Happy Belated Repeal Day!

Dec 5th marked the 77th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition... lucky for us!

Prohibition was that evil time between 1920 and 1933 in which drinking was *gasp* illegal. While this sounds out-and-out horrible, we can attribute the induction of Prohibition for some of the greatest cocktails and bars of all time. Who doesn't love throwing on their best flapper dress, doing the Charleston and having a classy Sidecar or Old Fashioned anyway?

...maybe that's just me?

Today you can still get your 1920's speak-easy feel on at many establishments throughout the country. In particular - and perhaps it's because I'm so in to wine - the 21 Club... one of NYC's best-hidden speakeasy clubs in the era and still around today located at 19 W 52nd Street. Not quite such a secret anymore, the 21 Club is a highly regarded, NYC icon, visited by much of NYC's high class society and celebrities from across the board.

What makes this place so famous?

Back in the 1920's the 21 Club was known as "the place to be," to the affluent drinkers of the era.

"Perhaps the most elaborately disguised vault in New York City, '21's Wine Cellar was built to be invisible. Behind several smoked hams that hung from the basement ceiling and a shelved wall filled with canned goods, stood a perfectly camouflaged 2 1/2 ton door that appeared to be part of the wall. Opened only by inserting a slender 18" meat skewer through one of many cracks in the cement wall, the secret door silently slid back to reveal '21's most coveted treasure: two thousand cases of wine."

In fact, the place was so well hidden that even when authorities came to "close the place down" in 1932, they couldn't seem to find the alcohol and so, 21 Club went on to see another day... and thank goodness because when I had the opportunity to visit the wine cellar in 2009 I was in heaven.

I'll leave it up to Stephanie to tell you about some of the best cocktail-inspired speakeasy bars in the country.

Did we celebrate with an all out bash? Not exactly... but you can bet we raised a glass.

I opted for a glass of red wine: Pittnauer Burgenlander Röt 2008, a blend of Pinot Noir, Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch from Austria (of course!)

Stephanie opted for a Maker's Mark Whiskey Sour (with cherries!) with a friend at a birthday dinner.

Steve celebrated with a glass of Catena Malbec from Argentina while his wife sipped on a Cremant Rose from the Loire.

Jean joined in the fun with a mimosa and a glass of Chateau Tour Calon 2000... slow day!

No matter if you sipped yesterday or not, it's important to recognize this momentous holiday. For anyone that enjoys a good cocktail, glass of wine, beer or anything in between raise a glass to Repeal Day!

Different Strokes for Different Folks

As the old saying goes, when in Rome do as the Romans do. And, with all my traveling over the last few weeks or so, I’ve got a (warning: long!) post that adopts many of the drinking habits in the three different US cities who welcomed me with gorgeous fall weather, and of course, delicious drinks. Here goes:

Portland, OR and Wine:

While Portland, Oregon has deservedly earned the reputation of being a beer or spirits city before wine, one of my greatest finds in the downtown area, just a dash up 12th Street from the plethora of alluring food carts, was a restaurant and wine bar fit for northern Europe. As described on its website, Gruner “draws on the affinity between the geographies of the Pacific Northwest and the alpine regions of northern Europe,” namely Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Romania. It just so happened that, many many time zones away, the EWBC was streaming live when I stumbled into Gruner for lunch on a busy Friday afternoon. Why not indulge in glass of vino!?

I happily elected the only Gruener Veltliner on the lunch menu available by the glass, a 2009 Stadt Krems of the Kremstal region. After consulting with wine guru Constance and her post on the Austrian Wine USA blog, I learned that this fresh and fruit-forward Gruener is part of a municipality of 52 vineyards in Austria. I’d recommend giving the Austrian Wine Blog a read to learn more about these particular Austrian vineyards.

While the food was hearty and flavorful, the service at Gruner during this particular visit was anything but memorable. What did help to end my visit on a pleasant note was the curious method of presenting my check in a worn paperback book. My particular novel was Weimar Culture by Peter Gay, a reflection of 20^th century culture in Germany; even more to my pleasure, the first page I flipped to was Gay’s written portrait (along with images, too) of the 1920 expressionist thriller The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Loved it!

Boulder, CO and Beer:

While I certainly had heard the tales before making my first visit to Boulder, Colorado for the 1^st Beer Bloggers Conference, I didn’t realize just how beer-centric this college mountain town is. Needless to say, I was both overwhelmed and impressed. In what was dubbed “The Night of Many Bottles”, I had the opportunity to try Denver-local Bush & Bull’s seasonal Royal Oil, a 12% ABV English-style barley wine called Royal Oil, which is aged for two years in whiskey barrels. Tasting like chocolate-covered cherries and oak from the whiskey barrels, this sweet, malty beer was among my favorite seasonal selection in the plethora of Colorado selections.

My other particularly favorite offering was, ironically, the last beer I sampled at BBC10 – the Agave Wheat from Breckenridge Brewery. While pale ales are by no means at the top of my beer-drinking list, this beer to me was completely refreshing and offered a light amount of hops that wasn’t too overbearing or bitter. Plus, the subtle flavoring of agave was right up my alley! Mix a glass 50-50 of Agave Wheat with orange juice and you have yourself a lip-smacking mimosa of sorts – from my picture, you can see it was the perfect "breakfast of champions" for the Sunday morning crowd! Now, about convincing Breckenridge Brewery to distribute to CT…

Beverly Hills, CA and Spirits:

What spirits do you say? Rum, rum, and more rum! That's what I found myself drinking after my adventures meandering through posh Beverly Hills along Wilshire Boulevard led me to the Trader Vic's Mai Tai Lounge poolside at the Beverly Hilton hotel. I pulled myself up to the bar and ordered - but what else? - the Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron Original Mai Tai.

Trader Vic Mai Tai:

• 1 oz light rum
• 1 oz gold rum
• 1/2 oz orange curacao
  
• 1/2 oz orgeat syrup
  
• 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
• Float 1 oz dark rum
  

Build in a cocktail shaker and roll between the glass without straining. Garnish with speared cherry and pineapple chunk, and a mint sprig.

Boy, was that cocktail well worth the hype! I also found myself downing a Zombie shortly after my Mai Tai "mysteriously" disappeared; pictured to the right, it was a beautiful version of Donn the Beachcomber's classic of gold and dark rums and it vanished almost as quickly as that damned Mai Tai.

Phew! I have loved discovering all the different drinking trends around the country and hope to continue the adventure more soon! So what's coming up next in my imbibing adventures? Stay tuned to D4TH to find out!

Cheers for now!
SJ

International Beer Day

Yesterday we were popping corks for National Champagne Day, but today we’re taking a detour down the beer trail. Today’s whimsical, yet why-does-this-have-to-fall-on-a-weeknight holiday is International Beer Day, a tribute to the worldwide celebration of beer. Hooray Beer! (my best Red Stripe impersonation...)

So you can bet we’ll be celebrating this hop-filled holiday tonight with a pint or two. The question I pose to you is: What beer should we pour?

Cheers!
SJ

Photo credit courtesy of CraftBeer.com