Subject: Beverages

• Puffing Stogies With The Suits At Palio D'Asti

  May 21, 2008

• $5 Wine Tasting This Friday @ The Jug Shop

  June 4, 2008

• Staycation Alert: Wine and Dine at Daffodil Restaurant

  July 15, 2008

• Boozing in North Beach

  August 15, 2008

• Largest Tasting of California Wines in the World!

  August 25, 2008

• Cocktails for the Convention

  September 2, 2008

• Cellar Rat: Week One at Unti Vineyards

  September 12, 2008

• SF Weekly's Seven-Day Dish

  September 23, 2008

• Cellar Rat: Week Four at Unti Vineyards

  October 3, 2008

• Drink of the Week: Vignette's Rosé Soda

  October 17, 2008

• The Rob Roy: A Wee Dram, Hold the Cherry

  dseang via FlickrBarrel-aged Balvenie: Steel yourself to do the unspeakableThe Broken Record saloon (1166 Geneva at Edinburgh) not only serves exceptional pub grub, their whisky selection is breathtaking: well over a hundred different ryes, bourbons, and scotches, most of it from the top of the shelf and served by a squad of barkeeps who know their stuff (read our review here). Following the local trend, the majority are single malt scotches, and while we admire and respect the smoky intensity o

  June 2, 2009

• Day Trip: Ahlgren Vineyard & Castle Rock State Park

  Ahlgren Vineyard, known for its Semillon, is one of the best wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

  January 23, 2009

• Weird-Ass Beer of the Week: Allagash Curieux

  This pricy brew has a definite bourbon aftertaste.

  January 26, 2009

• We Love Lovejoy's Attic, as Well as Its Tea Room

  We were reminded, when we read the following delightful passage from Writers' Favorite Recipes, our new favorite book which we wrote about here, by the somewhat insalubriously named Kay Dick, that we'd promised ourselves to revisit Lovejoy's Tea Room and/or Crown & Crumpet very soon, two perfectly adorable tearooms which we wrote about here, as part of our New Year's resolutions."The meal I absolutely adore is tea, that much despised and rare feast, which brings out all my incipient  indol

  January 27, 2009

• Thirsty Reads: Corkscrewed (plus reading-tasting events)

  A dozen French winemakers reject technology in favor of traditional practices and local flavors.

  February 12, 2009

• SF Wine Events, Feb. 13-22

  Bust out the bubbly, Saturday's Valentine's Day!

  February 15, 2009

• SF Wine Events, Feb. 20-March 1

  All proceeds from the 2/20 Victorian wine tasting and 2/24 dinner will go to the Australian Red Cross's bushfire relief efforts.

  February 24, 2009

• Wine Events, Feb. 27 - March 7

  Tre Bicchieri admission includes a copy of "Italian Wines 2009."

  February 27, 2009

• Wine Events, Mar. 6-14

  Pick of the week (if you can't afford the $150 Spruce dinner): Axel Stieglmar at CAV

  March 6, 2009

• Pig Out: Pigs and Pinot Festival in Healdsburg, March 20 to 21

  Looks like SFoodies will find lots to choose from in Sonoma the weekend of March 20, between the Artisanal Cheese Festival that we wrote about in Petaluma, and Charlie Palmer's Fourth Annual Celebration of Pigs and Pinot, a series of dining and educational events hosted by Palmer at the Hotel Healdsburg. (Proceeds will benefit Share Our Strength and the Healdsburg School.)Friday night from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m., at Taste of Pigs and Pinot, you can sample over 50 Pinot Noirs from Sonoma County, accom

  March 7, 2009

• Cheap Wines That Don't Suck: 2005 Grange Tiphaine Touraine Bécarre

  Bécarre is the French word for the natural sign (♮) in musical notation.

  March 10, 2009

• Wine & Beer Events, March 13-22

  Tuesday is St. Patrick's Day ... maybe some Ch. McCarthy?

  March 13, 2009

• Wine Label War: EU vs. USA

  "Champagne" is usually a bad sign on a bottle of California sparkling wine, anyway.

  March 13, 2009

• Wine & Beer Events, March 20-28

  The Rhone Rangers Grand Tasting is this week's hot ticket.

  March 20, 2009

• Cheap Wines That Don't Suck: 2007 Trentatre Rosso

  This tastes a bit like a rustic old-school Rioja.

  March 31, 2009

• Tea from Two

  Treat yourself to English tapas at tearooms old and new.

  December 24, 2008

• The fight for the bohemian soul of North Beach's Caffe Trieste

  December 10, 2008

• Voodoo on the Vine

  November 19, 2008

• Not Quite Ripe

  Send it back: Bottle Shock is corked.

  August 6, 2008

• Spit or Swallow

  June 25, 2008

• Cheap Wines That Don't Suck: Domaine Voarick Crémant de Bourgogne

  A burrito's best friendFeeling effervescent, but your wallet is more Charmat than Champenoise? Crémant is your best answer. Sparkling wine (almost always French), made via the time-intensive Champagne method, Crémant is less austere than its famous cousin but elegant in its own right, especially the bottlings from Burgundy. Domaine Voarick Crémant de Bourgogne, on sale for $9.99 (originally $16.99) at K&L Wines (638 Fourth St.), is part Chardonnay, part Pinot Noir, the two traditional grape

  May 18, 2009

• Wine & Beer Events, April 17-26

  This week's hot event is Friday's three Louis/Dressner tastings.

  April 17, 2009

• Michael Bauer Watch: Local Food, Imported Wine--Why?

  Dude, don't blame the grape!

  April 30, 2009

• Wine & Beer Events, May 1-10

  Monday's 100 Cabernets for $50 = 50 cents each (if you can taste that many).

  May 1, 2009

• Cheap Wines That Don't Suck: Marchese de Petri 2003 Chianti Riserva

  Despite the lightness of the wine, it stood up well to spicy jambalaya.

  May 1, 2009

• Wine, Beer, & Booze Events, May 8-16

  Free wine for mom Sunday afternoon at the Jug Shop.

  May 8, 2009

• Love Vino? Hang Out on Facebook? It Could Land You a Gig with Sonoma Co. Winemaker

  e.t via FlickrThe winning "lifestyle correspondent" will spend six months touting Murphy-GoodeCalling all Twitter addicts with a thing for wine: A Sonoma County winemaker wants to pay you a boatload of money simply to hang out, sip Zinfandel, and send tweets. Seriously. Okay, so it calls for a bit more than that. Last month, Geyserville winemaker Murphy-Goode launched the search for a PR post it's calling "A Really Goode Job." The six-month gig starts in August, and will require the winner to

  May 22, 2009

• A Glass of Flowers: Ferry Plaza Pinot Noir Tasting Explores Sonoma's Terroir

  jspatchwork via FlickrFlowers Pinot Noir: Where Burgundy meets SonomaFrench winemakers are always talking about terroir, that elusive term that can't really be translated into English, or, for that matter, into American concepts about viticulture. Terroir encompasses all the environmental factors that give grapes their character: soil, climate, weather, and so on. The winemaker influences the grapes further, crafting wine in a certain style. The best way to experience terroir for yourself is to

  May 27, 2009

• Michael Mina's RN74 is a work in progress

  June 10, 2009

• Affordable Organic Prosecco Just Might Spark an Import Trend

  Green sparkler.Italy's wine industry is no stranger to biodynamics. Hilberg-Pasquero and Cascina degli Ulivi, both from the Piedmont region, are leaders in the movement that grows grapes holistically and naturally, often with the influence of astronomy on planting and harvesting. But these wines aren't often exported to the U.S. market. And what Americans are consumed with these days isn't so much holistic green practices as the label "organic," which biodynamic wines also are. But since Italian

  June 19, 2009

• Beer Is Good Food

  June 24, 2009

• Sangria is as Cooling and Variable as the City's Summer Weather

  JonnyGdeCA/FlickrScore a prime example at Ramblas on Valencia.Sangria is as delectable and as open to experiment and interpretation as paella, its great culinary cohort of the Spanish table. This fruity, sparkling concoction is the perfect light-spirited libation for the summer months and is malleable enough to be prepared in several variations. The basic idea is to throw slices of fruit into a big pitcher with some sugar, a splash of brandy, and a bottle of wine, chill it for an hour or so, a

  June 25, 2009

• Two new books explore wine bootlegging during Prohibition

  July 1, 2009

• For Chefs in S.F., Making a Root Beer Float Involves More Than Popping a Can

  eyjensen/FlickrSpecial enough for a birthday: The root beer float (with cookies) at Michael Mina.​Even if you knew that today is National Root Beer Float Day -- a fact we learned from Three Olives Vodka, which just released a root beer-flavored vodka to a nation happily unaware of what it's been missing -- you might not know there are San Francisco chefs and brewers who take their root beer floats very seriously. At Chenery Park (683 Chenery at Diamond), which will celebrate its ninth an

  August 6, 2009

• Crushpad Neighborhood Winemaking Project Probes the Terroir of City Streets

  CrushpadNeighborhood get-together: Sorting grapes at Crushpad.​Interested in making your own vintage while meeting other wine enthusiasts who might be living right down the street? Last year, S.F. DIY winery Crushpad organized five groups in neighborhood winemaking projects, using Crushpad's Dogpatch facilities and grapes from over 50 California vineyards. This year, the neighborhood groups are expanding to nine: the Castro, Haight, Marina, Mission, Nob Hill, Potrero Hill, Russian Hill, S

  August 6, 2009

• Drink of the Week: Taylor's Tonics' Chai Cola

  ​Taylor's Tonics of Santa Cruz offers a simple yet unique idea with its Redwood forest-brewed Chai Cola. A bubbly concoction featuring main ingredients of yerba mate, ginger, and black chai tea, this cola is sweetened with evaporated cane juice and tastes like a supercharged hybrid of ginger ale and root beer.The chai's pronounced notes of cardamom and clove make this an original flavor in the cola landscape. These spices also give the beverage an adult air -- this ain't your kid's Coke.

  August 7, 2009

• Drink the Way the Good Lord Intended: Wine Week Celebrates All-Natural Vino

  R. LauristonTerroir: Talking up the benefits of natural.​If you're a bit fuzzy on the term "natural wine," you're not alone. Here's a brief explanation, just in time for the San Francisco Natural Wine Week (August 24-30). Natural wine is similar in principle to biodynamic and organic wines, produced by winemakers who follow natural practices and take the route of minimal intervention in their vineyards and cellars. There are a few differences, though: First, producers of natural wine hav

  August 18, 2009

• Straight-Up Classic or Rainbow Slushy, the Margarita is Timeless

  Tequila Photos/Flickr Reposado tequilas on the bar at Tommy's.Remember when the family would head out to that Mexican joint on the highway with the racetrack-shaped cocktail lounge and the three-foot bartender and the Miwok skeletons under the floorboards? And your father would give you a taste of his margarita and you said, What is that, salt? and he said, Yeah it goes great with the lime juice and the booze and you knew he was right because he'd bummed around Mexico during the Depressio

  August 20, 2009

• No, the Whole City Hasn't Surrendered to Starbucks: Ingleside Cafe is Neighborhood Sweet

  emanistan Cute 'n' cottage-y, and a great place to waste time. With independently owned neighborhood coffee shops going the way of the dodo, students and work-from-home warriors are finding it increasingly difficult to find local cafés to call home.  CCSF students and Ingleside residents might have slightly less to worry about than those in other 'hoods. Java on Ocean has cemented itself as the neighborhood locale to get a cup of coffee, a sandwich, and a smile. The owner and barist

  August 21, 2009

• Early Warning: WhiskyFest S.F. Bringin' the Brown to SOMA

  cactusthesaint/FlickrA blur of Glenmorangie at last year's WhiskyFest.​Bourbon is America's native spirit. That's not editorializing on the part of a prideful Kentuckian, just fact -- and law, seeing as a 1964 Act of Congress officially declared it exactly that. Furthermore, on August 2, 2007, the U.S. Senate made September National Bourbon Heritage Month. The bill passed by unanimous consent, which comes as no surprise. Bourbon brings people together. If only healthcare could be so lucky.

  September 14, 2009