Is this one of the best bargains in French brandy? Maybe. Maybe not.
When most spirits enthusiasts hear the name Gran Gala, they immediately think of the popular Italian orange liqueur often compared to Grand Marnier. What many drinkers don’t realize is that Gran Gala also produces an authentic French cognac—a surprisingly affordable bottle. At a time when many well-known cognac brands command prices of $40, $50, or significantly more for their entry-level offerings, Gran Gala VS often sells for less than $25. That price alone makes it worthy of a closer look.
For more than three decades, Patz & Hall has occupied a special place among California’s elite Chardonnay producers. Founded in 1988 by Donald Patz, James Hall, Anne Moses, and Heather Patz, the winery built its reputation not through vast estate holdings, but through long-standing relationships with some of the finest vineyard owners in Sonoma County and beyond. Long before vineyard-designated wines became fashionable, Patz & Hall was showcasing the unique personalities of celebrated sites such as Hyde Vineyard, Durell Vineyard, Gap’s Crown Vineyard, Dutton Ranch, and Zio Tony Ranch.
Eric and Amy Gale are the owners and sole full-time employees of Anchored Roots, founded in 2020 in Door County, Wisconsin.
The couple make an ideal front-of-house/back-of-house duo. Amy grew up in Milwaukee, with hospitality at the forefront of her career path. Her initial focus was event planning, from non-profit fundraisers and catering, to corporate events and weddings. This was followed by experience in tasting room management at Airfield Estates in Prosser, Washington.
Eric was born and raised in Luxemburg, Wisconsin. Perhaps predictably, while he was growing up he worked summers at a neighbor’s 60-head dairy farm. However, his academic bent led him to a Bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in chemistry. He then pursued a Masters in Viticulture at Washington State University. After graduation, he landed a job at Chateau Ste. Michelle, Washington state’s oldest winery. His primary responsibility was overseeing the Cold Creek vineyard, Ste. Michelle’s first, originally planted in 1972.
If you’re looking at premium blancos in the $40–50 range, Mijenta Blanco has become one of the most respected modern tequilas among agave enthusiasts. It was created by master distiller (maestra tequilera) Ana María Romero Mena, one of the most highly regarded tequila experts in Mexico.
The name “Mijenta” is derived from the Spanish phrase “mi gente” (“my people”), reflecting the brand’s emphasis on Mexican culture, community, and craftsmanship.
Mijenta is traditionally crafted using mature agave from the Highlands of Jalisco, an area known for producing sweeter, fruit-forward tequilas. The agaves are cooked in autoclaves before fermentation and distillation.
What distinguishes Mijenta is that Ana María Romero approaches tequila much like a wine sommelier approaches wine, paying close attention to terroir and agave character. Her special “Maestra Selection” releases have even explored agaves from all five tequila-producing states within Mexico’s denomination of origin.
Mijenta Tequila Blanco
This Blanco is 100% Blue Weber agave, primarily sourced from the Highlands (Los Altos) region of Jalisco. It is produced without additives according to the company as well as widely recognized additive-free tequila sources. “Additive free” is becoming increasingly more important among tequila connoisseurs.
On the nose, expect cooked agave, citrus zest, floral notes, fresh herbs, minerality. and black pepper. The palate features more of that cooked agave and citrus, plus cantaloupe, honey, cinnamon, and green olive. It all wraps up in a clean, medium long finish.
And after you try it, you will figure the bottle costs twice what you actually paid for it. Bonus! ABV is 40%.
If you try this tequila, let me know what you thought of it in the comments below.
The Raymond name has been associated with Napa valley since the year Prohibition ended. The Raymond family arrived in Napa Valley in 1933. Roy Raymond married into the Beringer family in 1936. He worked as winemaker for Beringer from 1933 to 1970. The following year, he and his two sons Walter and Roy Jr set out on their own with a 90-acre estate property in Rutherford. They released their first commercial wine under the Raymond Vineyards label in 1974. The estate now comprises 300 acres in Rutherford, St. Helena, and Jameson Canyon. All are are certified organic and biodynamic. The winery is also operated on 100% solar power.
Jacob Schram, a German immigrant, bought 200 acres on Mt. Diamond in Napa valley in 1862 and planted 30,000 vines. He had Chinese laborers dig Napa’s first hillside caves for wine aging and storage. His winery, Schramsberg, gained fame after the author Robert Louis Stevenson wrote about it in his 1883 book, The Silverado Squatters. The wine became so popular that the 23rd President of the United States, Benjamin Harrison, served it in the White House at official functions.
In the world of fine spirits, few American producers have challenged Old World orthodoxy as boldly—or as successfully—as Germain-Robin. Long before “craft distilling” became a marketing buzzword, Germain-Robin was quietly rewriting the rules of brandy in Northern California, proving that greatness didn’t have to come from Cognac to rival it.
The story begins in 1982 with an unlikely partnership between Ansley Coale, a California rancher and former academic, and Hubert Germain-Robin, a French distiller from a Cognac-producing family dating back to the 18th century. Their meeting—reportedly by chance along a California highway while Germain-Robin was hitchhiking—sparked a shared vision: to apply traditional French distillation techniques to exceptional California wine grapes.
Kathryn Walt Hall has a most impressive resume. To touch on just a few of the high points, she is the proprietor of HALL Wines and WALT Wines [family businesses she has been involved with for over thirty years], was assistant city attorney in Berkeley, California, worked as an attorney and businesswoman in Dallas, Texas, and has served on numerous non-profit and institutional boards, with an emphasis on issues related to social care and mental health. From 1997 to July 2001, Ms. Hall served as the United States Ambassador to Austria. In the midst of this, together with her husband Craig she has raised four children.
HALL estate wines hail from five vineyards: Sacrashe (Rutherford), Bergfeld (St. Helena), Hardester (Napa Valley), Atlas Peak Estate, (Atlas Peak), and T Bar T Ranch (Alexander Valley). From these 500 acres come classic Bordeaux varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc. In each vineyard, small-vine farming is employed to produce low-yield, high-concentration fruit.
In Napa Valley, some of the most compelling wines come not from sprawling estates but from small, vineyard-focused producers who carefully source fruit from exceptional sites. One such winery is Cornerstone Cellars, a small Napa Valley label known for crafting limited-production wines from prestigious vineyard locations.
As a reviewer and source of reliable information, I am supposed to be as objective and unbiased as possible. But not today. Keenan wines have long been some of my favorites.
After serving in World War II, Robert Keenan worked as an insurance broker and also invested in commercial real estate. He had been a wine enthusiast for years, including owning a significant collection of Bordeaux wines, and finally decided to have a go at winemaking. Certain that mountain-side vineyards in Napa Valley could produce world class wines, in 1974 Keenan purchased 180 acres (of which 48 are under vine) in the Spring Mountain District at an elevation of 1700 feet. Located on the eastern slope of the Mayacamas mountain range, (Spring Mountain District was declared an American Vineyard Appellation (AVA) in 1993.) The low-vigor soils unique to the region were known to create a stressful environment for vine growth, setting up perfect conditions to encourage vineyards planted on the steep rocky mountainsides to produce wines of great concentration, structure, and pure varietal flavors.
Château de Berne, nestled in the heart of Provence near Flayosc, boasts a rich history that spans over two millennia, evolving from a Roman-era vineyard into a modern luxury estate renowned for its wines and hospitality.
The estate’s viticultural roots trace back to Roman times. Situated along the Via Aurelia—a Roman road connecting Italy to Spain—Château de Berne was strategically positioned for wine trade. Archaeological discoveries, including an ancient oven used for crafting amphorae, tall earthenware jars with two handles and a narrow neck for storing wine, attest to the estate’s early involvement in winemaking and commerce.
Amphorae. Photo: Anthromedia.com
In the 12th century, Count Raymond V of Toulouse gave the estate to Bernard of Clairvaux, the founder of the Cistercian Order. The Cistercians, known for their agricultural prowess, managed the estate until 1307, when it was confiscated by King Philip IV of France. Subsequently, the property came under the ownership of the noble Marquis de Villeneuve family, who maintained it for nearly five centuries.
The 19th century marked a renaissance for Château de Berne under Marius Estellon, a former frigate captain in the imperial army. Estellon expanded the estate, introduced new vineyards, and modernized viticultural practices. A patron of the arts, he also hosted grand events and produced on-site earthenware enhancing the estate’s cultural prominence. Continue reading “Berne Inspiration”
Starting in 1861 in St. Helena, Prussian-born immigrant Charles Krug began transforming 540 acres of prime Napa Valley land that had come to him through his marriage to Carolina Balein. His efforts culminated in what is widely recognized as Napa Valley’s first commercial winery. In 1882, he opened his tasting room, another Napa first.
Krug arrived in California during the Gold Rush era, and soon shifted his attention from prospecting to viticulture, building the stone winery that would become a cornerstone of Napa’s agricultural identity. From the beginning, Krug’s operation was notable for its ambition and for bringing structure and scale to what had been a largely experimental local industry.
The winery’s early success was influenced by both Krug’s business instincts and the valley’s growing reputation as a place where European grape varieties could thrive. But like many historic California wineries, Charles Krug faced major challenges in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including vineyard diseases (especially phylloxera) and shifting market conditions. The greatest blow to the American wine trade came with Prohibition (1920–1933), when most wineries were forced to shut down or survive by producing sacramental wine or grape products. Charles Krug endured through these years, but the broader Napa Valley wine economy stalled for decades. Continue reading “Charles Krug Generations 2019”
In my posts, I’ve been calling out bottles that weigh more than the wine they contain, which I’ve named Bloated Bottle Syndrome. The web site of nearly every winery will usually include a mention of the operation’s dedication to “sustainability” and “stewardship.” Unfortunately, this often seems only to extend to the property itself. Many “premium” wines come in heavier bottles to allegedly denote higher quality.
Inexcusably, a recent Beau Vigne I reviewed weighed in at 1194 grams! The average of past BBS “winners” is 857 grams, excluding the previous record holder at 1007 grams. (As an example of a more typical bottle, Estancia Cabernet’s comes in at 494 grams.) That’s a lot of extra weight to be shipping around the country (or the world.) For that Beau Vigne, that’s an extra 12 lbs per case, even assuming a 750-gram bottle. Even sparkling wine bottles are less than the weight of this one, and those are made to withstand high internal pressure. Unfortunately, this sort of “bottle-weight marketing” is becoming more common, especially at higher price points. But there are other ways to denote quality without weight: unusual label designs, foils, wax dipping, etc.
Plastic bottles have a lower environmental impact than glass, 20% to 40% less, in fact. And, bag-in-box packages are even less than plastic bottles. (Unfortunately, current bag technology will only keep unopened wine fresh for about a year, so they are only suitable for wines to be consumed upon release from the winery; that’s about 90% of all wine sold though.)
The carbon footprint of global winemaking and global wine consumption is nothing to scoff at, amounting to hundreds of thousands of tons per year. The latter, which requires cases of wine be shipped around the world, imprints a deep carbon footprint. Because wine is so region-specific, and only so many regions can create drinkable bottles, ground and air transportation is responsible for nearly all of the wine industry’s greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Sustainable Wine Roundtable, a group of wineries, retailers, and other companies connected to the wine industry, one-third to one-half of that total is due to the glass bottles themselves.
This pizza features three salamis, mushrooms, and olives.
Salami Pizza
I had olives and sliced meats left over from a charcuterie board, so I came up with a pizza recipe to use them.
THE DOUGH
This is a Neapolitan-style crust, which is relatively thin and crisp.
Start dough at 3:30p for dinner between 7p and 8p
1 -1/2 cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.) [330 grams]
1 tsp instant-rise yeast
1 cup 00 pizza flour or cake flour [145 grams]
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour [360 grams]
2 tsp salt
Combine ingredients and knead by hand for 10 minutes or machine
for five minutes. Coat dough ball in a thin film of olive oil or cooking spray, cover in plastic wrap, and let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about two hours. Continue reading “Salami Pizza”
When collectors speak of Argentine Malbec at its most refined, and age-worthy, one name inevitably rises to the surface: Catena Alta. The brand represents a philosophy—one rooted in history, sharpened by science, and expressed through some of the highest and most carefully studied vineyard rows in Mendoza.
Catena Alta is not a separate winery, but rather the top-tier label within Bodega Catena Zapata, the estate that redefined Argentina’s place in the fine-wine world.
The Catena story began in 1902, when Italian immigrant Nicola Catena planted Malbec vines in Mendoza. At the time, Argentina’s wine culture was local and utilitarian—focused on volume rather than terroir or longevity. Malbec thrived in Mendoza’s sun-drenched climate, but its deeper potential remained unrealized.
For much of the 20th century, Catena vineyards followed the prevailing Argentine model: generous yields, warm low-altitude sites, and wines meant for immediate consumption. Quality was respectable, but ambition was limited.
