So Old Fashioned Revolution, Downtown Durham Website $12 This drink serves mainly to remind me that I’m picking up quite the bourbon habit in the South. It’s made with Booker’s Bourbon, orange bitters, sugar, and candied orange, though I can’t vouch for there actually being candied orange in the drink—anyone else notice how easily advertised
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2 Copas Red 2009 Mendoza, Argentina The spice of this tempranillo and malbec blend comes on too strongly at first but quickly mellows as I drink it (isn’t that somehow always the case?) Raspberries and strawberries round out that very spicy profile, which may be extra strong because it tastes young. Cardamom and vanilla come
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Fullsteam Brewery 726 Rigsbee Avenue Central Park District, Durham W–Th: 4 pm to 10 pm, Fri: 4 pm to 2 am Sat: 12 pm to 2 am, Sun: 12 pm to 10 pm Website Fullsteam Brewery’s tavern has been open since August, serving up beers that focus on Southern ingredients, from the grains to the
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Last weekend, as you all know, unless you’re my reader from Uganda, then maybe you don’t, was Halloween. Since it was on a Sunday, I had two days’ worth of fun. Halloween is my favorite holiday, so the more merrymaking the better! I had my costume planned out since buying a hat at Disneyworld last
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Arrogant Frog 2008 Lily Pad Red Langeoudoc, France The Lily Pad Red is a mix of cabernet sauvignon and merlot, both perfectly good wines for blending but I appreciate best on their own. It smells of beef jerky and cherries. The cherries are more prominent than expected when sipping. There’s not much going on in
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For the third or fourth year (reports vary) the American Tobacco District hosted the Great American Duck Race. I finally remembered it in time to attend this year, even though I didn’t get nearly enough duck-in-action shots as I would have liked due to that faulty camera of mine. Sadly, Ben couldn’t come, even though
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Dynamite Vineyards 2007 North Coast Chardonnay Sonoma, CA This chardonnay is light-bodied. The nose is of hard caramel candy with extra vanilla mixed in. The fruit hits you first on sipping: starfruit and apple. Then a bit of cream kicks in like a low-calorie, french vanilla ice cream, just enough to guide the fruit home
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Piola 1101 Environ Way East Highway 54, Chapel Hill Website Pizzas and entrees: $8—$13 Piola is an Italian restaurant chain that now has 10 branches open in the US, including one in the Highway 54 East development in Chapel Hill.  It’s done in bright colors, with grey floors and a bit of a squiggly line
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Kiwi + Strawberry Caipiroska Piola Chapel Hill Website $7 This very pretty drink has the perfect ratio of alcohol to sweetness. The freshly muddled kiwi and strawberry add much to the good quality of the vodka, and the taste is clean and full of tasty bites of pulp. Definitely worth a drink! My only complaint
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Placido Chianti 2008 Tuscany, Italy This chianti tastes pungent, and not in a good way. Unripened blackberries, nectarines, apples, mild chocolate, and herbs—dried thyme, mostly—are the notes I taste. Those don’t make for a great combination. I’m not spitting it out, but it’s not really worth drinking, either.