Like many in the industry, Ian Smedley first got into wine while studying abroad in Italy. Growing up in Maine, Smedley&rsquo;s alcohol exposure leaned craft beer over vino&mdash;that is, until his host family opened his eyes to something different. During evenings in Tuscany, they would open a bottle of homemade wine with dinner each evening. &ldquo;I remember really liking it&mdash;not just because I was a college kid looking to drink, but for its texture and flavors,&rdquo; he recalled.
Smedley returned from Italy to Bard College with a new outlook on wine. He upped his bottle budget from single-digits to the $20 mark, which presented a whole new world of opportunities and flavors. Curious to learn more, he took a summer job at a local winery selling bottles at the farmers&rsquo; market. By the end of the season, he knew he wanted to make wine a career, though he wasn&rsquo;t sure how. &ldquo;I found out about this thing called a sommelier, which potentially meant wine as a career path,&rdquo; he said. Things changed when he was hired as a busboy at Boulud Sud, the place that would ultimately change Smedley&rsquo;s career trajectory.
During his first shifts in 2013, he found himself under the oversight of Michael Madrigale, the restaurant&rsquo;s personality-driven wine director. To this day, Smedley credits Madrigale with creating the gateway for him to learn about wine. &ldquo;It was his belief in me as a person that really opened the door for me,&rdquo; he said. In 2016, Smedley briefly left Boulud Sud for a full-time retail gig at Chambers Street Wines, though when a wine director position opened back up within Boulud&rsquo;s Dinex group, Smedley was the first that the team called.&nbsp;
He remained on the floor of Dinex restaurants through 2022, including reopening Bar Boulud as its wine director post-COVID. In May of 2023, Smedley was presented with a unique opportunity to oversee the program at COQODAQ, New York&rsquo;s fried chicken-centric restaurant with the nation&rsquo;s largest Champagne program. &ldquo;We know the concept of fried chicken and Champagne to work, both texturally and with regards to acidity,&rdquo; he said. Alongside founding partner and beverage director Victoria James and director of beverage operations Mia Van de Water, Smedley and the team sought to take things to the next level.
&ldquo;At the foundations, we decided to offer the biggest Champagne list in America, but we also wanted to have the most options for people,&rdquo; said Smedley. &ldquo;We wanted to share the bluest of the blue chips alongside small, unknown growers and everything in between.&rdquo; That meant making sure to highlight the restaurant&rsquo;s value-forward &ldquo;100 sparkling wines under $100&rdquo; section. &ldquo;The idea is that you can have someone drinking an old, expensive, amazing cru bottle next to someone drinking something incredibly accessible that they&rsquo;ve never heard of.&rdquo; Clearly, this plan worked&mdash;approximately 80 percent of the restaurant&rsquo;s by-the-bottle sales have been Champagne.
Smedley is now the wine director for Gracious Hospitality Management, which includes overseeing the program at COTE Korean Steakhouse in Flatiron. However, he affirmed his commitment to shifting customers&rsquo; mentalities around Champagne consumption, particularly at the table. &ldquo;Chamapgne is an all-meal thing&mdash;we&rsquo;ve always said it, but we&rsquo;ve done it at COQODAQ,&rdquo; he said. At the end of the day, he believes it&rsquo;s about showing people that Champagne is wine, and not a separate category. &ldquo;Sure it has bubbles, but that&rsquo;s part of its heritage and existence. COQODAQ offers an exploration of the region, the terroir, and the people who make it. I love Champagne more than I ever did before.&rdquo;
<h3 dir="ltr">2020 Adrien Dhondt &lsquo;Les Coullemets&rsquo; Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Grand Cru Extra Brut</h3>
This might be one of my favorite wines in a very long time. It comes from superstar Adrien Dhondt's 'Le Projet' line, his exploration of single-site C&ocirc;te des Blancs terroirs from various Grand Cru villages. It is a linear, driven expression, with a pulsating minerality and dense complexity that will only continue to improve. I am always shaken awake upon tasting these wines; their energy bounds rapidly out of the glass, and their vinous depth unfolds over hours of being open. Currently available in its 2020 vintage, which keeps its chalky core underneath a little hedonistic fruit. Like any curious artist, Adrien is constantly shifting focus, and choosing different sites each vintage for Le Projet. I always keep my fingers crossed for another iteration of this lower slope site in Mesnil.
<h3 dir="ltr">2019 Pierre Paillard Ludes Premier Cru Extra Brut</h3>
The Paillard brothers' wines continue to get better and better. I was lucky to know them early in my career, as for a time they made a Cuv&eacute;e Daniel Boulud in my early Dinex days. They've really amped up their excellence, and are now painting various portraits of different Crus all over the Montagne de Reims (in addition to their continued focus on their Home Terroir of Bouzy). It's often hard for me to pick a favorite, as I believe they show deftness and malleability each vintage: adjusting to what they are given and letting the place speak for itself. That said, 2019 is so structured and stunning, and I really really love Meunier. Their 2019 Ludes 1er Cru is purity distilled down to a racy snap, with lengths to go. I am already very excited about it, and look forward to its life down the road.
<h3 dir="ltr">NV Chavost &lsquo;Paradoxe&rsquo; Brut Nature</h3>
We have worked with Chavost's wines since COQODAQ's opening and have always loved their generosity and open, pleasurable texture. Fabian makes wines to be enjoyed now, focusing on minimal intervention and careful, clean farming. Always without sulfites, always Brut Nature.&nbsp;For the first time, he blended together his reserve wines, aged in barrels and casks, and put out my favorite thing he's yet released. It retains the enjoyment, sunshine and quaffability of his wines, but with a little added savor and depth. We have this in a couple different format sizes, only adding to the party of it! Paradoxe is a great example of how Champagne at its core balances time and vintage across texture and evolution to create a little bit of magic.
<h3 dir="ltr">2021 A. Lamblot &lsquo;Mouvance&rsquo; Brut Nature</h3>
Bottled with slightly less grams of sugar than the norm, the delicate mousse of Lamblot's wines makes him one of my favorites, a texture I always want to return to. His focus on biodiversity and vineyard care (from vitiforestry to varied other energy-driven choices) only emphasize the artisan eye he uses to make a variety of different wines, many of which are single parcel representations. He also makes cuv&eacute;e blended across parcels, representing his varied old vines and the terroirs he fabricates into great wines of soul. Mouvance 2021 is one of those wines that somehow encapsulates both yin and yang: it has moments of softness but its fruit is loud; it plays across the palate brightly but its fruit is dark, with brood; it rolls around the palate with ease and softness even while its mineral structure remains hard, etched. There is joy in his art, and every time I taste his wines I immediately seek out more. I feel very lucky to have tasted so many on our COQODAQ Champagne journey.&nbsp;

The Hidden Gems on My Wine List: COQODAQ’s Ian Smedley

What&rsquo;s happening in wine and whiskey this week:
<h3 dir="ltr">This Week&rsquo;s Unicorn Review Stories</h3>
🥃 Susannah Skiver Barton <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/unicorn-review/bill-lumsden-ardbeg-glenmorangie">spoke to Bill Lumsden</a>, master distiller for Ardbeg and Glenmorangie, about his whisky philosophy, penchant for experimentation, and that one time an Ardbeg fan wanted to kill him.
<h3 dir="ltr">New Bottle Releases</h3>
Michter&rsquo;s 10 Year Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Rye (SRP $210)
<a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=michter%27s+10+year+rye&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc">Michter&rsquo;s 10 Year Rye</a> is back for 2026. This year&rsquo;s release, like past ones, is a single barrel expression that was bottled at 92.8 proof, and is made from an undisclosed mashbill that likely falls somewhere just above or at the 51 percent required rye grain. Look for flavors like baking spice, citrus, and some floral notes, with a sweetness and some tannic character from a decade in oak.
Very Olde St. Nick Immaculata (SRP $260)
This is the second release of Preservation Distillery&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Very+Olde+St.+Nick+Immaculata&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc">Very Olde St. Nick Immaculata</a>, following the initial 2023 release. The 2026 edition is a blend of just three barrels bottled at 118.2 proof: 10-year-old and 19-year-old bourbon sourced from another distillery, and 8.5-year-old wheated bourbon distilled at Preservation. Look for notes of toasted almonds, espresso beans, cr&egrave;me br&ucirc;l&eacute;e, dried apricot, fresh blueberries, tobacco, and some black pepper spice on the palate.
<h3 dir="ltr">Unicorn Whiskey Pick of the Week</h3>
Barrell Bourbon Batch 38 (SRP $85)
Over the years, Louisville blending house <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Barrell+Craft+Spirits&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc">Barrell Craft Spirits</a> has become one of the best in the business, sourcing barrels of whiskey from distilleries around the country, blending them, and sometimes giving them unique and innovative cask finishes. Batch 38 of the core expression, Barrell Bourbon, was just released, combining whiskey from four different states into another cask-strength blend of straight bourbons that proves why BCS is a name that you should be familiar with.
<img src="https://directus-11-4sui.onrender.com/assets/ef79dd65-766a-421d-8663-4dd2e7cf334e.jpg?width=1200&amp;height=675" alt="Batch 38"> 
The specs of Batch 38 are as follows: it&rsquo;s a blend of straight bourbons distilled in Kentucky (12-year), Tennessee (12 and 15-year), Indiana (9 and 10-year), and Maryland (8-year). It has a derived mashbill (meaning the mashbill derived from all the bourbons in the blend) of 79% corn, 17% rye, and 4% malted barley, and the whiskey was bottled at cask strength of 116.96 proof (58.48% ABV). The sources of the whiskeys are not revealed, but you might be able to pick some likely suspects based on the source states and ages of each component&hellip; or perhaps not. For example, the Maryland component seems like it could be from Baltimore&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=sagamore+spirit&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc">Sagamore Spirit,</a> but that is just speculation.
The result is another high-quality bourbon from BCS that is full of classic flavors and sips pretty easily at less than 117 proof. Dark, tannic oak notes are present as you sip, which should not be a surprise given the ages of the whiskeys in the blend. This is a pleasant experience, however, and not overpowering, allowing flavors like vanilla, maple, caramel, honey, dark plum to shine, along with black pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg notes.
How do you rate which batch of Barrell Bourbon is the best? The only way to do that is to try them all side by side, an achievable but pretty overwhelming task to undertake. The other option is to not really worry about which one reigns supreme, and just enjoy each batch on its own merits. That&rsquo;s what I would advise here, because Batch 38 is a solid one&mdash;and it comes in a special bottle with a red, white, and blue label to celebrate America&rsquo;s 250th anniversary, if you&rsquo;re feeling a little patriotic as the 4th of July approaches.

The Week in Wine and Whiskey: May 29

What&rsquo;s happening in wine and whiskey this week:
<h3 dir="ltr">This Week&rsquo;s Unicorn Review Stories</h3>
🥃 Gina Pace spoke to Wild Turkey&rsquo;s Bruce Russell about the new Austin Nichols Archive Collection Gold Foil Edition, a tribute to the highly collectible Cheesy Gold Foil whiskeys of the 1980s and 1990s.
<h3 dir="ltr">New Bottle Releases</h3>
Penelope Architects of Golf (SRP $60)
This is the latest release from <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=penelope+bourbon&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Penelope Bourbon</a>, a brand that started out in 2018 by sourcing its whiskey from MGP and is now owned by the distillery. The Architects of Golf collection starts out with three different bottles, each at 94 proof but finished with a unique combination of wooden staves. Golf Hole 1 is said to have notes of dark chocolate, sweet oak, and roasted nuts; Golf Hole 2 is said to have notes of dark chocolate, butterscotch, and vanilla; and Golf Hole 3 is said to have notes of chocolate mousse, vanilla, and oak.&nbsp;
Chicken Cock Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey Blended With Laird's Apple Brandy (SRP $65)
<a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Chicken+Cock&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chicken Cock</a>, a brand that we&rsquo;ve covered before, has an interesting new expression that is worth mentioning. As you can tell by the name, this whiskey, which is being released to celebrate America&rsquo;s 250th anniversary, is a blend of 70% Chicken Cock Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey and 30% Laird&rsquo;s Apple Brandy, both of which were aged for a minimum of four years. As you&rsquo;d expect, the rye whiskey definitely dominates the palate, but the apple brandy shines through as well making this an interesting blend of spirits to try in your favorite cocktail.
<h3 dir="ltr">Unicorn Whiskey Pick of the Week</h3>
Buffalo Trace Single Oak Project Rye Bourbon (SRP $75)
Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Buffalo+Trace&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Buffalo Trace</a> launched two new whiskeys that kind of flew under the radar, at least compared to the distillery&rsquo;s major tentpole annual releases like <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Pappy+Van+Winkle&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pappy Van Winkle</a>, the <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Antique+Collection&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Antique Collection</a>, and ultra-aged <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Eagle+Rare&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eagle Rare</a> bourbons. The pair consisted of <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Low+Entry+Proof+Wheated+Bourbon&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Low Entry Proof Wheated Bourbon</a>, part of its Experimental Collection, and <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=buffalo+trace+%27single+oak%27+rye+bourbon+%28barrel+80%2C+375+ml%29&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Single Oak Rye Bourbon</a>. This week we are going to take a closer look at the latter, and dive into what makes this outstanding bourbon tick.
<img src="https://directus-11-4sui.onrender.com/assets/ece49d5a-72c3-4d53-a3eb-69c3cc04e6bc.jpg?width=1200&amp;height=675" alt="Single Oak"> 
Buffalo Trace launched its Single Oak Project back in 1999, which involved picking 96 oak trees from the Missouri Ozarks and cutting them into 192 individual barrels. To study the effects of maturation on the whiskey, the following steps were varied: mashbill (either wheat or rye bourbon), length of time the staves were seasoned, wood grain size, barrel char level, what part of the tree the staves were cut from, and warehouse type (wooden or concrete floor). In 2011, <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=buffalo+trace+%27single+oak%27+rye+bourbon+%28barrel+80%2C+375+ml%29&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barrel #80</a> was selected by consumers as being a standout from the bunch, and this new permanent release is a recreation of that whiskey in terms of mashbill and maturation conditions.
Specifically, this is Buffalo Trace&rsquo;s rye bourbon (the distillery does not reveal exact mashbills). It was entered at 125 proof into barrels made from staves cut from the bottom half of a tree that were seasoned for 12 months and then charred to level four. This bourbon was aged in one of the distillery&rsquo;s concrete-floored warehouses for a full eight years and the whiskey was bottled at 90 proof. Of course, this is not going to be the same as that initial Single Oak release from 15 years ago, but if you&rsquo;re going to attempt to recreate a past whiskey, this seems to be as close as you can get.
And it&rsquo;s a really tasty bourbon. At 90 proof, there&rsquo;s just a bit of heat on the palate, but nothing that overwhelms the notes of vanilla, caramel, black pepper, oak, maple, cherry, orange, and butterscotch. This bottle might be a bit hard to find&mdash;it&rsquo;s available in 375-ml size at the distillery and select retailers in limited quantities&mdash;but check the <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=single+oak+buffalo+trace&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a> to see if any are available at auction&mdash;if you&rsquo;re a fan of Buffalo Trace&rsquo;s more experimental side, this is one worth checking out.

The Week in Wine and Whiskey: May 22

What&rsquo;s happening in wine and whiskey this week:
<h3 dir="ltr">This Week&rsquo;s Unicorn Review Stories</h3>
🥃 Susannah Skiver Barton <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Little+Book&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc">recommends some bottles to check out</a> if you&rsquo;re a fan of Jack Daniel&rsquo;s Single Barrel Select.
🍷 Gina Pace talked to comedian Eric Wareheim and winemaker Joel Burt about their Las Jaras Wines brand, and how they shaped its identity over the years.
<h3 dir="ltr">New Bottle Releases</h3>
Stitzel Reserve 31 Year Bourbon ($3,000)
This is the second release in the <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Stitzel-weller&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stitzel Reserve</a> collection, following last year&rsquo;s 24-year-old bourbon. Stitzel Reserve 31 Year is, as you can tell by the name, a 31-year-old whiskey. That&rsquo;s really, really old for bourbon, but according to Diageo&rsquo;s director of American whiskey liquid development and capabilities, Nicole Austin, the 13 barrels she selected for this release were outstanding. This bourbon, which was bottled at a staggering 163.2 proof, was not actually distilled at Stitzel-Weller, but it was aged there. The 176 bottles are available to purchase onsite, with a limit of one per customer.
Green River Honey Finished Bourbon Whiskey ($25)
<a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Green+River&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green River </a>may have paused most of its production recently, but the distillery, which is now part of Lofted Spirits with <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Bardstown+Bourbon+Company&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bardstown Bourbon Company</a>, just released this interesting new expression. This is a four-year-old straight bourbon that was finished with honey, which was added directly into the barrel, and bottled at 92 proof. That means it&rsquo;s technically no longer a straight bourbon, or even a bourbon, but a whiskey specialty product. Whatever the case, this is a uniquely honey-flavored bourbon that should work well in a variety of cocktails.
<h3 dir="ltr">Unicorn Whiskey Pick of the Week</h3>
Smokehead 15-Year-Old ($70)
If you&rsquo;re a fan of smoky scotch whisky, you&rsquo;re familiar with all the big names that are located on the island of Islay&mdash;<a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Laphroaig&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Laphroaig</a>, <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Ardbeg&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ardbeg</a>, <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Lagavulin&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lagavulin</a>, Caol Ila, and <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Bowmore&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bowmore</a>, to name a few. Each has its own distinct style, and each produces whisky to its preferred level of smokiness&mdash;some are verifiable smoke bombs, others are more subtle. One peated scotch that prefers to keep its source a secret is Smokehead, a brand owned by Ian Macleod Distillers, which also owns the <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Glengoyne&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Glengoyne</a>, <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Tamdhu&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tamdhu</a>, and Rosebank distilleries. Smokehead recently released a 15-year-old expression, which turns out to be an affordably priced peated whisky that is worth trying.
<img src="https://directus-11-4sui.onrender.com/assets/65544fdb-71bc-430f-91ce-c2a87153a380.jpg?width=1200&amp;height=675" alt="Smokehead 15">
Of course, secrets are meant to be sleuthed, especially when it comes to whisky. With the caveat that nothing I&rsquo;m about to write is confirmed, if you search online there are three likely suspects that come up as being the source of Smokehead&rsquo;s whisky: Ardbeg, Caol Ila, and <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Bunnahabhain&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bunnahabhain</a>. Again, to be clear, none of these are confirmed, so this is just conjecture. But the fact that the distillery is not disclosed, and given that there are only 10 working distilleries on Islay, whisky fans can&rsquo;t help but speculate.
Anyway, on to the bottle at hand. The new 15-year is the oldest expression to date to be released here in the U.S. from this brand that has been around since 2006. Other expressions include the NAS Original and various cask-finished releases, like Sherry Cask Blast and Tequila Cask Terminado. What you can expect here is, of course, a very smoky whisky, with layers of peat that span the range from seaweed to iodine to smoldering campfire. In between there are notes of vanilla, oak, citrus, black pepper, and ripe berries, but if you&rsquo;re drinking Smokehead you&rsquo;re here for the smoke&mdash;and it delivers. This is not the most complex smoky scotch you&rsquo;re ever going to drink, but at about $70 it certainly packs a punch (it&rsquo;s bottled at 86 proof), and at 15 years old it&rsquo;s in that nice mid-range of maturation.
Of course, you&rsquo;re also going to have to get past the packaging. The skull on the label feels like a second rate Punisher logo, and overall the design and even names of these whiskies just feels a bit aggro, a little bro-y, a tad middle school Halloween. Still, it&rsquo;s about what&rsquo;s inside the bottle, not the bottle itself, and if you&rsquo;re a fan of peated single malts this is a whisky worth trying.

The Week in Wine and Whiskey: May 15

More than a decade into <a href="https://lasjaraswines.com">Las Jaras</a>, winemaker Joel Burt and his cofounder, comedian, actor, and director Eric Wareheim, have settled into a clear shared sensibility. Founded in 2015, the winery began as Burt&rsquo;s escape from corporate winemaking and as a way for Wareheim&mdash;best known for Tim &amp; Eric, Master of None, and various food‑driven projects&mdash;to channel a long‑running obsession with wine (he even used to bring his own stemware to restaurants) into something lasting.
&ldquo;We started in 2015 and really tried to make wines that have the spirit of old California&mdash;lower alcohol, food‑friendly, sunshine, but really about balance,&rdquo; Burt said. &ldquo;We try to make it so it&rsquo;s not too much of a good thing.&rdquo;
That balance wasn&rsquo;t immediate. Early fruit sources were &ldquo;not great,&rdquo; as Burt puts it, and the first few vintages were exploratory. But by 2017 to 2018, the winery&rsquo;s sensibility had crystallized: fresh, elegant, and structurally restrained wines with a clear point of view. &ldquo;At first, maybe we were a bit rudderless,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Now all of our wines have a real cohesion. They taste like Las Jaras.&rdquo;
Part of that cohesion comes from the way the winery has grown. Las Jaras now functions less like a single label and more like a small ecosystem. There&rsquo;s the fine‑wine tier, where Burt channels his most technical, site‑driven work into Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. There&rsquo;s the more casual tier of &ldquo;vibe&rdquo; wines, blends built for freshness and drinkability like <a href="https://lasjaraswines.com/products/glou-glou">Glou Glou</a> and <a href="https://lasjaraswines.com/products/superbloom">Super Bloom</a>. And there&rsquo;s the canned <a href="https://lasjaraswines.com/collections/waves">Waves</a> line, which extends the same sensibility into a more portable format.
Burt&rsquo;s background provides some context for that consistency. He grew up in a farming family, worked his way through restaurant kitchens, studied winemaking at Fresno State, and learned early on to value balance over power. &ldquo;In restaurants, you&rsquo;re trying to create balance in food. Same thing in wine,&rdquo; he said. His palate was shaped by lower‑alcohol Zinfandel and Pinot Noir, and later by Loire Chenin Blanc which he studied obsessively before attempting his own. That analytical streak shows up everywhere: in his move away from carbonic maceration (&ldquo;a terroir eraser&rdquo;) and in his experiments with what he calls &ldquo;reverse saign&eacute;e,&rdquo; a technique that lightens red wines by increasing juice‑to‑skin ratio.
Wareheim approaches the project from the hospitality side. &ldquo;Certain pairings are a hug,&rdquo; he said, recalling the kind of familiar, comforting combinations that drew him to restaurants where hospitality is taken seriously. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s that familiarity that feels good.&rdquo; From there, the connection deepens into something more personal.&nbsp;&ldquo;When you love a winemaker and you look forward to that style, it&rsquo;s trust. Some wines are like works of art&hellip; it&rsquo;s nice to care for them like that.&rdquo;
That trust shows up in the Las Jaras&nbsp;<a href="https://lasjaraswines.com/pages/wine-club#/">wine club</a>, which Burt describes as &ldquo;crazy loyal&rdquo;&mdash;attrition is low; curiosity is high. And as the broader natural‑wine world has shifted away from instability and toward precision, Las Jaras has found new traction in restaurants, not just bottle shops.
Their recent Steakhouse Series collab with <a href="https://www.hyatt.com/thompson-hotels/en-US">Thompson Hotels, a trio of dinners meant </a>to celebrate Wareheim&rsquo;s book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Steak-House-People-Places-Recipes/dp/1984862294/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=184791588645&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.t8N6rptaqD4QcXsyjGJSqfGgPOqUc-1T9unPZjfHtZW6XPGPLDA0WmdqfFabgrOBoSFqcXpBaWHY9RJ636NVvIiQnr3qkIF2HGcmvBRt5p4.UM1WOX_NtzikN1Z-6iG1brAULzFVGxLi7upQt8xK8OA&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;hvadid=779707110392&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvexpln=0&amp;hvlocphy=9190755&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvocijid=3437733665531399140--&amp;hvqmt=e&amp;hvrand=3437733665531399140&amp;hvtargid=kwd-2436664010852&amp;hydadcr=22564_13821269_9209&amp;keywords=steakhouse+eric+wareheim&amp;mcid=388052d3b1d23d029766b18e28a8bd0b&amp;qid=1776676140&amp;sr=8-1">Steak House, </a>became a natural showcase for the winery&rsquo;s more structured wines. &ldquo;We made a Cabernet for the book that&rsquo;s so good,&rdquo; said Burt. &ldquo;People are shocked, because they&rsquo;re used to American Cabernet being big and oaky. Ours is elegant.&rdquo;
For Wareheim, the dinners were a chance to show that Las Jaras isn&rsquo;t just about the playful blends&mdash;it&rsquo;s a winery making everything from bright, chillable reds to serious, age‑worthy bottles. &ldquo;All the wine is really good, but now we have these fine wines Joel&rsquo;s made," he said. "And they&rsquo;re so incredible that it&rsquo;s fun to show people this other side of our company."
<h3 dir="ltr">Joel Burt&rsquo;s Las Jaras Wine Picks</h3>
2023 C&eacute;zanne Chenin Blanc (Mendocino County), $36
Burt&rsquo;s <a href="https://lasjaraswines.com/products/2023-cezanne-chenin-blanc">Chenin Blanc</a> is the clearest expression of his technical rigor. He tasted &ldquo;hundreds&rdquo; of Loire Chenins before attempting his own, and he&rsquo;s adamant about what he doesn&rsquo;t want: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want a wine that&rsquo;s soft, flabby, oxidized, or off‑dry,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very adamant about no skin contact.&rdquo; The result is a tightly coiled, mineral‑driven white with the saline snap of Saumur and the precision of a winemaker who presses lightly, protects aromatics, and avoids phenolic heaviness. It&rsquo;s a wine built for oysters, goat cheese, and anything that needs a clean, architectural line of acidity.
2023 La Belle Promenade Chardonnay (Chehalem Mountains, Oregon), $58
From a 900‑foot vineyard in the Chehalem Mountains, <a href="https://lasjaraswines.com/products/labellepromenade-chardonnay">this Chardonnay</a> is pressed gently, fermented for a full year in tight‑grain Austrian oak, and then moved to stainless steel to firm up the structure. Burt adapted the approach from top Burgundy producers, and the result is a wine with clear definition and acidity&mdash;built to handle seafood, roast chicken, or anything that benefits from a clean, structured white. &ldquo;This is really it for me &hellip; exactly the Chardonnay I feel I should be making,&rdquo; he said.
2023 La Belle Promenade Pinot Noir (Chehalem Mountains, Oregon), $65
This Pinot Noir comes from two distinct blocks at La Belle Promenade. The first&mdash;the &ldquo;orchestra block&rdquo;&mdash;is a massal‑selection planting, meaning it&rsquo;s made up of many different Pinot Noir clones interplanted at random. Instead of a single commercial clone, the vines come from cuttings taken from the best plants in the vineyard, creating natural variation in ripeness and flavor. Burt picks this block on the early side because he doesn&rsquo;t like to add acid later in the winemaking process.
The second block is Pommard clone, and Burt ferments about 20% of it as whole clusters to bring a subtle spice note. In the cellar, he keeps extraction extremely light. When red wine ferments, the grape skins rise to the top and form a thick &ldquo;cap.&rdquo; Many winemakers punch that cap down to extract more color and tannin; Burt doesn&rsquo;t. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t even punch down &hellip; I just kind of get the cap wet,&rdquo; he said. That gentle approach produces softer, finer‑grained tannins and a more delicate structure. The finished wine is red‑fruited, lightly savory, and versatile at the table&mdash;easy with duck, mushrooms, or seared tuna.
2025 Slipper Sippers (Nouveau‑Style Red), $25
Born out of the 2020 fire year&mdash;when carbonic maceration was the only way to avoid extracting smoke taint&mdash;<a href="https://lasjaraswines.com/products/slipper-sippers?srsltid=AfmBOor8J1kkHI18KluPSQ_we1vKaMz8Uizv6MH6w9Xcqvro8WBLL7Yx">Slipper Sippers</a> has since become a cult favorite. Burt doesn&rsquo;t usually love full carbonic wines; he finds they can taste volatile or too similar to one another. But he kept refining the approach, and by 2025, he said he&rsquo;s &ldquo;fully nailed this wine &hellip; mega light, super juicy, bright acidity.&rdquo;
His solution is a hybrid technique he calls reverse saign&eacute;e. Instead of bleeding juice off the skins to concentrate a red wine, he does the opposite: he adds juice back to the ferment to raise the juice‑to‑skin ratio. That dilutes the carbonic signature and keeps the wine fresh. The result is bright, crunchy, and effortless&mdash;the bottle you chill, open, and finish without thinking.
2022 Steak House Cabernet Sauvignon (Blend&mdash;87% Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma&rsquo;s Dry Creek Valley, 13% Zinfandel from Mendocino), $36
Created to pair with Wareheim&rsquo;s Steak House book, <a href="https://lasjaraswines.com/products/steak-house-cabernet-sauvignon">this Cabernet</a> is a deliberate throwback. &ldquo;Old‑school Cabernet &hellip; soft and lush but still has acidity,&rdquo; Burt said. A touch of Zinfandel rounds the edges, and extended aging gives it the suppleness of a wine from another era. It&rsquo;s built for ribeye, lamb chops, or a classic wedge.
2022 Sweet Berry Wine (Blend&mdash;57% Zinfandel, 25% Petite Sirah, 18% Carignan; primarily Mendocino County), $42
<a href="https://lasjaraswines.com/products/2022-sweet-berry-wine">The wine</a> that started the partnership remains one of its most expressive. &ldquo;The most elegant one we&rsquo;ve ever made,&rdquo; Burt said. &ldquo;I kind of make all my reds to be shaped like a Pinot Noir even though they&rsquo;re made of different varieties.&rdquo; Here, Zinfandel, Carignan, and Petite Sirah come together in a dark, aromatic wine that finishes with surprising finesse. It&rsquo;s the bottle for barbecue braises, holiday dinners or drinking by a fire.

The Spirit of Old Calfornia—An Interview with Eric Wareheim and Joel Burt of Las Jaras Wines

What&rsquo;s happening in wine and whiskey this week:
<h3 dir="ltr">This Week&rsquo;s Unicorn Review Stories</h3>
🥃 Gina Pace picked some of the <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/unicorn-review/best-tequila-for-whiskey-fans">best aged tequilas for whiskey drinkers</a>, from single estate expressions to anejos aged in wine barrels to a reposado matured in Japanese mizunara oak.
🍷 Alissa Bica Raines took a <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/unicorn-review/new-zealand-central-otago-wine-region">deep dive into the world of New Zealand&rsquo;s Central Otago region</a>, exploring its world-renowned Pinot Noir and highlighting a range of white wines that are worth collecting.
<h3 dir="ltr">New Bottle Releases</h3>
TX Whiskey Texas Straight Rye Whiskey Full Proof ($40)
This is the 16th edition of TX Whiskey&rsquo;s Experimental Series, which highlights the Fort Worth distillery&rsquo;s use of different mashbills and maturation techniques. This rye whiskey was aged for seven years and bottled at 120 proof, an attempt to showcase how the specific climate in Texas affects a whiskey&rsquo;s flavor. Look for notes of toasted oak, cinnamon, molasses and caramel, along with a healthy dose of spice.
Jack Daniel&rsquo;s Halo MK1 Tennessee Whiskey ($600)
<a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=jack+daniel%27s&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_aschttps://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Jack+Daniel%E2%80%99s&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc">Jack Daniel&rsquo;s</a> partnered with the Formula 1 McLaren Racing team back in 2022, and has released special edition bottles every year since. Those have basically been the same whiskey as you&rsquo;d find in a bottle of Old No. 7 with different label designs, although sometimes the proof has been bumped up. But the latest release is something totally different&mdash;Halo MK1 is a $600 bottle of whiskey aged in barrels made from staves that were seasoned for much longer than usual, and the liquid was bottled at an impressive 117.4 proof. Look for notes of caramel, chocolate, pipe tobacco, and baking spice.
<h3 dir="ltr">Unicorn Whiskey Pick of the Week</h3>
Glenmorangie Harrison Ford Limited Edition ($100)
There are a lot of celeb-backed booze brands out there, and most of them fall into the tequila category. From George Clooney&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Casamigos&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Casamigos</a> to Kendall Jenner&rsquo;s 818 to The Rock&rsquo;s Teremana, there&rsquo;s a face and persona for everyone looking for an agave spirit. The whiskey world doesn&rsquo;t have quite as many examples, but there are a few of note. Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=brother%27s+bond+bourbon&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brother&rsquo;s Bond</a> is one of the best, and it&rsquo;s a brand that the two actors seem to be quite actively involved in. More recently, Willem Dafoe partnered with smoky scotch distillery <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Laphroaig&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Laphroaig</a>. Concurrently, Harrison Ford embarked upon an ad campaign with Highland distillery <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Glenmorangie&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Glenmorangie</a> called &ldquo;Once Upon a Time in Scotland,&rdquo; and the corresponding whisky has finally arrived. It&rsquo;s aptly called Glenmorangie Harrison Ford Limited Edition, and it&rsquo;s a classic example of a single malt that you might expect from this distillery, with or without Ford&rsquo;s name attached to it.
<img src="https://directus-11-4sui.onrender.com/assets/aac13657-6d2d-4e4b-bc8f-45c25908089e.png?width=1200&amp;height=675" alt="Harrison Ford Limited Edition K V2"> 
Of course, the official line is that Ford &ldquo;co-created&rdquo; the whisky, and there might be some truth to that, but it&rsquo;s always good to take it with a grain of salt. The reality is more likely that director of whisky creation Dr. Bill Lumsden MBE and his team did most of the heavy lifting. He&rsquo;s often called the mad scientist or Willy Wonka of whisky, but we are not going to do that here because it&rsquo;s a total cliche. What we will say is that he&rsquo;s been responsible for some very unique and innovative whiskies from both Glenmorangie and its sister distillery <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Ardbeg&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ardbeg</a> over the years.
This new whisky might not fit that bill as far as going to the extremes of barley varietal or maturation experimentation, but it&rsquo;s still a very nice version of Glenmorangie&rsquo;s house style that has been given a cask finish. In other words, this is a non-age statement single malt that was initially aged in bourbon barrels and then given a secondary maturation in toasted Portuguese red wine casks. It&rsquo;s bright and zesty with notes of honey, maple, cherry, vanilla, spiced apple, orange marmalade, and dark chocolate on the palate, with a bit of heat slowly lingering beyond your final sip.
Like Laphroaig&rsquo;s collab with Willem Dafoe, Glenmorangie Harrison Ford Limited Edition stays true to the distillery&rsquo;s core character, but just gives it a little boost, a bit of a spin, a wee twist. This single malt is not the most interesting whisky Glenmorangie has ever released, but it&rsquo;s a very satisfying sipper that fans of the distillery&rsquo;s honeyed, citrusy, vanilla-infused character will certainly enjoy.

The Week in Wine and Whiskey: May 8

Few wine regions in the world are as visually arresting as New Zealand&rsquo;s Central Otago, the world&rsquo;s most southerly grape-growing region. Jagged mountains aptly-named The Remarkables rise above glacial lakes, vineyards cling to schist-covered slopes, and the air carries a crisp alpine clarity that feels almost cinematic&mdash;and I&rsquo;m not just saying that because The Lord of the Rings was filmed here.&nbsp;
Here, Pinot Noir is king, accounting for roughly 80 percent of the region&rsquo;s vineyard plantings. But I also encountered killer Chardonnay, electrifying Riesling, and a new-to-me grape called Osteiner, which suggests the story here may be bigger than Pinot alone.
Central Otago&rsquo;s climate&mdash;cool, dry, and southern&mdash;was once considered so extreme that skeptics doubted grapes could ripen successfully here. But these are also the attributes that set it apart. Martinborough&mdash;New Zealand&rsquo;s Pinot Noir region on the North Island&mdash;is flatter, coastal and maritime, with warm gravel terraces and long dry autumns that often yield sunny, juicy, generous wines. Central Otago, by contrast, is the country&rsquo;s only true continental climate, surrounded by mountains and glacial valleys with high altitude vineyards that create dense, structured wines.&nbsp;
This continental climate brings extreme diurnal temperature variation reaching 45 degrees during the growing season. This helps the grapes achieve full ripeness, while retaining bright, natural acidity, moderate alcohol levels, and fresh aromatics.&nbsp;
Another unique aspect of Central Otago is the atmosphere. The ozone layer over the South Island is literally thinner here, allowing more UV radiation to reach the ground. Coupled with high altitude, low pollution levels, and cloudless days, that&rsquo;s a lot of sun reaching the vines. To protect themselves, grapes produce more anthocyans (color compounds) and phenolics (aromatic compounds) which contribute tannin and structure.&nbsp;
To combat high tannins and richness, the top&nbsp; Central Otago producers have moved toward earlier picking and lower alcohols. These are site-driven wines, emphasizing restrained fruit, tension, acid, minerality, and florals&mdash;practically Burgundian in nature. Tasting Pinot Noirs from the regions of Wānaka, Gibbston, Cromwell, and Bannockburn feels like tasting down the C&ocirc;te de Nuits.
<h3 dir="ltr">A Gold Rush Beginning</h3>
The area was first settled around 1862, when gold was discovered and prospectors flooded the area in a wave not unlike California&rsquo;s Gold Rush. Among them were Jean D&eacute;sir&eacute; F&eacute;raud, a French miner who planted vines, and Romeo Bragato, one of New Zealand&rsquo;s first viticulturists, who declared the region suitable for grape growing.
After a century of false starts, the late 1970s brought three pioneers&mdash;Alan Brady, Ann Pinckney, and Rolfe Mills&mdash;who started making wine in the Alpine foothills north and east of Queenstown. Brady founded Gibbston Valley winery, one of the region&rsquo;s first commercial estates. Pinckney, a trained horticulturist, briefly made wine under her Taramea label.
But it was Rolfe Mills&rsquo; Rippon that truly catapulted Central Otago onto the global stage when its 1992 Pinot Noir won Best Red Wine at the New Zealand Wine Show.
<h3 dir="ltr">Rippon: The Estate That Put Central Otago on the Map</h3>
Family legend has it that Rolfe Mills first conceived the idea of planting grapes on the family&rsquo;s Wānaka Station farm after serving in Europe during World War II. The steep schist vineyards of Portugal&rsquo;s Douro Valley reminded him of home. In 1975, Rolfe and his wife Lois planted 30 different varieties of experimental vines. Over time they narrowed their selections to Pinot Noir, Riesling, Osteiner, Sauvignon Blanc, and Gew&uuml;rztraminer.
Located about 45 miles north of Queenstown, Wānaka feels a world apart from the more populous subregions of Cromwell and Bannockburn. Cooler and slightly wetter, Rippon&rsquo;s vineyards sit above Lake Wānaka, where the lake&rsquo;s thermal mass moderates temperature swings and helps protect against frost, and near the Southern Alps, which provides a rain shadow. Ruby Island, positioned offshore, further softens the vineyard&rsquo;s climate.
Most rainfall occurs in spring, followed by hot, dry summers and extended autumns, conditions that provide a long growing season once thought impossible this far south. Cool mornings and nights preserve the region&rsquo;s hallmark acidity. According to current winemaker Nick Mills, Rolfe&rsquo;s son, those conditions create wines defined by precision and articulation of tannin over rich, fleshy fruit.
Nick assumed winemaking responsibilities after his father&rsquo;s passing and converted the estate to biodynamic farming in 2002. Under his stewardship, Rippon produces two single-vineyard Pinot Noirs, Tinker&rsquo;s Field and Emma&rsquo;s Block.
Tinker&rsquo;s Field, planted between 1986 and 1989, contains the estate&rsquo;s oldest vines on sunny north-facing slopes protected by Ruby Island. Its coarse schist soils produce powerful, structured Pinot Noirs. Emma&rsquo;s Block, planted in 1991, lies closer to the lake on east-facing ancient clay reefs interlaced with schist gravels. The wines are softer and more delicate, combining red fruit with stony minerality.
While Rippon is best known for Pinot Noir, I was intrigued by its two and a half acres of Osteiner, a German cross of Riesling and Sylvaner. Today, it is nearly extinct in Germany, with only about ten acres still planted.&nbsp;
Rippon&rsquo;s version is vivid and electric, like a wilder cousin of Riesling: high-acid and mineral-driven, with lemon pith, honeysuckle, flinty wet stone, and a seashell-like salinity. It may never rival the popularity of the estate&rsquo;s Pinot Noir, but it&rsquo;s worth seeking out.
<h3 dir="ltr">A New Generation of Estates</h3>
Rippon&rsquo;s success helped spark a wave of vineyard development throughout Central Otago.
A key figure was Stewart Elms, who established Felton Road in 1991 in Bannockburn. He later sold the winery to British entrepreneur Nigel Greening, who expanded the estate while retaining the original team.
Under winemaker Blair Walter, Felton Road produced its first Pinot Noir in 1997. Today the wines&mdash;marked by dark cherry fruit, dried florals, and wild herbs&mdash;are among Central Otago&rsquo;s most acclaimed. Critic Bob Campbell deftly summed up the 2024 Bannockburn Pinot Noir with, &ldquo;This wine makes my heart beat faster.&rdquo;
Mine did too when I tasted Felton Road&rsquo;s 2023 Bannockburn Chardonnay with a parsnip tortellini in brown butter at Queenstown&rsquo;s Rodd &amp; Gunn restaurant. The wine started out sleek and restrained, before a pop of honey and lemon curd ran across the midpalate, finishing with delicate acacia wood spice&mdash;sensual and ethereal.
Actor Sam Neill, best known for Jurassic Park, also helped bring international attention to Central Otago through his winery Two Paddocks, founded in 1993. The name comes from Neill&rsquo;s idea that he and his neighbor, film director Roger Donaldson, would each plant a paddock of vines and make wine together.
The standout wine is the Last Chance Pinot Noir, produced only in select vintages from the Earnscleugh terraces in Alexandra. Elegant, sprightly, and aromatic, the wine offers red fruit, wild thyme, and crunchy wet leaf notes while clocking in at a refreshing 12.5 percent alcohol.
<h3 dir="ltr">Burn Cottage: Pinot Noir in an Amphitheater</h3>
Burn Cottage has come later to the party, an influential estate founded in 2002 by American wine importers Marquis and Dianne Sauvage, who bought property in Cromwell.
&ldquo;We chose the Burn Cottage site due to its unique location,&rdquo; Sauvage said. &ldquo;It had the look of the great vineyards of Europe&mdash;a gentle sloping amphitheater with perfect exposure.&rdquo;
Burn Cottage&rsquo;s vines curve around a sheltered hillside basin facing northeast, maximizing sun exposure and offering protection from strong winds. The soils&mdash;broken-down schist and granite from ancient riverbeds pushed upward by glacial activity&mdash;are well suited to Pinot Noir, limiting vigor and encouraging deep root systems.
Claire Mulholland took over for Lemon as lead winemaker in 2010. Mulholland harvests over a period of three weeks, using differing percentages of whole cluster fermentation, hand plunging, and maceration lengths based on each block&rsquo;s flavors. During the fermentation process, each lot is tasted twice a day to assess its progress.
The Pinots at Burn Cottage are graceful and pretty, with fine tannins supporting cherry, raspberry bramble, violet florals, and cool stony minerality. By contrast, their Sauvage Vineyard Pinot Noir tends to be richer and more textural, with deeper blackberry fruit and firmer tannins.&nbsp;
Burn Cottage is also known for its Riesling Gr&uuml;ner Veltliner blend. About one acre of Riesling and half an acre of Gr&uuml;ner Veltliner (extremely rare in Central Otago) share a hilltop in the Burn Cottage property. Originally intended to be bottled separately, early yields were so small that the team blended them, resulting in a vibrant, food-friendly wine combining crunchy lime and ginger spice from the Riesling with stone fruit and subtle herbal notes from the Gr&uuml;ner.
<h3 dir="ltr">A Region Coming Into Its Own</h3>
Central Otago has grown from just 11 producers in 1996 to more than 130 today, quietly becoming one of the world&rsquo;s most compelling Pinot Noir regions. The unique combination of altitude, coolness, and intense sunlight creates wines that are ripe without heaviness, aromatic but structured, and fresh despite sunny days.
With Burgundy prices climbing and climate change reshaping traditional wine regions, Central Otago&rsquo;s cool southern latitude may give it an even stronger foothold in the global market.
But if the region&rsquo;s future is built on Pinot Noir, its aromatic whites shouldn&rsquo;t be overlooked. The Rieslings, Gr&uuml;ner Veltliners, Osteiners, and Chenin Blancs I encountered prove that Central Otago&rsquo;s story may be broader and more exciting than anyone expected.

New Zealand's Central Otago Wine Region is a Pinot Noir Haven That Collectors Should Pay Attention To

What&rsquo;s happening in wine and whiskey this week:
<h3 dir="ltr">This Week&rsquo;s Unicorn Review Stories</h3>
🥃 Gina Pace picked some of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/unicorn-review/best-bourbons-kentucky-derby">best bottles of bourbon to drink during the Kentucky Derby</a> this year, from official Derby-affiliated expressions to bourbons that encompass the spirit of the event.
<h3 dir="ltr">New Bottle Releases</h3>
Abraham Bowman Special Release #26 Rye Whiskey ($80)
This is the first rye whiskey that the <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=A.+Smith+Bowman&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A. Smith Bowman</a> distillery has released since 2010. Abraham Bowman Special Release #26 (110 proof) was entirely distilled and aged onsite at the Virginia distillery, which is not always the case&mdash;this is a sister distillery to <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Buffalo+Trace&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Buffalo Trace</a>, and some of the whiskey is first distilled there or at another Sazerac distillery before being shipped to Bowman and redistilled. Look for notes of vanilla, apricot, black pepper, and spice on the palate.
Blue Run Blueprint Series ($70)
This new release takes the role of flagship bourbon for <a href="https://www.unicornauctions.com/search?term=Blue+Run&amp;state=LIVE%26UPCOMING&amp;sortBy=number_asc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blue Run</a>, a brand owned by Molson Coors Beverage Company. It was blended by head of whiskey and innovation Shaylyn Gammon, combining two different mashbills&mdash;a wheated recipe and an experimental mashbill known as &ldquo;Founders' Mash&rdquo; (details are not revealed)&mdash;and bottled at 105 proof. This bourbon is meant to be sipped or used in a cocktail like an Old Fashioned, with notes of orchard fruit, vanilla, cinnamon, baking spice, and and toasted oak.
<h3 dir="ltr">Unicorn Whiskey Pick of the Week</h3>
Cedar Ridge Pete &amp; Sherri Married &mdash; 2nd Anniversary ($100)
Do you give whiskey made in Iowa much thought? And no, I&rsquo;m not talking about Templeton Rye, which is actually making whiskey at its Iowa distillery after sourcing from MGP for many years (it still does that too, to be clear). But have you heard of Cedar Ridge Distillery? That name is a reason to pay attention to Iowa whiskey, because it&rsquo;s making some really good stuff, and the latest example is the third installment in the Pete &amp; Sherri Married series, which is part of its QuintEssential Special Release series. That&rsquo;s a lot of setup, so let&rsquo;s explain what this whiskey is all about.
<img src="https://directus-11-4sui.onrender.com/assets/7402554b-da20-4539-96d8-71072fd22a0d.jpg?width=1200&amp;height=675" alt="Cedar Ridge"> 
Cedar Ridge makes different kinds of whiskey, but it excels in particular at making American single malt, which is what this new release is. The QuintEssential series focuses on this style, and for this release master blender Murphy Quint blended single malts aged from six to nine years together, and bottled it at cask strength of 116.8 proof (58.4% ABV), with no chill filtration and, of course, no color. The two main whiskeys in the blend are as follows: single malt made from two-row pale malted barley initially aged in ex-bourbon barrels from the distillery and then finished in Pedro Xim&eacute;nez and Oloroso sherry hogsheads; and peated malt whiskey initially matured in the distillery&rsquo;s bourbon barrels and then finished in amontillado sherry butts.
The result is a really complex and rich sipper, with notes of dried fruit, black pepper, creme brulee, ripe grapes and dried raisins, dark chocolate, and cinnamon. At nearly 117 proof, there&rsquo;s a flash of heat on the palate as you sip, ending with a lingering bit of warmth that lasts for a moment or so after the liquid is gone from your glass. If you like this whiskey, and I&rsquo;m pretty sure you will, there will be more to come, as the series continues to focus on different blends and cask finishes. In the meantime, give the rest of the Cedar Ridge lineup a try as well, and you may decide that Iowa whiskey is something you need to start paying more attention to.

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The Spirit of Old Calfornia—An Interview with Eric Wareheim and Joel Burt of Las Jaras Wines

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Travel

New Zealand's Central Otago Wine Region is a Pinot Noir Haven That Collectors Should Pay Attention To

Travel

New Zealand's Central Otago Wine Region is a Pinot Noir Haven That Collectors Should Pay Attention To

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Travel

New Zealand's Central Otago Wine Region is a Pinot Noir Haven That Collectors Should Pay Attention To

Travel

New Zealand's Central Otago Wine Region is a Pinot Noir Haven That Collectors Should Pay Attention To

Bourbon

The Week in Wine and Whiskey: May 1

Bourbon

The Week in Wine and Whiskey: May 1

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