Posts

James MacPhail To Release Inaugural Vintage of MacPhail Family Wines Under Reclaimed Namesake Label

Image
  Acclaimed California winemaker returns to Toulouse Vineyard with a limited inaugural Pinot Noir available now by allocation   HEALDSBURG, Calif. (September 1, 2026) – After more than thirty harvests crafting acclaimed Pinot Noir and Chardonnay across California's leading coastal wine regions, winemaker James MacPhail is once again making wines under his own family name with the debut of MacPhail Family Wines.   The inaugural release begins with Toulouse Vineyard in Anderson Valley – the first Pinot Noir vineyard James worked with when he launched MacPhail Family Wines in 2002 and the site that helped shape his career. Only 150 cases of the 2024 Toulouse Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir were produced. Priced at $70 per bottle, the wine is available by allocation now, with wine shipping beginning on October 6.   James reacquired the MacPhail Family Wines brand in 2024 with the goal of returning it to its original roots. Beginning again with Toulouse Vineyard reco...

Paloma Vineyard: Where Mountain, Family and Patience Make the Wine

Image
  There are wineries in Napa Valley that have become destinations in their own right, with grand entrances, impressive tasting rooms and carefully constructed hospitality programs designed to introduce visitors to the Napa experience. Then there are wineries where the vineyard remains the center of the story, where the landscape, the farming and the people who have cared for the property for decades are inseparable from what ultimately appears in the bottle. Paloma Vineyard belongs firmly in the second category. High on Spring Mountain, overlooking Napa Valley, Paloma is a small, family-owned estate whose history is rooted in farming, patience and a remarkable commitment to a single piece of land. The Richards family purchased the property in 1983, long before Paloma became known nationally for its wines, and spent years developing what was then a rugged piece of mountain terrain into a vineyard capable of producing wines of extraordinary character. That work eventually paid off in...

Jack Daniel's Debuts American Single Malt Whiskey Nationwide

Image
 Jack Daniel’s Debuts American Single Malt Whiskey Nationwide in Limited Annual Release   Jack Daniel’s expands availability of 100% malted barley expression across the U.S.   Lynchburg, Tenn. (Aug. 25, 2026) – The Jack Daniel Distillery today announced the nationwide U.S. release of Jack Daniel’s American Single Malt Whiskey. Previously available exclusively in select duty-free retail locations across the globe, this limited expression arrives as American Single Malt is recognized as the first new official whiskey category by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) in over 50 years.   The expression features a 100% malted barley mash bill that is ground, fermented, and distilled in Lynchburg, Tennessee. The whiskey is charcoal mellowed through sugar maple charcoal, aged in new, charred American oak barrels, and finished in Oloroso Sherry casks.   “At Jack Daniel's, we strive to be at the forefront of creativity and experimentalism...

Bardstown Bourbon Company 2026 Limited Fall Releases

Image
Bardstown Bourbon Company Reveals 2026 Annual Releases: 2026 Discover & Lochs of Jura Barrel Finish Bardstown, KY (August 18, 2026)  - Bardstown Bourbon Company continues its pursuit of pushing the boundaries of bourbon with two limited fall releases that explore whiskey innovation in entirely different ways.  Lochs of Jura Barrel Finish Whiskey  demonstrates how extraordinary casks can shape whiskey in unexpected ways while 2026 Discovery  showcases the art of blending through exceptional combination of mature Kentucky bourbons. For the first time, Bardstown Bourbon Company's annual releases also feature original commissioned artwork inspired directly by the whiskey itself.  Louisville artiest Margaret Archambault created each pieces after experiencing the liquid, translating aroma, flavor, and texture into visual art that now appears on the bottles and packaging.  The new package design also marks an evolution for these two award-winning stories....

National Rum Day 2026: 7 Bottles Worth Exploring

Image
National Rum Day: A Journey Through the History, Styles & Flavors of Rum August 16 is National Rum Day.   And while we certainly don't need much of an excuse to pour a glass, rum might be one of the most interesting spirits to actually have an excuse for. Rum can be light and crisp, dark and brooding, funky and earthy, sweet and spiced, grassy and vegetal, or rich and contemplative after years in a barrel.   It can be the backbone of a Daiquiri, the soul of a Mai Tai, the tropical star of a PiƱa Colada, or something you pour into a Glencairn and contemplate for a while.   It can even spend some time in a rum barrel and make a whiskey more interesting. That's exactly what we found when we gathered a collection of bottles specifically for National Rum Day. Our tasting lineup included traditional rums, spiced rums, aged rums, a non-alcoholic rum alternative—and even a Kentucky rye whiskey that spent time in Caribbean rum barrels. So before we get to the bo...