The Wine Voyage

Table of Contents - What Is Refosco? - Where Refosco Comes From - Refosco vs. Sangiovese vs. Lagrein - Food Pairings - Building a Group Tasting Around Refosco - What to Look For When Buying Refosco - Common Questions - Bringing a Refosco Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading I keep a mental list of grapes that show up constantly in my research but never seem to get their own moment, and Refosco has been sitting on that list longer than almost anything else. It's one of the oldest documented grapes in Italy, it makes a genuinely distinctive wine, and yet most people who can name Sangiovese, Barbera, and Nebbiolo have never heard of it. That gap is exactly what this guide is for. Refosco is a dark, high-acid red from Friuli-Venezia Giulia in Italy's far northeast, and once you understand what makes it tick, it's an easy grape to fall for — especially if you're the kind of drinker who finds a lot of modern reds a little too polished. What Is Refosco? Refosco (technically ...

Table of Contents - What Is an Aperol Spritz? - Where the Aperol Spritz Actually Comes From - The Correct Ratio and How to Build It - Aperol Spritz Variations Worth Knowing - Building a Group Tasting Around the Aperol Spritz - Common Questions - Bringing an Aperol Spritz Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading I've made hundreds of Aperol Spritzes at this point, and I still watch people get the ratio wrong more often than almost any other cocktail I pour. It's become such a default patio order that nobody stops to ask what's actually supposed to be in the glass — just orange, bubbles, and vibes. But there's a real formula here, a real origin story that has nothing to do with brunch culture, and a surprising amount of room to get it wrong even though it only has three ingredients. This guide covers what an Aperol Spritz actually is, where it really comes from, the ratio that separates a properly balanced glass from a sickly-sweet one, and how to turn a drink most people o...

Table of Contents - What Is an Aperol Spritz? - Where the Aperol Spritz Actually Comes From - The Correct Ratio and How to Build It - Aperol Spritz Variations Worth Knowing - Building a Group Tasting Around the Aperol Spritz - Common Questions - Bringing an Aperol Spritz Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading I've made hundreds of Aperol Spritzes at this point, and I still watch people get the ratio wrong more often than almost any other cocktail I pour. It's become such a default patio order that nobody stops to ask what's actually supposed to be in the glass — just orange, bubbles, and vibes. But there's a real formula here, a real origin story that has nothing to do with brunch culture, and a surprising amount of room to get it wrong even though it only has three ingredients. This guide covers what an Aperol Spritz actually is, where it really comes from, the ratio that separates a properly balanced glass from a sickly-sweet one, and how to turn a drink most people o...

Table of Contents - What Is Absinthe? - A Very Short History - How Absinthe Is Made - The Louche: Absinthe's Signature Ritual - Absinthe Compared to Other Anise Spirits - How to Taste Absinthe - Bringing Absinthe Into a Team Event - Buying and Storing Absinthe - Further Reading Absinthe might be the most misunderstood spirit on any back bar. Ask a room what they know about it and you'll hear some version of the same three things: it makes you hallucinate, it was banned for a century, and Van Gogh cut off his ear because of it. None of that holds up under any real scrutiny, and I think the myth-making around absinthe is actually the reason so few people have tasted it properly. It gets treated like a novelty shot or a dare instead of what it actually is — a genuinely well-made, herbal, complex spirit with a real production tradition behind it. This guide separates the history from the legend, explains what absinthe actually is and how it's properly served, and covers how to ...

Table of Contents - What Is Absinthe? - A Very Short History - How Absinthe Is Made - The Louche: Absinthe's Signature Ritual - Absinthe Compared to Other Anise Spirits - How to Taste Absinthe - Bringing Absinthe Into a Team Event - Buying and Storing Absinthe - Further Reading Absinthe might be the most misunderstood spirit on any back bar. Ask a room what they know about it and you'll hear some version of the same three things: it makes you hallucinate, it was banned for a century, and Van Gogh cut off his ear because of it. None of that holds up under any real scrutiny, and I think the myth-making around absinthe is actually the reason so few people have tasted it properly. It gets treated like a novelty shot or a dare instead of what it actually is — a genuinely well-made, herbal, complex spirit with a real production tradition behind it. This guide separates the history from the legend, explains what absinthe actually is and how it's properly served, and covers how to ...