dexter, Michigan (population of around 3,000), to find Jolly Pumpkin […]

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Blanc de Franc (100% Cabernet Franc), Couly-Dutheil, NV (but really 2008), Loire Valley The magicians at Couly-Dutheil have performed a trick that baffles the eye. They pulled back their cloak, placed a bunch of red Cabernet Franc grapes behind it, said an incantation to the spirits of the Loire, and, walla kazaam, a le vini, […]

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Like any good Irishman, I gave homage to the beer on St Patrick’s Day (and, like any good Irishman, it didn’t involve green food coloring).  But unlike a good Irishman, it didn’t involve Stout or the hailing of the all-powerful Guinness.  It involved Bavaria.  And for posterity sake, i decided to film the event.  Little […]

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Ah Mezcal, poor Mezcal, so misunderstood. For decades, you sit there, collecting dust, a bottle, a worm, no one will drink. Then the rare occasion, someone is dared, the bottle is opened, passed around, every drop is gone, even the worm, it doesn’t end well. Ah, but then I saw it, the bottle behind, hidden […]

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Quadrupel, Malheur 12°, Brouwerij De Landtsheer NV, Buggenhout, Belgium (12.0% alc) The Belgians don’t pussyfoot around with their beer.  Not only is their country regarded as the Holy Grail for beer lovers, but they have a penchant for naming their beers with an ironic sense of danger that will draw a gasp from the most […]

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Dunkelweizen, Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu, München, Germany (5.0% alc) You gotta love it when your friends prepare to move and unload their stuff on you.  Especially when its their booze. A good friend of mine, Tamara, has just moved to London to begin a new adventure overseas.  The fortunate thing for me is that she had amassed quite a wine […]

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Principio (100% Ciliegiolo), Antonio Camillo, 2008, Tuscany (13.5% Alc) “Hey, after you go in search of God, can you bring me back some vines?” And so it was that an obscure grape varietal named Ciliegiolo left its home in Spain and came to rest in Tuscany.  Or so its rumored…and only God knows the truth. […]

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Baltic Porter, Oy Sinebrychoff Ab, Kerava, Finland (7.2% alc) I hereby declare that all of our soldiers be supplied with the latest in body armor technology, lightweight night-vision goggles and Camelbak drinking systems filled with Imperial Porter. In an attempt to fill out my beer list at Hearth and Terroir with some eclectic, international styles […]

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What’s life without the barrel? It seems that everywhere I look these days, my favorite breweries are releasing tricked-out, new barrel-aged beers. Port barrels, whisky barrels, sherry casks, madeira casks, wine barrels.  Its kind of dizzying. What’s next?  Monkey barrels?  Fish barrels?  Oil drums?  (Who knows, perhaps an Exxon Light Crude Porter would pair beautifully with my […]

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Autumn is the bite of a harvest apple. – Christina Petrowsky All hail the glorious apple.  Man’s relationship with this versatile and forbidden fruit goes back thousands of years.  Today, there are over 55 million tons of apples produced worldwide each year…now that’s some serious fanaticism. I was tasked to bring in 6-8 new ciders […]

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