Category: Wine

On Colonial Spirits of Acton’s wine blog page, you will find posts from our team of wine experts. Topics range from trends in the wine industry, appreciation for and personal recollections of wine, and debates on the growing and production of wine. Good wine blogs cannot exist without the participation of our friends and customers, so we invite you to get in on the discussion and post your reactions to our entries. You can also jump over to our beer blog if brew is your thing. And if wine and beer are not your cup of tea (or alcohol), check out our liquor blog for thoughts and opinions on all things spirits. Whatever topic in the liquor industry interests you, Colonial Spirits wants you to join the conversation. Post here or contact us with questions, suggestions, and comments. Or feel free to come in to meet us at one or our weekly wine tasting events. Leave the computer behind and talk to us face to face about your favorite wine, while sampling new and old vintages alike.

Wine Existentialism

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My fellow colleagues-in-wine and I are always discussing, debating, and arguing about hot wine topics.  Sometimes it’s about oak, over-extraction of fruit, old world v. new world, and of course…terroir.  We also discuss what makes a wine good and what sells, and we often find that the good wines don’t sell.

A couple weeks ago, Patrick wrote about Malbec and it’s rise and fall.  Weeks before, Nic wrote about the concept of terroir. These blogs are the result of our on-going conversations.  Both blogs got my attention. Continue reading Wine Existentialism

The Death of Malbec

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I’ve noticed something funny about Malbec recently… it’s everywhere.  Even the 99, hardly renowned for its wine list, has a Malbec.  The latest big red craze has gone beyond the first stage of people simply buying it, to magazine coverage, to the tier of restaurants who always seem to be the last to react to wine trends.

In addition to writing a blog and doing plenty of talking with customers at the shop, my primary responsibility continues to be making sure that the fine wines are stocked.  While not especially glamorous, this does give me a ground zero view of trends among our customers, and what I’ve noticed in the past couple of months is this:  Malbec has slowed to a crawl.  Where once I had to make two passes a week through Argentina, now if need be I can skip a week safely.  It seems as though, again, the fashions are shifting. Continue reading The Death of Malbec

Summertime Sangria Recipe

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This recipe comes to us from Iberian Wines importer Gary Kline.  He calls it his ‘kick ass’ sangria recipe…

  • 1 btl (750ml) Sierra de Viento Tempranillo
  • 1 oz Bacardi Limon Rum
  • 1 oz Gin (good stuff)
  • 1 oz Cointreau
  • 1 oz Cognac
  • 16 oz Orange Juice
  • 12 oz ginger ale
  • 1 Orange…Cut skin off 1 orange, leaving some flesh on the inner skin.  Cut orange skin into small squares and add to the sangria.  Squeeze the juice from the orange into the sangria.
  • 1 Lemon – treat same as the orange

Add an apple, and a few strawberries or any other seasonal fruit to the sangria, cutting them into small squares.

Mix, taste, and add more OJ or a bit of sugar for your taste and enjoy!

If you have any other questions about the recipe you can ask Gary for yourself when he stops by next Saturday the 18th from 3:30 to 7pm for the second part of our Grill & Chill event!

Is Terroir Losing Its Identity?

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It has been a while since my last blog, and I would like to thank everyone who read it.  Hopefully it gave you something to ponder that was worthwhile. Thanks!

I’d now like to discuss something that’s been on my mind for some time, and that is Terroir and the misusage of that word by the “New Generation” wine drinker… Continue reading Is Terroir Losing Its Identity?