Drinking With A Purpose: Part 2

by Tashi Johns

On this installment of “Drinking with Intention” we will explore our liquor aisles to find distilleries and businesses that are minority owned, or that have master distillers that fit the bill.  I decided to dive into all the amazing things that our local businesses are accomplishing first and then will take you through our liquor aisles to feature even more distilleries leading the way in creating diversity within the liquor industry. The fight for equality is a long one, and hopefully one day we won’t need to write blog features about minority owned and operated businesses.  They will be so common it will be normalized and not anything to note anymore. I hope we see this someday soon!  In the meantime, here are some amazing companies to check out next time you visit us.

MINNESOTA HELPING TO PAVE THE WAY

 

courtesy of crookedwaterspirits.com

Crooked Water – Minneapolis, MN | Heather Manley started Crooked Water in 2013, when there was only one distillery operating in Minnesota, after tasting a small batch spirit that really spoke to her.  This inspired her to make spirits that are approachable but with complex flavors.  She interviewed about a dozen distilleries from Wisconsin to the Dakotas and made a connection with Nick, the owner of Yahara Bay Distillery in Madison, WI and the rest is history!  With Heather’s background in food (she even owns her own seasoning company) and Nick’s distillery experience, Crooked Water was born.  Inspired by her favorite cask finished scotches, her first product was bourbon aged in sherry and port barrels which sold out immediately.  She then went on to create a gin and a vodka, and now has 13 products on the shelves.  Without investors to answer to, Heather is able to create products she wants to drink: high proof but approachable, high quality, and that honors her vision.  Heather also auctions off dinner parties at her house multiple times a year to raise funds for local nonprofits with missions of all kinds, raising over $100k to date.  She cooks everything herself and features Crooked Water cocktails and tastings!

I asked Heather how being a woman in the liquor industry has impacted her and she said it’s been an awesome experience and that being a woman helps her stand out.  She went on to add that it’s much more challenging to be a small craft business trying to find distribution partners and get her products out there.  She has done a great job though, with Crooked Water available in seven states!  Heather also informed me that everything Crooked Water needs is done in house, which is incredibly beneficial to it’s growth.  So far she hasn’t kept any profits and has reinvested everything back into her business.  Her partner Rhett creates the artwork (and has even won some awards for it), and with Heather concocting unique flavor profiles there’s not much more you need to stand out on the shelves.  It all speaks for itself.

You can find Crooked Water in our bourbon, whiskey, ready to drink cocktails, vodka, gin, and liqueur isles.  We recommend trying their Manley’s Old Fashioned.

courtesy of dunordcraftspirits.com

Du Nord – Minneapolis, MN | Yeah, okay, I’m obsessed with Du Nord and I’m not trying to hide it!  I’ve already featured the amazing things Chris Montana is doing in Drinking With A Purpose (part one), but I could not write about minority owned distilleries without giving them another shout out, especially considering Du Nord was the first black owned distillery in the US!  They also have a diverse cohort, including Maria K. who helps Chris lead their distillation team.

You can find Du Nord in our vodka, gin, whiskey, and liqueur isles. I (still) highly recommend trying their L’Etoile Vodka and Cafe Frieda Coffee Liqueur.

Lovejoy’s – Saint Paul, MN | Charles Lovejoy was bartending at the Happy Gnome in Saint Paul when he started running their bloody mary bar and making the mix from scratch.  Without telling patrons he had made it, he asked for feedback and was able to tweak his recipe to perfection and Lovejoy’s was born.  After bottling some of his mix for a gift basket auction to raise money for his mother’s nonprofit, he joined forces with his sister to create a business to sell it to a broader audience.  $2 of every bottle sold was donated to Family Place until it unfortunately had to close a couple of years ago.  Since then, Charles has partnered with other nonprofits helping homeless youth in the twin cities and now donates to Face to Face, Truth Center, and Connections to Independence.  I asked Charles how his hot sauce came to be, and he said he was never much of a hot sauce person but he had a regular that always complained his bloody mix was never hot enough so he decided he would make one to “burn his face off”, which was a huge hit!

courtesy of lovejoybrand.com

When asked to speak on being a black business owner, Charles said since he’s always been a black man he’s not sure how else any of this could have played out.  Every small business has its ups and downs but he has found an incredible community of entrepreneurs, artists, and people willing to help within the twin cities.  And of course, having representation matters.  He said that if anyone has ideas to start their own business that they should just go for it, and that they will find plenty of support here.

You can find Lovejoy’s in our mixer section.  They currently have the original bloody mix, a Thai basil mix, and hot sauce.  I recommend trying them all!  But especially the hot sauce if you’re looking for good flavor with deep heat.  (It’s my favorite, I put it on everything!  It’s also unofficially an amazing hangover cure, but you didn’t hear that from me.)

Vikre – Duluth, MN | Emily Vikre and her husband Joel felt the tug to return to Duluth after living on the East Coast but were unsure how they were going to make that happen.  Her parents had attended a spirits tasting and told them all you really need to make a quality spirit is good water and good grain, and their idea to move home and start a distillery to do just that was born.  They spent some time in Boston to learn more about the process, and six months later they were in Duluth making their new found dream a reality.  Emily has a background in cooking and wine and got to work developing the recipes for their first product, gin.  She felt that gin was the best way to represent the Northern Minnesota theme of the lake and forests.  She develops the flavor profiles and recipes for all their products, and works with their lead distiller Erin Otis to test small batches and perfect the product before it hits the shelves.  They use local rye and botanicals, most of which come from Food Farm, where they are also able to forage for the sumac and spruce tips for their gin!

courtesy of vikredistillery.com

Emily hasn’t noticed any barriers to being a woman in the liquor industry, but she has been intentional about building an inclusive production team where people feel comfortable.  And that makes a difference!  Vikre also partners with various organizations for fundraising endeavors.  Part of the proceeds from cocktails and cocktail kits sold in their tasting room go to charity, their current partner being Friends of the Boundary Waters to fundraise for their education and community outreach programs to make the Boundary Waters accessible to more communities.

You can find Vikre in our whiskey, vodka, aquavit, gin, liqueur, and ready to drink sections.  We recommend trying their Juniper Gin.

STILL THIRSTY?  DON’T WORRY, THERE’S MORE!

BOURBON AND WHISKEY

Brough Brothers – Louisville, KY | Brough Brothers is the first black owned bourbon distillery in Kentucky!  Founded by Victor, Bryson, and Chris Yarbrough; the three brothers came together to create real change in the neighborhood they grew up in and within the liquor industry.  They chose to build their distillery in their old neighborhood in Louisville to help with revitalization and to bring jobs to their community.  Bryson is also their master distiller, and the first black master distiller in Kentucky!  These brothers have certainly made a name for themselves already, and we’re excited to see where their endeavors will go next.

As a brand new distillery they only have one bourbon on the market right now, aptly named Brough Brothers.

Uncle Nearest – Nashville, TN  | The Uncle Nearest co-founder, CEO, and historian Fawn Weaver decided it was time to share the story of Nathan “Nearest” Green, the first ever black master distiller who taught Jack Daniels how to distill.  Once the Jack Daniels company finally acknowledged Green’s contribution to the spirit industry back in 2016, it was go time.  She partnered with Green’s great great granddaughter, Victoria Butler, who had just retired from the Department of Justice but came out of retirement to learn how to distill and became the first black female whiskey master blender.  With an all female leadership team to boot, Uncle Nearest is making headlines in the whiskey world.

We currently carry their 1856 Premium Aged Whiskey.

SCOTCH

Benriach, The GlenDronach, and Glenglassaugh – Scotland | Dr. Rachel Barrie is the master blender for all three distilleries, and is known as Scotland’s First Lady of Whisky.  She is also one of the few female master blenders in the world, and the first female to be inducted into Whisky Magazine’s prestigious “Hall of Fame”.  Her background in chemistry and love for whiskey has made her an incredible asset to the scotch world.

We recommend trying The GlenDronach 12 Year scotch.

TEQUILA

21 Seeds – San Francisco, CA | Kat Hantas wanted to turn tequila into something smooth, refreshing, and as approachable to drink as a glass of wine.  She started off by infusing tequila in mason jars in her kitchen, which she then started taking to parties and sharing with friends.  Her infusions were a huge hit so she partnered with her sister and best friend and they went to Mexico on the search for a tequila distillery and found one that was owned and predominantly staffed by women and 21 Seeds was born.  They even made it onto Oprah’s Favorite Summer Things list of 2020!

We recommend trying their Cucumber Jalapeno tequila.

Herradura – Jalisco, Mexico Silver tequila | María Teresa Lara started her career at Herradura as their quality control supervisor, moved her way up to serve as their manager of research and development, and retired as their master distiller.  She was both the first woman to lead production and the first female master distiller at a tequila distillery.  She has since retired but certainly made history during her career, and has passed down her expertise to her apprentice Karinna Enriquez who is the current master taster.

We recommend their Silver Tequila.

Revel – Morelos, Mexico | Okay, technically Revel makes agave spirits but they live in our tequila isle as they should so here we are.  The founder and CEO of Revel, Micah McFarlane (who is originally from Minnesota!), wanted to create a spirit that combined the roasting techniques of mezcal with the steaming techniques of tequila to create this agave spirit which is 100% made in Morelos, Mexico from avila agave.  His vision is to share Morelos with the world, and create high end agave spirits for everyone to enjoy.  You should definitely keep tabs on this up and coming distillery.

We recommend the Revel Blanco.

RUM

Appleton Estate – Nassau Valley, Jamaica | Joy Spence is a legend in the industry because after sixteen years as chief chemist at Appleton she became their master blender, the first woman master blender in the industry!  She started out teaching chemistry but decided to get some experience in the field.  While working at a job that was boring her, she saw the distillery bustling across the street and applied.  They loved her so much they made the position of chief chemist for her and hired her two weeks later.  Joy has dedicated her life to the rum industry ever since!  The Jamaican government has given her two awards for her dedication to the industry.  She received the “Order of Distinction in the Rank of Officer” and was the first woman to receive the “National Medal of Science and Technology”.

We recommend trying the Appleton Estate 12 Year.

NON-ALCOHOLIC

Ghia – Los Angeles, CA | Melanie Masarin decided that drinking wasn’t for her anymore and while on a trip with friends started to think about how she could bring something fun and elegant to the NA world.  Inspired by her childhood in the Meditteranian, and the aperitifs her grandmother would serve, she launched Ghia.  Ghia is “a spirits-free apéritif adapted for modern times” and can be enjoyed over the rocks or as a part of many NA cocktails you can find on their website.

You can find Ghia in our non-alcoholic section by the registers.  Not sure if you’ll love it?  Don’t worry, it comes in single serving cans too, so why not give it a shot?

A Wine Trip Through Spain

My name is TK Mehlhaff. I am WSET Level 2 Certified, I am a LGBTA+ member, proudly deaf, a cancer survivor of 2017, and of course part of the France 44 Family for the past three years. A fun fact about myself is that I can converse in three languages (English, American Sign Language, and Spanish). I absolutely love cooking, traveling, and diving into the world of wine!

Summertime means I’m craving travel, and recently I’ve loved learning about the wines of Spain. Last year I did my first virtual “mini-class” for France 44 during an Instagram happy hour featuring Spanish wine, and I’m happy to bring it back once again for my first blog! It made me first fall in love with the wine world despite my many identities, and I’m thrilled to share my story on whatever platform I have access to. Plus, drinking the wines and eating the cheeses of a particular country can bring us closer to actually traveling, despite not being able to travel like we used to.

So, why Spain? Fun fact: Did you know that Spain has the largest vineyard surface area in the world? It also has over 4,000 wineries that are divided between 130 official wine regions. It would be nearly impossible to cross any of the 50 Spanish province borders without driving through at least one wine producing region. Wherever you go in Spain, there are good options nearby for enjoying some wine tourism, so why not include it in your next trip?

I can help you with preparation for the trip! Let’s make sure we are prepared. First, do you have your passport? Do you have our eyes, nose, and mouth ready to go on the trip? Join me and taste the wines!

 

DELICIOSO TEMPRANILLO (La Mancha) – Lively and focused on the nose, displaying spice-accented red and dark berry scents and a subtle floral accent. It’s juicy and vaguely jammy on the palate, and offers black raspberry and cherry flavors that tighten up slowly on the back half. It’s made in an appealing, very easy-to-drink style, displaying no obvious tannins and good closing thrust. Drink this tasty mid-week drinker alongside some Cabriolait goat cheese!

 

LA FLOR Y LA ABEJA (Ribeiro) – This summery wine is brightly hued with green and yellow. Racy, mineral-accented citrus and orchard fruit aromas pick up chalky mineral and ginger nuances with a little air. It is taut and focused on the palate, offering fresh lemon, green apple and melon flavors, and a hint of fennel. The mineral note drives a long, detailed finish that leaves a citrus rind note and a subtle touch of honey behind. Drink with some delicious L’Amuse Brabander goat cheese.

 

EMENDIS ‘NU ALLONGE’ BRUT CAVA (Penedes) – The grapes for this fresh sparkling wine are 45% Xarel-lo, 35% Macabeo, and 20% Parellada. Xarel-lo gives body and structure, Macabeo gives elegance and finesse as well as delicately bitter notes, with aromas of sweet white fruit. Parellada completes the blend with a light, refreshing citric acidity. All the grapes were hand-harvested. Nuallonge is a tribute to the Catalan painter Salvador Dali, and to one of his sketches. Have it alongside some creamy cheese like Brillat-Savarin!

Well, the trip eventually had to come to an end. I hope you all enjoyed your wine trip through Spain with me, and I hope it also gave you some passion to travel and drink more! Which stop was your favorite? My favorite is La Flor y la Abeja, because it’s so floral and balanced. It’s a perfectly fresh wine to enjoy anytime of day. I really enjoyed doing this especially for you and for the deaf community to understand and appreciate wine in a different way. If you want to know more, feel free to ask or come into the store! Any of us would be pleased to answer your questions. Don’t forget your passport, and stay safe and healthy!

Good Bacteria: The Real Heroes of Sour Beer

by Kayla

For those of you who don’t know me, I am a woman of many hats at France 44. I work with the Beer Team, and I’m 100% that woman who, on day two or three knew your name, your dog’s name, and the name of one of your family members. My strengths in the beer world come from being a member of Witch Hunt Minneapolis, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works for gender equity in craft beer brewing through education. My experiences with them gave me brewhouse experience from Barrel Theory, Arbeiter, and BlackStack. I have training with Better Beer Society and am also continuing my education with the Cicerone program.

Today we’re talking about bacteria in beer–the good kind, the kind that started those old-school, natural-beauty versions of sour beers. I’m talking about Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, and Acetobacter. Trust me, bacteria in beer at the appropriate amount is a very good thing.

Pediococcus. This is the slow poke bacteria of the beer world, and it takes a LONG time for it to get started. On the plus side, it allows time for the primary yeast to complete fermentation so there’s no need for dismissal quite yet. However, this bacteria is also kind of high-maintenance: too much and your beer will taste like diacetyl (commonly known as ‘movie theater popcorn butter’). Therefore, it does much better with a friend like Brettanomyces in order to help lower the final level in your beer. Once in control, it produces deliciously funky aromas and flavors.

Lactobacillus. This bacteria is responsible for converting sugars in the word (pronounced wert) to lactic acid. It’s responsible for the level of sour in the beer, but also for giving it a clean taste. You can call it the “second in command” under Saccharomyces. Lactobacillus can also be found in foods like kimchi and yogurt.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to look in France 44’s Imported Beer section and give some of these unique beers a try. Most of them are only offered in a single bottle, and you’ll definitely be surprised.

Acetobacter. Finally, Acetobacter is a not-so-common bacteria in the beer world. It’s know as the “silent but deadly” bacteria: it consumes ethanol to produce harsh-tasting acetic acid, which means that a little bit of this guy really goes a long way. This is also why once you use it, you have to pitch it and clean your equipment well in order to keep this bacteria from attaching itself onto any tank or tool used. Acetobacter is responsible for Flemish reds and Belgian Lambics.

 

PROFESSOR FRITZ BRIEM’S 1809 BERLINER WEISSE from Freising, Germany uses lactic acid, which is produced by Lactobacillus and Pediococcus. Berliner Weisse beers are also known as “The Champagne of the North.” Some people use sweet syrups in this style of beer but I like them as natural as they get, like this example. At 5% ABV, it is fermented in traditional open fermenters, giving it complex fruitiness and tartness.

 

DUCHESSE DE BOURGOGNE from Verhaeghe Brewing in Vichte, Belgium, is a Flemish red that uses Acetobacter. It has a dry, acetic finish that complements the passionfruit and chocolate notes in the beer. After the first and secondary fermentation, this beer goes into oak barrels for 18 months and comes out at 6.2% ABV.

 

CROOKED STAVE SOUR ROSÉ is a mixed culture beer, with raspberries and blueberries and fermented in oak foeders. It is naturally wild, but the effervescent character gives it a rosé-like personality. And at 4.5% ABV, you can definitely have more than one.

It’s Cap Corse Time!

by Tom Schneideker

Alright everyone, gather ’round: I need to introduce you to something very special to me. Its name is Cap Corse Quinquina Blanc, and you need to do yourself a favor and stick a bottle in the fridge. Cap Corse is a quininated aperitif wine that lives in our vermouth section. Is it vermouth? Well, no, not really; its bittering agent is quinine instead of wormwood. That same quinine is in the tonic in your G&Ts. It is technically part of the tonic wine family, which is very similar to Lillet. So similar, in fact, that both Lillet and Cap Corse date back to the same year, from the same country. These products use different grape varieties from their respective regions, different citrus, and different bittering recipes. While Lillet went mainstream and shied away from the Quina title (or ‘Kina’ as they dubbed it), Cap Corse stayed much closer to its original roots.

 

Cap Corse hails from the northern peninsula of Corsica off the French coast named, well, Cap Corse. It has been in production since 1872 and is still a family run operation on the island. Cap Corse is bright, fresh, and somehow perfectly sweet and bitter. It is made with an ancient thick-skinned relative of the leman named cedrat to add bring citrus and balance out the quinine bitterness. See, back in the day, quinine was imported from Africa and South America in the form of cinchona bark. It was used as a blood thinner and became the cure for malaria. Everything in a gin and tonic has a purpose, from the alcohol killing anything in the water, the tonic with malaria, and the lime for scurvy.

 

Now for the $18 question: how do you use Quinquina? First and foremost, the answer is 2 oz quinquina to 4-6oz soda or tonic water, to your taste. This is a refreshing low alcohol, sessionable cocktail. You can also toss a drizzle on top of a G&T for more of that bitter and citrus.

 

My favorite, however, is using quinquina in a white negroni. Use equal parts of a bone-dry gin (the new favorite is Greenhook), Cap Corse Quinquina, and Luxardo Bianco–a beautiful gentian liqueur akin to a more natural Campari. But here’s the kicker: you need to walk 100(ish) feet across the street to the co-op and buy a fresh grapefruit–an onerous task indeed. Once you add a half part of freshly squeezed grapefruit, stir, strain, and serve in a coupe or Nick and Nora glass. Its fresh, zingy citrus plays with the dry gin and bitter botanical perfectly. This is the only drink you need for these hot summer evenings.

I repeat:

Stir and strain into a coupe or Nick and Nora glass, and enjoy. 

Try it out and let us know what you think!

Interested in knowing more about quinquina, vermouth, and spritzes? Check out our summer class offerings!

 

GET SPRITZED! | Wednesday, August 11th, 6pm | Join Sam for a hands-on dive into the Spritz; from its origins as a soldier’s drink in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to its modern-day, Aperol-branded incarnation. Along the way, we’ll mix up a smörgasbord of Spritzes, Spritz-relatives, and other aperitivo-inspired drinks in the France 44 Classroom.

 

HOMEMADE VERMOUTH: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE | Thursday, August 19th, 6pm | We bet you didn’t know you could make vermouth yourself! We’ll go into the history behind vermouth and learn the classic components and steps for batching your own aromatized, fortified wine – we’ll supply the ingredients, and you’ll leave with a small batch of a hand-crafted vermouth of your own.

Getting to know (and love) German Wine

by Amy Waller

If we’ve ever met online or irl, there’s a good chance I’ve chatted you up about German wine. Partially because I’m chatty, but mostly because I’m energized by the wines that are coming out of the country!

This month, I’ve harnessed that energy into German Wine Month here at France 44. This partnership between France 44 and Wines of Germany will highlight the dynamic wines, regions, and producers that make German wine so special. You’ll see features online and throughout the store with food pairing suggestions and opportunities for tasting, all leading up to a German Riesling Party on Thursday, August 5th. So, what better way to mark the start of German Wine Month (and my first-ever France 44 blog post) than sharing my path to German wine and a few reasons why you should be drinking more of it. Prost!

Click to get more info on our German Riesling Party!

My German wine story began when I was hired at The Bachelor Farmer in 2016. Although I’d been working in restaurants for decades, I’d only just begun exploring the depths of the wine world. My past German wine experience was limited up until that time but my early days with the TBF (short for The Bachelor Farmer) wine list were thrilling. There were 20 or so different German selections and most were not Riesling. Yes, that’s right, *not* Riesling. Grape varieties like Silvaner, Scheurebe, Dornfelder and Elbling lit up the menu and my curiosity. I spent a lot of time researching, learning, and tasting as much as I could in those early days. Fast forward to today: I’m an official Wines of Germany ambassador on a mission to teach as many people as possible about German wine!

So, what’s the deal with Germany?

The wines of Germany are exciting, unexpected, and offer an opportunity for exploration. From the fun-to-pronounce and new-to-you grape varieties like Müller-Thurgau, Portugieser, Trollinger, and Schwartzriesling to the diverse 13(!!!) German grape-growing regions, German wine takes you on an adventure with every sip.

Of course, if you think of world-class Riesling when you think of the German wine, you’re not wrong. It’s the most planted grape variety in the country and for good reason. Germany’s most noble grape is produced in a wide range of styles; from bone dry, to delicate and floral, to lusciously sweet, all German Rieslings are characterized by craft.

Limestone soils in Hild’s Elbling vineyards in the Upper Mosel

The possibilities are endless with German wine–especially when it comes to food pairing! An ideal complement to a vast array of cuisines, German wines are widely considered to be some of the most food compatible wines in the world. The sheer variety of Rieslings from sweet to dry options, light to full-bodied bottles and their remarkable balance between acidity and sugar make them strong pairing partners. The food combinations really become infinite once you bring Spätburgunder (aka German Pinot Noir) or their beloved Sekt (sparkling wine). So no matter what you’re doing this summer –grilling fish, flipping hamburgers, or just solo sipping –I promise you we have just the German wine you need.

But don’t just take my word for it, stop by and we’ll help you find your next favorite German wine! I also hope to see you at the German Riesling Party on Thursday, August 5th to take a tasty deep dive into the Riesling universe. In the meantime, here are a few German faves of my own you can pick up in the shop.

Hild Elbling Sekt Brut NV | $19.99 | Mosel, Germany | Even though this bubbly is German, the region it comes from (the Upper Mosel) has more in common with Champagne and Sancerre than the rest of Germany. These vineyards have swaths of limestone, which contributes to the bright, zingy acidity that is the hallmark of this wine. It has just enough ripe pear and apple flavors to provide delicious balance and a crisp, clean finish. A beautiful pairing for shellfish, alpine-style cheese, summer nights and your patio.

Seehof Rosé of Pinot Noir 2020 | $21.99 | Rheinhessen, Germany | This cool climate Pinot Noir Rosé is grown organically in the Rheinhessen on limestone soils (arguably the best soils for so many wines. See above!) The wine is bone dry with tart, fresh red fruits, floral aromatics, and wet stone. Pairs with sushi, grilled salmon, summer salads, and an afternoon on the boat.

J.B. Becker Wallufer Walkenberg Riesling Kabinett Trocken 2015 | $34.99 | Rheingau, Germany | The legendary Hans Josef Becker has been producing dry German Riesling in the Rheingau region for over 50 years. His organic 11-hectare estate has been cranking out some of the finest, most intensely focused, dry Rieslings in all of Germany. This wine is nervy with racing acidity, tart green apple, wet stones, and lemon zest. IF you like Muscadet or Chablis, you will love this wine. Pairs with oysters and other shellfish for the perfect aperitif on a hot summer day.

 

Rodenbach Returns

Rodenbach has returned to the Twin Cities market after a near two-year absence. A brewer of benchmark-quality sour red ales, they are a must-try for any beer aficionado.

There are limitless ways in which an aspiring craft beer connoisseur can find their curiosity for the hobby. Each person experiences their own, unique “Aha!” moment—it could be that bottle of Fat Tire from a neighbor’s BBQ back in the late 90s, perhaps a vase-shaped pour of Bavarian hefeweizen in a summery beer garden, or that first enlightening sip of Trappist ale from the shadowy corner of a Belgian beer bar. For many in the generation older than me, it was a pilgrimage to the Rockies for bottles of Coors Banquet and laying tracks in freshly fallen powder. For me, it was that first bottle of Surly Darkness shared amongst the company of my college roommates. Memories like these form an emotional bridge between a beer and an experience. Within the near-infinite expanse of beer, there lies a few unique, regional specialty beers that tend to evoke these sorts of experiences. One of these is Rodenbach.

The beers from Rodenbach are both strange and extraordinary; a flavor experience that is unexpected yet oddly satisfying. Their stable of brews is unquestionably the pride of West Flanders, a Dutch-speaking region of Belgium to the north of France. It is from this small region that their beer style gets its name—the Flanders, or Flemish, Red Ale—a specialty that has been brewed there since the Middle Ages. Rodenbach’s characteristic flavor comes from maturation in large oak vats called foeders, pronounced “foo-der.” Rodenbach has nearly three hundred of them, varying in size from 120 to 555 barrels. The staves of these foeders are home to an abundance of microorganisms that gently sour the maturing beer, adding a vinous-like quality.

Rodenbach’s base beer is brewed from a grist of pale and caramelized roasted malts, then hopped with aged hop pellets so as to minimize their flavor contribution. The wort is fermented with a mixed culture yeast and sent to lager in horizontal tanks for four weeks before being racked into the aforementioned foeders, where it will develop for up to two years. Using foeders to mature Rodenbach was perfected by Eugene Rodenbach, a grandson of brewery founder Pedro Rodenbach. His early studies of English brewing developed his skills in wood-aging, blending, and the acidification of beer—three core components of Rodenbach beer. Most all of the packaged brews are blends, with some exceptional foeders being bottled singularly. Though each beer differs in character, they all feature a mosaic of fruity complexity, sweet malt, oak structure, and pleasing tartness.

Rodenbach Classic — $11.99/4pk Can

The youthful beer in Rodenbach’s lineup; Classic is a 3:1 blend of young to matured beer. The larger portion of young, un-soured beer contributes a notable freshness to the palate. Slightly vinous on the nose with cracker-y, caramelized malt and a medley of dark fruit notes end with a soft, apple cider vinegar-like tartness.

Rodenbach Grand Cru — $15.99/4pk

Grand Cru, French for “great growth”, is a term used in the wine world to classify certain vineyards as having the greatest potential to produce grapes and terroir of highly regarded quality. As such, this designation is not used lightly. Rodenbach Grand Cru, though a beer, showcases the qualities of a great wine. The 2:1 ratio of matured to young beer shows greater complexity and power. Aromas of dried, dark fruit and cherry tart accompany hints at the forthcoming acidity. The rounded palate features spicier oak, complex fruitiness, and a punchier lactic and acetic finish.

Rodenbach Alexander — $15.99/4pk

An homage to Alexander Rodenbach—co-founder of the Rodenbach brewery, parliament member, mayor, writer, and as a man who suffered blindness as a child, a lifetime advocate for blind and deaf Belgian people. Alexander is essentially Grand Cru that has been macerated with sour cherries, and this aroma leaps from the glass. Fresh fruitiness is balanced by softly sweet, caramelized malt notes and finishes with a lingering complexity akin to a fine Burgundian pinot noir.

Adding Voices to the Conversation: Small Efforts, Big Impact

by the France 44 staff

Last week, Bill wrote a piece about the sexism that exists within the beer industry, and what our response as a business should be to it. A lot of the questions he posed are not easy ones to answer. What should our criteria be when we’re deciding what products to promote in our store? What should our response be when we learn about makers and producers who harm or cause trauma to others? Are we doing enough in our own business to make sure our employees are safe, respected, and happy?

The pandemic has perhaps allowed us (or forced us) to take stock of a lot of things. We’ve looked at how we spend our time, what we consume, and how we consume it—be it food, alcohol, information, entertainment, etc. Maybe we’ve decided to prioritize things differently now that we’ve experienced “time” in a different way.

And perhaps, while experiencing a different lifestyle this past year, while hearing voices different from our own speak, and coming to see things in a new light, we’ve learned the power behind the word “no.” No more misogyny. No more uncomfortable situations. No more making excuses for others. No more saying, “that’s just the way this industry is.” No more turning a blind eye. No more silence.

We know sexism and misogyny exist in many industries—it’s not specific to the beer, liquor, wine, or hospitality sectors. You’re here on our wines and spirits blog, so you’ve gotten a peek into this particularly male-dominated world. There are a lot of things that need to change, and it can be pretty depressing to realize how deep we need to dig in order to uproot all the rottenness.

True and lasting change is brought about by building a firm foundation of many small, individual efforts of pushing back, saying no, standing alongside and fighting with others for better things, and creating a small corner of the world that functions differently—that is to say: in a respectful, equal, safe, and supportive way. It doesn’t sound like too much to ask for, but these standards can be surprisingly scarce in a world ruled by a bunch of white guys.

We have more gender diversity on our staff than ever before. We’re so lucky—and so proud—to have such a wide array of voices, backgrounds, and perspectives that we can learn from and champion for. Each of the folks below has highlighted a maker/producer within our industry that has helped to inspire, challenge, or create important memories for them. We hope you’ll be equally inspired to try them out, continue the dialogue, and support the larger vision for a better future.

 

Hailey: El Maestro Sierra Fino Sherry combines two things that excite me greatly; unique and delicious wine plus an inspiring story of women doing their damn thing in an industry dominated by machismo. The El Maestro Sierra bodega was established in 1830 by José Antonio Sierra, and is now run entirely by his female ancestors. Dr. Carmen Morrega Pla took over after the death of her mother Doña Pilar Pla Pechovierto in 2021. That might not sound so wild if you aren’t familiar with the context, but it is quite rare to find a winery in Spain (or globally, for that matter) where this is the case. That’s a rabbit hole I’ll spare you from for now. We’re talking about an industry that historically has been, and is still to this day, dominated by aristocratic dudes – so, you can imagine the determination, bad-assery and perseverance these women must have had. 

 

I could go on and on about why sherry is so intriguing and crazy (google “solera system” if you want to get nerdy and have your mind blown into a million pieces), but I’ll leave it with a quick note on this specific wine. Fino sherry is one of the lightest, most delicate styles of sherry made, so expect a bone-dry wine with super high acidity and notes of saline, thyme, cashew, lemon zest and a touch of ripe apple. If you like oysters/shellfish, cheese, risotto, or just food in general, this is for you! 

 

Kayla: Oberon is my favorite summer beer. It’s clean, refreshing and reminds me of cabin season. Going to the lake, and riding around on a pontoon boat with my family. Beach-towel-model Maddy couldn’t agree more.  

Tashi: You might remember reading about Erstwhile Mezcal in my first blog post for France 44 about drinking sustainably. I’m here to talk about it again because my experience writing that blog was incredible!  Our distributors were very supportive of my endeavor and linked me with distilleries that fit my criteria. I was able to get in contact with the co-founder of Erstwhile, Yuan Ji.  She took time out of her day to have a zoom meeting with me and give me a mezcal 101 lesson and tell me all about the amazing things her company is doing.  It was incredibly impactful for me to have so much support from perfect strangers while I was writing this piece to share with my France 44 family. The time and care Yuan took to connect with me is the kind of thing I love to see at work and in my everyday life. We live in a world built by and for men and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed or overlooked or just plain tired.  Supporting each other in our endeavors, no matter how big or small they might seem, is so important. Yuan did that for me. Not to mention that Erstwhile works directly with small family owned mezcal producers that utilize the skill sets of all family members and give them a voice.  Yuan was able to get me some quotes from the daughter of one distiller and the niece of another who are heavily involved in getting their family’s mezcal out into the world. We currently have Erstwhile’s Espadin Mezcal, which is the perfect balance of sweet and smoky.  I had never tried mezcal before tasting Erstwhile and while celebrating my blog post with the rest of our liquor team, I found it to be delicious. Even for a beginner! I’ll forever be thankful (and a big fan) of what Yuan and her Erstwhile family are bringing to the liquor world. 

 

Melissa: Seven years ago, I started a journey into cider drinking. It became a hobby/passion for me and I wanted to learn as much about it as I could. Most of the books and articles I read were from well-known cider producers that were men. It was all great information from people I have huge amounts of respect for, but there seemed to be voices of women missing.

In a conversation with other cider enthusiasts, the name Eleanor Leger came up. Eleanor is the founder of Eden Cider in Vermont and took the cider world by storm with her ice cider. Since 2001, she has continuously produced beautiful ciders that pay respect to the apples she uses to make them. More than that, she has given her voice to the cider community and helped throw a spotlight on women in cider.

At CiderCon 2019 (an annual cider convention for makers and enthusiasts to get together), I had an opportunity to meet Eleanor. I was nervous about this because she is a cider superhero of sorts. Turns out, she is a “normal” woman. She is easy to talk to, ready to share experiences, techniques, and ideas with her colleagues, and always encouraging of those around her.

Eleanor is a pioneer in the US Craft Cider industry and a role model for women wanting to be cider producers.

 

Karina: I first met Leah Jorgensen (pirate princess, owner, and winemaker) when she visited France 44 several years ago. Leah makes Loire-Valley-style wines in the Rogue Valley, located in southern Oregon. Not many people know about the Rogue Valley (the Willamette Valley gets all the fame and glory), and not many people make wine the way Leah does. She draws from her Scandinavian/Italian heritage as well as from her deep-rooted loved for the wines of France’s Loire Valley to form her remarkable winemaking philosophy. As a shy and introverted wine-baby back in 2016, Leah’s charisma and spunk shocked me into believing I could forge my own path in the wine industry. She is an extraordinary, unapologetic, and brilliant force in the wine world.

On Sexism, the Beer Industry, and Hard Truths: Notes from Bill’s Desk

by Bill

A little over 2 weeks ago, a woman named Brienne Allen, who works at a brewery in Salem, MA, started sharing stories on her Instagram page from other women about emotional, physical and sexual abuse they’ve experienced while working in the beer industry. What started with just a few, very quickly turned into several hundred, if not over a thousand individuals sharing their own stories through Brienne’s Instagram page.

I forced myself to read every story, and even went back to reread some of them a second time. Having it laid out in front of me, story after story after story, I realized the magnitude of it all. Deep down, I know this behavior happens; it happens everywhere. But having the drumbeat go on and on, it started to stick in my head. And once that drumbeat gets stuck, all you can do is think about it all the time. If it was just one woman sharing her story of abuse at a brewery how easy it would be to read it and then keep scrolling until a 12 second video of pandas falling out of trees caught my attention instead. Poof, that story of abuse is gone. And there it is–that’s what made me so heartbroken. This issue is so ingrained in our daily lives that we’ve become numb to it. It had to take 1000 women screaming “STOP IT!” to get my attention instead of just one woman doing it.

I want to say that I’m not a big believer in “cancel culture”. And I’m unsure whether I’m “woke” or not. I’m also pretty sure I don’t believe that the beer buyer at your friendly, neighborhood liquor store should be your moral compass on social injustices, but I do believe in doing better. I believe in kindness. I believe in taking accountability for poor decisions. I believe in telling the truth, even if it hurts. I had to grow up to learn that one. The truth is that our 4th best-selling brewery in the store was named on Brienne’s page. A few other breweries we sell were also mentioned. Over the last few weeks, I’ve sat down with most of the women in the liquor store and we’ve had a few lengthy meetings about all this. The team and I even had a chance to sit down with one of the owners of a local brewery and have an open discussion with him. I tried to shut up, listen, and take it all in.

We all live in our own little bubbles. My main two bubbles are my wife and work. My bubbles are safe for me. I’m a white, middle-aged male, so that might not come as a surprise to anyone. Imagine not having safe bubbles. Imagine your home not being safe for you. Imagine your work not being a safe place for you. Think of those poor souls that experience both. Imagine always getting beaten down, emotionally and/or physically.

One of my coworkers came to France 44 to escape the abuse that they were experiencing at their previous job. I knew some of their story but stayed out of it because I thought it wasn’t any of my business. Months went by and I simply forgot about it. For the last couple of years, without even thinking about it, I’ve brought in a beer that had a direct tie to their previous job. For those 3-4 weeks it took us to sell that limited release beer each year, my coworker had a constant reminder of the pain of that prior job every day they came into work and saw that beer in the store. I failed my coworker. And even though they didn’t work in the beer department, I now know that they knew about that beer in our cooler. I apologized to them and said “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” They responded matter-of-factly, “Why would you have thought about it?” That cut to the core because I instantly thought to myself, “why wouldn’t I have thought about it?” How could I have simply forgotten this? That one beer isn’t important to the store. We get over 2500 new beers each year! Maybe that’s why I didn’t think of it. Maybe it was just another beer in the never-ending flow of new beers, but that one beer made their day harder. That one label caused them pain. By listening to them and taking action, it said that I care. I don’t have my blinders on, and I hear you. I want their bubble to be like mine. I want their bubble to feel safe. The older that I get, the more I realize my coworkers are an extension of my chosen family. I spend more time with them than my friends and with the exception of my wife, I spend more time with them than anybody else. Defend your coworkers like they are your Sisters, your Brothers, or your Mom or Dad. They are your second home. You should be their second home. If you witness something, say something. Don’t be silent. Even if it’s hard. And by the way, strangers need your help too. We shouldn’t stop standing up for people just because we don’t know them.

It’s the little things that you can do that make a difference. It starts at my desk at work. It starts in my neighborhood. It starts with kindness and taking off your blinders. Try stepping out of your bubble and seeing the world from a different perspective. That’s hard because it involves getting uncomfortable. It’s hard because it might involve confrontation, maybe even with someone you love. It’s hard because it might expose things within ourselves that we don’t like. It’s hard because deep down we know there’s a problem out there and we have to ask ourselves, what are we going to do about it?

If you’re familiar with our beer selection, you’ll know we curate our cooler quite a bit. We work hard in the beer cooler. We care about our products. We don’t have frat boy, misogynistic labels with stupid innuendos in our cooler. That’s one super simple thing we do, but that makes a difference. As a team, we reject far more products than we say yes to. Quality-wise, we try to bring in what we think are the best examples of what’s available to us. So why should I stop at quality and not take into account social issues as deciding factors? Because unfortunately, that becomes a slippery slope and soon I might not have much to sell you after a while. How far do you want me to peel back the curtain? How much digging do I do? What if one employee at a brewery did something bad 5 years ago? 10 years ago? Last year? How do I process that information and how should it affect how I buy for the store?

I removed a local brewery off of our shelf for a period of time last year because of blatant racism. I later found out that I’d held out longer than pretty much every other store in town. This was a good little brewery for us. We sold a decent amount of their beer and our customers liked it. Since then, numbers-wise, they haven’t gotten back to where they were before I removed them. They might not ever. Was removing them for that long the right thing to do? Why should I treat sexism any differently than racism? This brewery worked amazingly fast and removed the majority owner completely from their business. I can’t imagine how hard it was to do that. They had to quickly come up with money for the buyout, try to keep the staff intact, try to keep their customers, all while trying to control the social media PR nightmare of his actions. Oh, and on top of all that, it was right in the middle of COVID. I’m sure it was an absolute nightmare and their work bubble was bursting. So why did I punish them so long after they removed the guilty owner? I’m now convinced that I made a mistake. I thought it was the right thing to do at the time, and I guess it made me feel like I was at least doing “something”. I don’t think it’s my job to be Judge, Jury and Executioner to these breweries. You trust me to put together a great selection for you. I trust you to buy what you want. I might get up on my soapbox every once in a while and let you know what’s going on but ultimately, YOU the Customer will decide these products’ fate. While writing this I thought “why didn’t I write a blog on racism in the beer industry?” To be honest, I think a year ago when this happened I’m not sure I had the insight to write something about racism, or even sexism. Last June, working retail in a pandemic, I was just trying to survive. It’s not lost on me that that’s exactly what People of Color have been saying all along.

Do I want these breweries to close? Of course not. I want these breweries to be accountable. I want these breweries to be proactive instead of reactive when they get caught doing something. I want these breweries to clean up their shit and be better. And if that means that hard changes have to be made, or if it means that they have to be the social media punching bag for a while, so be it. Just be better.

Personal growth is uncomfortable because change is uncomfortable. Admitting flaws is uncomfortable, but when we start doing these little things (sometimes not so little), hopefully they can grow into big things. Just concentrate on your corner of the world and let it spread from there. Stand beside your team. Stand beside your Family.

I can’t solve sexism. I can’t solve racism. But I can try and that’s a small start.

Look at that, I did that all with only swearing once.

We’re all constantly learning, evolving, and trying to do the best we can with the information available to us. The absolute best thing we can do is to keep these hard-truth conversations going. After you read this blog, go talk to your friends about it. Bring it up to your family. See what your coworkers have to say about it. You’re guaranteed to learn a lot, and you’re also guaranteed to make talking about it easier and less cringey and uncomfortable. The more we talk about it, the more language we have. The more language we have, the more power and confidence we have to take a stand in the moment when something needs to be said.

___________________________________________________________

Want to read more about all this?

Ratmagnet Instagram

Emboldenactadvance Instragram

Want to help?  Check out some of these organizations:

https://www.witchhuntmpls.org/

https://brewingchangecollaborative.org/

https://www.pinkbootssociety.org/

We’re doing our part to keep the conversation going, and we welcome anyone who wants to enter that conversation with us. Feel free to reach out to us at hello@france44.com with your thoughts and questions.

Drinking with a Purpose

by Tashi Johns | Welcome to my next installment of drinking with intention!  You might have seen my first blog post, “Drinking Sustainably” written for Earth Day this year. During my research I was inspired to do a part two where I feature distilleries giving back to their communities.  Who doesn’t love a delicious drink that helps put some good back into the world?

 

THE INSPIRATION…

During my quest to find eco-conscious distilleries I read about Du Nord, located here in Minneapolis, and knew I had to write another blog piece that would feature them and highlight all they’ve accomplished within the last year alone. 

On Monday, May 25th George Floyd was murdered by a police officer which created city wide unrest.  The following Friday, the riots that also erupted reached the Du Nord warehouse and it was burned down.  The owners, Chris and Chanelle Montana, saw how much their community was hurting and decided to turn this set back into a way to support their community.  They started by creating a GoFundMe page to raise money “as a way to support small and under-represented business owners, whose physical stores or offices were damaged as a direct result of the civil uprising and were under-insured, or lacked critical funding to get them back into business again.”  This funding helped rebuild the  Du Nord warehouse and supported businesses across the Twin Cities.  By June they had created the Du Nord Foundation and were able to distribute these emergency funds to 76 businesses in a total of $496,751 to rebuild and revitalize.

I was able to chat with Chris and he told me about the strides he has taken as a business owner to help instill change in the industry.  Du Nord is the first black owned micro distillery, and if you check out their team page you will see a wide variety of diversity on their staff – something not often seen at distilleries.  Chris said that the murder of George Floyd really made him think about what Du Nord was doing.  It was a wake up call to do more and to ask how big they can go, which is how the Du Nord Foundation came to fruition.

Two days after their warehouse burned down, Chris was assisting a pop up food pantry by lending them some space in the distillery (see title photo) to store the donated items because it was about to rain.  As they were moving in, neighbors stopped by to donate and volunteer, and a line of community members needing supplies formed down the block.  Overnight the Du Nord Community Market was up and running by the power of dedicated volunteers.  It ran every day for two weeks (until they had to close for building cleanup and renovation), and in those two weeks they utilized 300 volunteers and helped 400 families each week.  They were recently able to re-open their community market and are now taking orders online with curbside pickup.

Chris has spent a lot of time thinking about how to use his place as a business owner to help create an equitable distribution of wealth to build generational wealth, and says that owning a business is the best way to do that.  So the “BIPOC Wealth Development & Incubator Project” was born. This is a way for Du Nord spirits to funnel profits into the Du Nord Foundation nonprofit to create a hub to grow BIPOC small businesses trying to come up in the food and beverage industry.  These businesses will be given space, access to a commercial kitchen, and be able to sell their products and build their brand right out of the distillery.  They won’t have to pay rent, so they can take the time they need to perfect their products and build their brand.  If they choose to pay rent it will be on a sliding scale and that money will go directly back into the program.  There will be no time limit on how long these businesses can use the space either.  Du Nord is in the works to purchase properties to launch the incubator project, including an expansion into north Minneapolis which will also house a second location for their Community Market.  You can read all about this venture here.

One last thing I would like to share about the amazing work Chris and his team have accomplished is their production of hand sanitizer.  In the beginning of the pandemic when we were experiencing a shortage of hand sanitizer Du Nord decided to start producing it.  They originally were giving it away, but order requests started coming in so they were able to sell it at a reasonable cost and bring people back to work and give them hazard pay to make it.  This benefited both Du Nord and the community at large, and you can still order hand sanitizer on their website!

You really can’t beat a local distillery doing good across the twin cities.  I highly recommend checking out their website, giving their cocktail room a visit once it opens again, and maybe even volunteering with the Community Market!  We are happy to carry Du Nord products and hope you will give them a try next time you visit our store.

You can find Du Nord in our vodka, gin, whiskey, and liqueur isles. I highly recommend trying their L’Etoile Vodka and Cafe Frieda Coffee Liqueur.

SUPPORTING LOCAL HOCKEY

Northland Spirits was co-founded by Mark Parrish with some friends to create a company that gives back to their community.  Mark comes from the hockey world, even playing on the 2006 US Olympic team.  So naturally, 5% of all sales go to support local Minnesota community hockey programs.  Their vodka is organic (they’re working on the certification but it’s made with organic corn) and made with all local ingredients, keeping the entire process in Minnesota and then giving back to keep our tradition of hockey thriving!

They only make vodka right now so our recommendation is an obvious one, The Spirit of Hockey.

GIVING BACK IN NYC

Last year when the pandemic began, St. Agrestis stepped up to help provide hand sanitizer when there was a severe shortage nationwide.  They donated hundreds of gallons to folks like the NYPD, FDNY, hospitals, and Black Lives Matter organizers “to ensure that those protesting and marching for change were protected”.  They also recently joined a mentorship program which focuses on giving people of color foundational experience in the liquor industry, focusing on management and ownership.

Another cool thing St. Agrestis has done, to connect back to my drinking sustainably blog, is create large format products to cut back on packaging waste.  The St. Agrestis Spritz is sold in kegs, which are lightweight and recyclable.  If the equivalent amount of glass bottles were used to make the cocktail traditionally, about 36 lbs of glass would be used.  This switch has resulted in a waste reduction of 92%!  Since inception they have decreased the weight of recycling by over 15,000 lbs!

St. Agrestis also donates to local school organizations and community groups as a way to give back and stay connected to their city.

You’ve probably tried the St. Agrestis Amaro and Inferno Bitter, so we recommend trying one of their new “bag in a box” cocktails!  We have all three: Negroni, Black Manhattan, and Boulevardier.

What Should Your Sauce Be Drinking?

A Culinary Take on “Cooking Wines”

by Mike Schufman

Google searches are like calculators. Using them in a pinch relieves some anxiety, but as my math teacher always said, they prevent us from thinking.  If you type in “What wine is good for cooking?” chances are you will come up with something like this:

  • (White wine) “You want to use a dry, acidic white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc and avoid Chardonnay.”
  • (Red Wine) “You want to use a dry, bold red wine such as a Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot.”

Wow, big help!  Where to start?  Not only are these results incredibly vague, they are potentially misleading and don’t break down what makes a wine suitable for cooking.  First of all, if you throw a dart at a wine in the store, chances are, you’ll hit it a dry one, meaning that there is little to no residual sugar.  This term is often casually used in combination with the true definition to mean “not fruity.” Such phrasing could possibly be even more misleading when assessing the appropriate wine for cooking, which I will explain more later in this blog.

Sauvignon Blanc, for example, varies a great deal depending on where it’s grown, and some varieties may not work well in your cooking applications.  As far as reds go, I have worked in several restaurants where cheap Cabernet Sauvignon is used.  Whereas Cab is very commonly used to add body and richness to everything from beef stock to lamb stew or any braised red meat dishes, I have never understood why anyone would want to bring so much tannin into the culinary picture- certainly not in the dish itself (more on that later).  So, before I make some suggestions, let’s break it down!

In cooking, wine is generally added to deglaze* hot, crusty pans, to balance the flavor profile of a soup, or to give complexity to sauces.  Sometimes it is reduced heavily and essentially becomes the entire foundation of the sauce.  In other words, it accomplishes fancy flavors while also being functional. Here are the purposes for some of these functions.

Randy Marsh, in South Park’s 2010 episode “Crème Fraiche,” enthusiastic about the importance of deglazing.
  1. When used to deglaze*, wine’s acidity aids in un-sticking or releasing the fond, a French term for the browned bits of sautéed vegetables, fats, juices, and browned pieces of meat that get stuck to the bottom of the pan (No nonstick cookware for this, please). In doing this, we unleash tons of new, complex, savory flavors into the dish that distribute themselves evenly throughout the dish.  As Guy Fieri might say, “It’s like strikin’ oil in Flavortown.  You’re gonna be rich!”
  2. When used to balance the flavor of a soup, we want to provide a contrast. Soups often have a lot of savory, browned, nutty, oniony, umami** flavors. We want to introduce some delicate sweetness, subtle fruitiness, and gentle acidity. Using wine accomplishes this with one ingredient rather than using, say, vinegar, honey, and apple juice.  White wine (or sherry) also simply tastes good in soups, particularly poultry-based ones, so it is the most logical ingredient with which to achieve this balance.  No one asks, for example, “Why do we put onions in soup?” It just works.

**Note from the kitchen– Umami is not saltiness.  It is the 5th basic taste.  A loanword from Japanese, it does not perfectly translate to any English words, but most closely translates to “savoriness” or “deliciousness” and refers to the taste of glutamates.  These flavors are found in meats, vegetables, soy sauce or miso, cheeses, tomatoes, and mushrooms.  The taste is often described as “brothy” or “mouth-watering.” Umami flavors increase in foods with roasting, aging, and fermentation and usually hang out wherever amino acids are present.  It is a difficult taste to put into words, but you know it when you taste it.  I find umami to be unusual in that it seems to hide or fade when not in the presence of sweetness and saltiness.

  1. When used in pan sauces (sauces that are literally built in the pan off of the fond typically created by the seared protein with which the sauce is being served), we deglaze with wine, cognac, or a fortified wine such as marsala or sherry, and then we reduce the wine to intensify the flavors, create viscosity, and cook out the majority of the alcohol, thus tempering the booziness. Often we add fresh herbs, a knob of butter or a splash of cream to make the sauce creamy and rich and to balance the sharp acidity and delicate fruitiness of the wine reduction.

All this considered, selecting the right wine for cooking comes down to:

  1. How wine tastes in its natural state, before the cooking process. If we know that, we can predict…
  2. How wine will taste after the cooking process-the end result. Keep in mind that every  flavor component, except water and alcohol, will intensify with cooking.

Understanding that sweetness, fruitiness, aroma, and acidity intensify with cooking, we want to give some room for this increase in intensity when selecting a wine for cooking. As I see it, in most cases, we want a wine that is relatively:

 

  1. Aromatically neutral. Sure, we want to impart some aroma. However, if the wine has considerable oak influence (lending toasty, nutmeg/baking spice, vanilla or buttery flavors, and astringency), and/or it is a naturally aromatic grape varietal (Such as Gewürztraminer, Riesling, hot-climate Chardonnay, Viognier,), this will result in an overly aromatic dish for most applications. Many aromatic whites also tend to have slightly too much, and often far too much residual sugar for cooking. As far as the oaky Chardonnays go, I have experimented with using them in butter sauces. In such sauces I have found it is better to compliment the butter with contrasting wine rather than double-down on the richness. These “buttery flavors” taste different in a glass as a component of the wine than they do after cooking. That which is perceived as butteriness in a wine tends to turn bitter and overpowering when cooked.  Big-bodied, hot-climate Chardonnays also tend to have a cloying fruitiness of ripe mangoes or pineapple that is far too intense for cooking. If you do wish to feature this grape, go for something cooler climate and unoaked. Chablis is not uncommon, but can be expensive, so go for a cooler climate, more affordable, unoaked Chardonnay. Here are two examples from the US.

A to Z Chardonnay – Oregon | $17.99

Lone Birch Chardonnay – Washington | $11.99

  1. Moderate to high acidity. It is logical to recommend bone dry, extremely acidic wines for cooking. One our goals, after all, are to bring some acidity to the party. But remember, we want a balanced flavor profile after the wine has been cooked out, so we need to leave some headroom. Moderate acidity is usually enough. The fattier the dish, the more demand for acidity.  For hot and spicy dishes, go for less acidic varietals, but, to nod to Alton Brown, “that’s another blog.”
  2. Slightly less fruit-driven for whites, slightly more fruit-driven for reds. This may be somewhat in contrast to the rapid google search. The reason is fairly simple.  Dishes that benefit from white wine, such as any poultry dishes, risottos, paellas, soups, or any seafood dishes, demand a subtle fruitiness, hints of fresh herbs, and a pleasant minerality. They benefit from some ripe fruit, but nothing too honeyed or floral. I would avoid styles such as the sweeter varieties from Alsace or the aromatic blends from Cote Du Rhone.  Dishes that benefit from red wine, on the other hand, such as braised beef and lamb dishes, are bold, have more robust depth of flavor, more gaminess, and more earthiness.  With all of that going on, there is room for slightly richer fruit notes that come from warmer climate, medium to full-bodied reds. That said, we don’t want to use overly jammy reds. Every component of the wine intensifies with cooking, so if it’s noticeably jammy when you drink it, it will go overboard after cooking.

For reds, medium tannins will do. While some tannins are welcome, they play a more important role in the wine you serve alongside the meal than they do in any sauce or stew itself.  This is one reason I personally stay away from highly tannic, aggressive cabs in my food, though some would disagree.  Inside the dish, too much tannin can be counterproductive to the well-rounded sweetness that you have achieved from cooking something low and slow. Alongside the dish, a wine with good, firm tannin structure can cut the fattiness of the meal between bites.  This raises the question: do you have to serve the same type of wine as the one you cooked with in the dish? The answer is, no. That is not to say that some wines couldn’t play both roles. While some wines that would be good inside your dish would also be good for drinking, many wines that are suitable to serve with the meal would not be suitable incorporated in the dish.

  1. Dry, like the Google search said. We don’t necessarily need bone-dry here in most cases. A few grams per liter of sugar would be not only okay, but desirable. We do want a gentle sweetness post-cook and some potential for caramelization, but we really don’t want anything off-dry or sweet.  Earlier, I mentioned that cream or butter sauces demanded a little more acidity from the wine. Due to the caloric density of these sauces, they also have less demand for sweetness and fruitiness. High-calorie sauces can create a sensation on the palate similar to sweetness, and fat needs some more acidity to cut through it.  In a sauce beurre-blanc (sauce from Nantes, France commonly served with various white fishes, composed almost entirely of butter and wine reduction), the traditional white wine used is a Muscadet, a bone-dry white wine from the Melon de Bourgogne grape, often featuring a distinct salinity reminiscent of oyster shells, and very little fruit if not the faintest note of star fruit.
  2. Cheap, relatively. Plan to spend roughly $9-$15 per bottle. One of many factors in the price of wine is the age of the wine.  Oak aging makes wine develop new characteristics that make them more complex, sophisticated and enjoyable but also denature much of the fruit characteristics that we want intact for our stews and pan sauces.  Oak also adds astringency, vanilla-like flavors, and spice, not all of which lends itself well to cooking.  For cooking with red wines especially, I tend to stick to old world wines both for the influence of terroir and for the oak which tends to be less aggressive of a vanilla bomb than American wines, for example.

Now that we’ve broken everything down, let’s answer the question already. Which wines are good for cooking?

For most cooking purposes, I enjoy affordable wines from Southern Europe, especially Mediterranean regions. They tend to offer the right kind of fruit, the right kind of acidity, the right kind of herbiness, and the right kind of savoriness after cooking. There are countless wines that would work great for cooking, so here are some tasty suggestions that are also good enough to drink.

 

WHITE WINES GREAT FOR COOKING (and drinking)

  • Cassagnoles Cotes de Gascogne | France | $13.99 |  This Southwest French white blend is made from affordable grape varietals that are sort of flavor-cousins with sauvignon blanc. Ugni Blanc (Trebbiano in Italian), and Columbard, both used in the production of Cognac, impart a zesty citrus quality and notes of gooseberry.  This wine is great in any mild dishes such as seafood pasta or pan-roasted chicken. And it’s good enough to drink alongside some pork rillettes from the France 44 Cheese Shop.
  • Felines Jourdan Picpoul de Pinet | France | $12.99 | Another southern French varietal “Picpoul.” Bright and acidic, this wine is just the right dryness for cooking, with subtle hints of Mediterranean herbs, lemon, and anise. This wine deglazes and reduces beautifully.  Use it in any situation where you need to cut the overall fattiness or oiliness of a dish.
  • Sallier De La Tour Grillo | Sicily, Italy | $12.99 | This Sicilian grape, Grillo, is one of the varieties used in the production of Marsala wine.  It offers medium-high acidity, a distinct savoriness, and wonderful minerality that will make you think of the Mediterranean Sea. This very affordable white would be equally good in and alongside any seafood dish, especially shrimp. Add it to your next jambalaya.
  • Selection des Cognettes Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie | France | $14.99 | Made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape, this bone-dry white is ideal for both pairing with and cooking mussels or clams. Sur Lie refers to lie aging, which gives the wine a yeasty, lager-like taste that I personally love in my white wines. Use in dishes that feature briny flavors such as capers, olives, feta cheese, preserved lemons, green peppercorns, or anchovies. And yes, use in a sauce beurre blanc with any white fish and asparagus. If you make this sauce, you’re going to want to get the good stuff, like the Beurre de Baratte available at the France 44 Cheese Shop.
  • Albamar Sauvignon Blanc | Chile | $10.99 | This lively Sauvignon Blanc has all the intensity of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, but with less tropical fruit and therefore more versatile in cooking. Use it to add some ripe fruit to your Ropa Vieja with all that zesty bell pepper and olive brininess, which typically calls for white wine rather than red.

 

RED WINES GREAT FOR COOKING (and drinking)

  • Courtois Cote Du Rhone | France | $12.99 |  A Classic GSM (Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre) Rhone blend, this wine gives ripe blackberry and cherry notes and subtle hints of lavender in the background, typical of many CDR’s. This will take your chuck roast to the next level, and just plain tastes…well…pretty freaking good!
  • Castaño Monastrell | Spain | $12.99 | 100% Monastrell (or Mourvedre), this Southern Spanish red hits you with a distinct black pepper spice on the nose, and delivers juicy plum and blackberry on the palate. It finishes with sweet licorice, allspice, and baking chocolate. Use this when making Spanish-style braised short ribs.
  • Poggio Anima Belial Sangiovese | Italy | $15.99 | Virtually no oak, just juicy Sangiovese. High acidity. Distinctive sweet cherry notes begging for tomatoes. Cut the funk in a puttanesca, or use this Sangio-vay-zay to de-glaze-ay some Bolognay-zay!
  • Domaine Roman Pinot Noir | France | $12.99 | Much more affordable than good quality burgundies, this Southern French Pinot Noir is straightforward with bright, red fruit and very subtle oak.

 

The Classic French recipes Bœuf Bourguignon*** and Coq Au Vin traditionally called for red burgundy in the marinade and during braising. In the old days, pinot noir’s flavor profile of tart, red fruit and forest floor would have played nicely with tough, cheap cuts of beef and capon, the gamy male chicken that was traditionally used in coq au vin. Today, we have access to fresher beef, and capon is not on most people’s grocery lists.  Still, modern versions of these recipes live on. Use in any stewed dishes calling for red wine and mushrooms and you’ll be glad you didn’t drop $30 for a “cooking wine.” Oh, and if you’re feeling German, and you used this for sauerbraten, that wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

***Pro tip. Bœuf Bourguignonne typically starts with rendering lardons (cubes of fatty pork such as belly or bacon) to add fat and flavor to the dish that traditionally used leaner cuts of beef.  If you are ever interested in trying this technique, ask your friendly France 44 Cheese Shop meat-monger to hook you up with a hunk some house cured bacon (the best bacon in the world) for your recipe.  They can also recommend the perfect cuts of beef, lamb, pork and chicken for any of your dishes. France 44 Cheese Shop features lots of great meat sourced from local farms such as: 

 

DRY SHERRIES GREAT FOR COOKING

With its natural aromatics, sherry plays well with briny flavors such as olives and sweet citrus notes such as orange zest. It can enhance the nuttiness and depth of caramelized onions or toasted almonds while also providing acidity and complexity. Sherry also seems to have a way of bringing out the “golden brown & delicious” flavor in cooking. Though used frequently in Spanish cuisine in dishes such as Paella or Picadillo, sherry can also be used to add dimension to Chinese-inspired stir-fry dishes and marinades. I never make chicken stock without it, and it can also give some extra punch to a French onion soup (any dry fortified wine works beautifully here).

So, there you have it—one guitar-playing drum-smacking culinary grad’s breakdown of what makes certain wines give your dishes a little something extra!  Some of these ideas are traditional, and some are my own personal take on flavors and why we balance flavors the way we do.  Whatever wines you choose, I hope you have enjoyed taking this little journey with me through the delicious world of food and wine.  And just maybe, this blog has given you new perspectives on cooking with wine, or even inspired you to try some new recipes and do some experimenting of your own.  Have fun in the kitchen, and enjoy the weather!