He has just arrived, here are the"Top 10" most expensive liquor in the World!
Are you ready…
TOP 10
Krug Champagne Vintage 1928: $21,200
This exclusive bottle of Krug 1928 will set you back by $21 000.
It was sold on March 2008 at the Acker Merrall & Condit auction in Hong Kong.
It is made with the finest grapes from the best vineyard in France. The grapes used for making this particular champagne are from the year 1926 which is supposed to be a great year as far as grapes production and quality is concerned. The bottles were available in the market in 1938. The subtle taste of honey with a distinctive depth and flavor make this champagne truly a class apart.
Everyone should drink bubbles but not all of them…
I decided that ONE special sparkling wine is the star today.
Which one?
…THE CAVA…
You will maybe ask what’s THAT?
The Cava is a Spanish sparkling wine from the Catalan Region and is made since the 19th century. The common point with the champagne is that the making process is the same!
WONDERFUL idea isn’t it???
Cava wine makers use three white kind of grapes: Macabeo, Xare-lo &
Parellada, some other black grapes are allowed for the rosé.
Drink it in Aperitif, drink it at nights, and drink it WHENEVER, WHEREVER, with WHOMEVER euhh well almost…
I’ve discovered many brands of Cava but the best one is FREIXENET…
EXPERT in sharing good moment with friends!
The best of the best: the Cava from Freixenet cost less than 6 €, WAAA FINALLY a nice sparkling wine and not too expensive…find it in nightclubs, find it in restaurants, in your wine shop, even in groceries….
Let me talk today about a AMAAAAZING and original grape called "Pinot Noir".
It's frOm my region of course : ALSACE and I'm very proud to introduce it.
PRESENTATION
The Pinot Noir used to grow in Burgundy, is the only red grape allowed in Alsace.
Present in the appellation AOC Alsace, it is also used for the development of Crémant d'Alsace (sparkling wines).
One of the particularity and strength of the Appellation in Alsace, is that the name of wines is from the kind of grapes, so for example, you will see AOC Pinot Noir, AOC Riesling, AOC Muscat etc...
It's a bit like the appellation of the New World Wines.
Easier to identify and remember by the consumers.
TASTING
Pinot Noir has always been a light, fresh wine with aromas of cherries, raspberries, blackberries, and with soft tannins. It aged for some of them in oak barrels, producing a deep and structured wine, with deep color and ripe fruit aromas.
In blind taste, some Pinot Noir can even be likened to the Pinot Noir from Burgundy.
So, light red wines but also strong ones with complexity.
FOOD & WINE
The light Pinot Noir can be drink with delicatessen, salads, grill meats.
It used to drink with poultry, and cheese, but can be even associate to fish!
About the stronger grow in oak barrels, you can drink it with all kind of red meat and wild meat.
Drink IT A BIT FRESH...it will be much better...
VINEYARDS AND WINE GROWERS
In exclusivity, BUT JUST FOR YOU ...
I will give you some adresses and names of real good Pinot Noir.
One of the best but difficult to find and even sometimes expensive (not under 30€) is the vineyard DEISS in Bergheim, Marcel Deiss makes a fantastic strong and complex Pinot Noir.
That guy is the greatest Philosopher of wine that I know and as many other uses since a long time the organic way of growing.
Then, other really good as ZIND HUMBRECHT in Turckheim, Domaine AGAPE in Riquewihr, or Domaine OSTERTAG in Epfig and many other...
DO NOT BE SCARED BY THE NAMES, TRUST ME IT'S FABULOUS....
LET'S HAVE A LOOK ON A VIDEO with my friend Joanna..
We know that you loved our first video about the Cognac De Luze. So we are glad to share with you the second part : The XO tasting !
XO Cognac De Luze tasting
XOExtra Old
Where the youngest eaux-de-vie is aged for at least 6, but average upwards of 20 yeras. From april 10th 2016 on the minimum age for XO Cognacs will be set to 10 years. The expression XO was used for the first time in 1870. Source:Cognac expert
We are pleased to announce you that the year 2011 is a record concerning cognacs sales all around the world with 163 millions of bottles sold and a turnover of more than 2 billions of euros!
Each second, 5 bottles of Cognac are sold !!
Happy new year 2012 from the Cognac De Luze staff!
Botucal is part of the Diplomat family, and is used as an alternative brand on different countries. Botucal owes its name to the Hacienda part of Destilerias Unidas, which is dedicated to the agricultural sector, where in addition to raising buffalo, horses and ostriches, is a place where it grows part of the sugar cane used in the production of rhums. Botucal expression refers to the local indigenous “Botuka” which means “Green Hill”.
Production methods
Sugarcane honeys
Venezuela’s tropiacal climate, consisting of sunny days, cool nights, constant winds and abundant rains, represent an idyllic setting for the cultivation of juici Sugarcane, harvested in Venezuela since the Sixteenth Century.
The town of La Miel, located at the very foot of mountAndino, owes its name to and is renowned for the quality of its particularly sweet water, a key factor in the developement of its noble and delicate surgarcane.
Fermentation
The honeys are diluted with water so the yeast can perform the frenetic task transforming sugar into alcohol.
The master rum maker’s team meticulously cultivates each strain of yeast in order to generate the sensorial richness that is subsequently purified during distillation and later prospers during aging.
The heavy Spirits, with more complex aromas, are subjected to a more prolonged fermentation process. This helps to generate a specific level of quality that allows it is become part of the Ron Diplomatico blend.
Distillation : Pot Stills
In order to achieve the goal of founding the most versatile liquor-producing complex in Venezueal, many different distillation systems from around the world were transported to the Hacienda Saruro in 1959 :
Distillation : Batch Kettle
Distillation: Columns
Distillation : Pot Stills
Today, the pot stills brought from Scotland, still the only ones of their kind in Venezuela, are the soul that brings life to the Ron Diplomatico family. The importation of this equipment was based on the idea of making rum in the same way that the compagny’s Whisky was being produced at the time.
Being part of a traditional, artisanal system, the pot stills work at their own particular pace, yielding spirits that are referred to as “heavy” and are abundantly charged with aromas.
Wise Barrels
To house reserves during the long aging process, it selected white American oak. These barrels, stored in cellars at the Hacienda Saruro, have an unequalled history soaked into them, having first being used in the aging of Bourbon Whisky and then having travelled to the old world to store Scotch Whisky.
Prolonged Aging
The winds, the temperature and the specific humidity of La Miel are the ancestral secrets, becoming a decisive factor in the evolutionary process of each different type of rum.
"Botucal Reserva Exclusiva"
An exquisite sipping rum that is made almost entirely from sugar cane honey. This fine rum is blended from 80% heavy and 20% light rums aged for up to twelve years. The end result is a truly exceptional rum showing characteristic sweet and fruity flavoursto and even higher level of concentration and intensity than its family members. A complex, characterful nose showing fruit cake, rum “n” raisin ice cream, cocoa, cinnamon and clove, developing into baked bananas and fudge sauce. The palate evokes rich chocolate sauce and sweet toffee fudge with tropical fruit flavours developing from the nose. Reminiscent of Terry’s Dark Chocolate Orange sprinkled over vanilla ice cream. A deep, vivid and extremely seductive finish.
Coktails
Diplomatico Mojito
12 leaves of spearmint
2 shots of Diplomatico Anejo ½ shot of fresh lemon juice
¼ shot of cane syrup or simple syrup
Soda water
Place lemon juice, syrup and spearmint in a shaker and crush them together. Add rum, ice and shake. Serve in a glass with ice, finish with soda water and decorate with a leaf spearmint.
Rum Fest
1 ½ shots of Diplomatico Reserva
½ shot of Campari bitters
½ shot of fresh lemon or orange juice
A slide orange
Soda water
Pour the rum into the glass followed by the Campari and the lemon or orange juice in that order. Add ice at the end. Top it off with soda water to taste and garnish with the slice of orange.
To make eau de vie, manufacturers first crush the fruit being used as the base ingredient. The mashed fruit is then inoculated with yeast and left to ferment for several weeks. After fermentation is complete, the eau de vie is aged in a steel or glass case for a few months until it is ready to be mixed with water and bottled.
Eau de vie contains at least 40% of alcohol! Warning when you tasted!
What is the "prisonner peer"?
The fruit is developping inside the bottle for a divine result!A wWilliams peer exceptional!
To get a prisonner peer, the empty bottle is fixed in a peer tree on spring and placed on the top of the flower to let it grow up inside the bottle. When it's mature, the fruit and the bottle are delicately cuted off and then, the peer eau de vie is added. The peer stay good as long she stays in its eau de vie.
Be careful!! Never eat the peer after you finish the bottle, it is disgusting!!
"Prisonner peer" tree
How to taste eau de vie?
- Serve it:
In very small amounts (1-2 cl). The digestive is the last key aroma of a good meal.
There are several ways to taste the fruits eau de vie. The eau de vie can be served chilled, it softens and the perception of alcohol, the feeling of freshness is especially nice. Barracks, it seems more open, all facets of its aroma are fully express (also faults!).
- Keep it:
In general, the eau de vie do not like light. It is best to keep cool in the dark. The bottle always has to remain vertical.
- Look at it:
• Color: Colorless, opaline, translucent, clear honey, golden, amber, old gold, copper.
• Clarity: Clear, transparent, crystalline, pure.
• The brightness: Bright, luminous, sparkling, dazzling.
• Viscosity: fluid, flexible, light, air, flowing, fleshy, thick with fat.
- Smell it:
First nose without shaking the glass, it is the first time in nose, it is the discovery of the more subtile flavors. By moving the glass, new impressions emerge.• second nose prints on a rotation in the glass, smells are different.• third nose after a short rest we discover yet another aspect, should seek to describe his sensations, and boost attention.
The nose of brandy is constantly changing during the tasting
- Taste it: The eau de vie is drunk slowly in small sips, which avoids the impression of light alcohol. We keep a time (10 to 20 seconds!) In the mouth by turning in his mouth and aspirations short of air.
The long inouth has to be persistent.
Let's have a look on the Anys first tasting of eau de vie!
Stay alert!!! I interview my favorite wine and spirit seller and he explains everything on this spirits, the video will arive very soon...
Hospices in 1395 in Strasbourg was created. At that time, it was a caricative institution. The hospital proposed care but also hospitality. This institution lived on donations from people who wanted to save their souls. Hospital charges were often paid by in-kind benefits such as grapes after harvest or ownership of vineyards.
In the late Middle Ages, the hospital has diverse interests in communities known for their wine business.
Cave History Hospices de Strasbourg was a wine producer but also wine storage.
Hospices are the largest vineyards owner in Alsace, although now the vineyards are a small part of their property.
In 1995, in spite of low results and no development, the cave was almost forced to disappear. Only through the rigorous application of new trade, management, repositioning of its quality retail store, and by a dynamic guided tours that the cave managed to survive.
Three huge barrels were restored, and used to develop from grape, Pinot Blanc and Gewurztraminer that were vinified aged and bottled on site.
THE WINES
From August until the end of the harvest in 2009, the days were both beautiful and warm. The grapes have been harvested ripe and very healthy, cool nights to preserve the aromas. We thus find in the wines of the vintage 2009 a sunny side, and the Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer is very aromatic, Pinot Blanc and Riesling is fruity and crisp, the color of Pinot noir are very strong. The 2009 vintage wines can be enjoyed quickly.
Some, however, need to be cellared for a while.
The Hospices of Strasbourg offer wines as Riesling, Pinot gris, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Klevener, but also “Vendanges Tardives and “Selection de Grains Nobles” (Sweet wines).
THE CAVE'S SECRET
I discovered the oldest wine from 1472, an unforgettable memory!
The colour of the oldest wine looks like the Cognac with a strong orange
His aromas are, I swear magic and bewitching!
A huge Thanks to the Director of that fabulous cave full of unexpected secrets Mister Philippe JUNGER about his welcoming reception and his kindness.
Thanks also to all his team.
Thanks to Ludovic KIENTZ the Chef at the Crocodile Restaurant.
I WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR... Enjoy our video!!!
