Monthly Archives: June 2013

“The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other.”-Orson Welles (said to have been commenting on the Negroni).

What exactly is a Negroni?

The Negroni is mixed drink said to have been created in Italy about a century ago. The drink is considered an apéritif (I prefer it before dinner, although it may be soothing after as well).

The ingredients are actually very simple; gin, sweet vermouth, and the bright red/orange Italian bitter liqueur Campari in

Your spouse called and said your in-laws are coming for a casual dinner and you need to bring home a bottle or two of wine. It seems simple enough, except the mother-in-law likes sophisticated wines that are usually French and the old man tends to like easy drinking reds on the dry side. So what do you do now?

With these cool evenings, I look forward to cool nights and a nice cup of coffee on the porch or by a backyard fire. I add a little Wahaka Reposado con Gusado Mezcal to my coffee to give it a kick. The Gusado (worm) adds a neat little flavor with the smokiness of the Reposado and takes me back to Oaxaca!

The calendar says its early June but the temperature feels more like the end of July or early August. These are tough days for drinking bold red wines (I’m sweating just thinking about it) or even oaky Chardonnays. It is time for something light, crisp, and refreshing.

Many of you are probably thinking Pinot Grigio which would be a good guess, but actually what I have in mind is a classic (albeit not quite a household name) wine from Portugal known as Vinho Verde.